Yemen (2004) | Holy See (Vatican City) (2001) | |
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Administrative divisions | 19 governorates (muhafazat, singular - muhafazah); Abyan, 'Adan, Ad Dali', Al Bayda', Al Hudaydah, Al Jawf, Al Mahrah, Al Mahwit, 'Amran, Dhamar, Hadramawt, Hajjah, Ibb, Lahij, Ma'rib, Sa'dah, San'a', Shabwah, Ta'izz
note: for electoral and administrative purposes, the capital city of Sanaa is treated as an additional governorate |
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Age structure | 0-14 years: 46.6% (male 4,751,776; female 4,582,277)
15-64 years: 50.6% (male 5,166,437; female 4,973,543) 65 years and over: 2.8% (male 273,199; female 277,635) (2004 est.) |
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Agriculture - products | grain, fruits, vegetables, pulses, qat (mildly narcotic shrub), coffee, cotton; dairy products, livestock (sheep, goats, cattle, camels), poultry; fish | - |
Airports | 44 (2003 est.) | none |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 16
over 3,047 m: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 9 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
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Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 28
over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 7 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 11 under 914 m: 4 (2004 est.) |
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Area | total: 527,970 sq km
land: 527,970 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes Perim, Socotra, the former Yemen Arab Republic (YAR or North Yemen), and the former People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY or South Yemen) |
total:
0.44 sq km land: 0.44 sq km water: 0 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly larger than twice the size of Wyoming | about 0.7 times the size of The Mall in Washington, DC |
Background | North Yemen became independent of the Ottoman Empire in 1918. The British, who had set up a protectorate area around the southern port of Aden in the 19th century, withdrew in 1967 from what became South Yemen. Three years later, the southern government adopted a Marxist orientation. The massive exodus of hundreds of thousands of Yemenis from the south to the north contributed to two decades of hostility between the states. The two countries were formally unified as the Republic of Yemen in 1990. A southern secessionist movement in 1994 was quickly subdued. In 2000, Saudi Arabia and Yemen agreed to a delimitation of their border. | Popes in their secular role ruled much of the Italian peninsula for more than a thousand years until the mid 19th century, when many of the Papal States were seized by the newly united Kingdom of Italy. In 1870, the pope's holdings were further circumscribed when Rome itself was annexed. Disputes between a series of "prisoner" popes and Italy were resolved in 1929 by three Lateran Treaties, which established the independent state of Vatican City and granted Roman Catholicism special status in Italy. In 1984, a concordat between the Vatican and Italy modified certain of the earlier treaty provisions, including the primacy of Roman Catholicism as the Italian state religion. Present concerns of the Holy See include the failing health of Pope John Paul II, interreligious dialogue and reconciliation, and the adjustment of church doctrine in an era of rapid change and globalization. About 1 billion people worldwide profess the Catholic faith. |
Birth rate | 43.16 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) | - |
Budget | revenues: $3.729 billion
expenditures: $4.107 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2003 est.) |
revenues:
$209.6 million expenditures: $198.5 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1997) |
Capital | Sanaa | Vatican City |
Climate | mostly desert; hot and humid along west coast; temperate in western mountains affected by seasonal monsoon; extraordinarily hot, dry, harsh desert in east | temperate; mild, rainy winters (September to mid-May) with hot, dry summers (May to September) |
Coastline | 1,906 km | 0 km (landlocked) |
Constitution | 16 May 1991; amended 29 September 1994 and February 2001 | Apostolic Constitution of 1967 (effective 1 March 1968) |
Country name | conventional long form: Republic of Yemen
conventional short form: Yemen local long form: Al Jumhuriyah al Yamaniyah local short form: Al Yaman |
conventional long form:
The Holy See (State of the Vatican City) conventional short form: Holy See (Vatican City) local long form: Santa Sede (Stato della Citta del Vaticano) local short form: Santa Sede (Citta del Vaticano) |
Currency | Yemeni rial (YER) | Italian lira (ITL); euro (EUR) |
Death rate | 8.78 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) | - |
Debt - external | $6.044 billion (2003) | - |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Thomas C. KRAJESKI
embassy: Saawan Street, Sanaa mailing address: P. O. Box 22347, Sanaa telephone: [967] (1) 303-151 through 159 FAX: [967] (1) 303-160/161/162/164/165 |
chief of mission:
Ambassador (vacant) embassy: Villa Domiziana, Via delle Terme Deciane 26, 00162 Rome mailing address: PSC 59, Box F, APO AE 09624 telephone: [39] (06) 4674-3428 FAX: [39] (06) 5758346 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Abd al-Wahhab Abdallah al-HAJRI
chancery: Suite 705, 2600 Virginia Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20037 telephone: [1] (202) 965-4760 FAX: [1] (202) 337-2017 |
chief of mission:
Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Gabriele MONTALVO chancery: 3339 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 333-7121 |
Disputes - international | Yemen protests Eritrea fishing around the Hanish Islands awarded to Yemen by the ICJ in 1999; nomadic groups in border region with Saudi Arabia resist demarcation of boundary in accordance wih 2000 Jeddah Treaty; Yemen protests Saudi erection of a concrete-filled pipe as a security barrier in 2004 to stem illegal cross-border activities in sections of the boundary | none |
Economic aid - recipient | $2.3 billion (2003-07 disbursements) | none |
Economy - overview | Yemen, one of the poorest countries in the Arab world, reported strong growth in the mid-1990s with the onset of oil production. It has been harmed by periodic declines in oil prices, but now benefits from current high prices. Yemen has embarked on an IMF-supported structural adjustment program designed to modernize and streamline the economy, which has led to substantial foreign debt relief and restructuring. International donors, meeting in Paris in October 2002, agreed on a further $2.3 billion economic support package. Yemen has worked to maintain tight control over spending and to implement additional components of the IMF program. A markedly high population growth rate and internal political dissension complicate the government's task. Plans include a diversification of the economy, encouragement of tourism, and more efficient use of scarce water resources. | This unique, noncommercial economy is supported financially by contributions (known as Peter's Pence) from Roman Catholics throughout the world, the sale of postage stamps and tourist mementos, fees for admission to museums, and the sale of publications. The incomes and living standards of lay workers are comparable to, or somewhat better than, those of counterparts who work in the city of Rome. |
Electricity - consumption | 2.8 billion kWh (2001) | NA kWh |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2001) | - |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2001) | NA kWh; note - electricity supplied by Italy |
Electricity - production | 3.01 billion kWh (2001) | - |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel:
NA% hydro: NA% nuclear: NA% other: NA% |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Arabian Sea 0 m
highest point: Jabal an Nabi Shu'ayb 3,760 m |
lowest point:
unnamed location 19 m highest point: unnamed location 75 m |
Environment - current issues | very limited natural fresh water resources; inadequate supplies of potable water; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification | NA |
Environment - international agreements | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
party to:
none of the selected agreements signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution, Environmental Modification |
Ethnic groups | predominantly Arab; but also Afro-Arab, South Asians, Europeans | Italians, Swiss, other |
Exchange rates | Yemeni rials per US dollar - NA (2003), 175.625 (2002), 168.672 (2001), 161.718 (2000), 155.718 (1999) | euros per US dollar - 1.0659 (January 2001), 1.0854 (2000), 0.9386 (1999); Vatican lire per US dollar - 2,099 (2000), 1817.2 (1999), 1,736.2 (1998), 1,703.1 (1997), 1,542.9 (1996); note - the Vatican lira is at par with the Italian lira; the Vatican will start using euros in 2002 in conjunction with Italy at a fixed rate of 1,936.17 lire per euro |
Executive branch | chief of state: President Ali Abdallah SALIH (since 22 May 1990, the former president of North Yemen, assumed office upon the merger of North and South Yemen); Vice President Maj. Gen. Abd al-Rab Mansur al-HADI (since 3 October 1994)
head of government: Prime Minister Abd al-Qadir BA JAMAL (since 4 April 2001) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the advice of the prime minister elections: president elected by direct, popular vote for a seven-year term (recently extended from a five-year term by constitutional amendment); election last held 23 September 1999 (next to be held NA 2006); vice president appointed by the president; prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president election results: Ali Abdallah SALIH elected president; percent of vote - Ali Abdallah SALIH 96.3%, Najib Qahtan AL-SHAABI 3.7% |
chief of state:
Pope JOHN PAUL II (since 16 October 1978) head of government: Secretary of State Cardinal Angelo SODANO (since 2 December 1990) cabinet: Pontifical Commission appointed by the pope elections: pope elected for life by the College of Cardinals; election last held 16 October 1978 (next to be held after the death of the current pope); secretary of state appointed by the pope election results: Karol WOJTYLA elected pope |
Exports | NA (2001) | - |
Exports - commodities | crude oil, coffee, dried and salted fish | - |
Exports - partners | China 31.7%, Thailand 20.3%, India 15.6%, South Korea 4.9%, Malaysia 4.3% (2003) | - |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and black; similar to the flag of Syria, which has two green stars and of Iraq which has three green stars (plus an Arabic inscription) in a horizontal line centered in the white band; also similar to the flag of Egypt, which has a heraldic eagle centered in the white band | two vertical bands of yellow (hoist side) and white with the crossed keys of Saint Peter and the papal miter centered in the white band |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $15.09 billion (2003 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 15.2%
industry: 45% services: 39.7% (2003) |
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GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $800 (2003 est.) | - |
GDP - real growth rate | 2.8% (2003 est.) | - |
Geographic coordinates | 15 00 N, 48 00 E | 41 54 N, 12 27 E |
Geography - note | strategic location on Bab el Mandeb, the strait linking the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, one of world's most active shipping lanes | urban; landlocked; enclave of Rome, Italy; world's smallest state; outside the Vatican City, 13 buildings in Rome and Castel Gandolfo (the pope's summer residence) enjoy extraterritorial rights |
Heliports | - | 1 (2000 est.) |
Highways | total: 67,000 km
paved: 7,705 km unpaved: 59,295 km (1999 est.) |
none; all city streets |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 3%
highest 10%: 25.9% (2003) |
lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
Imports | NA (2001) | NA kWh; note - electricity supplied by Italy |
Imports - commodities | food and live animals, machinery and equipment, chemicals | - |
Imports - partners | UAE 12.9%, Saudi Arabia 10.2%, China 8.9%, US 4.9%, Kuwait 4.4%, France 4.1% (2003) | - |
Independence | 22 May 1990 (Republic of Yemen established with the merger of the Yemen Arab Republic [Yemen (Sanaa) or North Yemen] and the Marxist-dominated People's Democratic Republic of Yemen [Yemen (Aden) or South Yemen]); note - previously North Yemen had become independent in November of 1918 (from the Ottoman Empire) and South Yemen had become independent on 30 November 1967 (from the UK) | 11 February 1929 (from Italy) |
Industrial production growth rate | 3% (2003 est.) | - |
Industries | crude oil production and petroleum refining; small-scale production of cotton textiles and leather goods; food processing; handicrafts; small aluminum products factory; cement | printing and production of a small amount of mosaics and staff uniforms; worldwide banking and financial activities |
Infant mortality rate | total: 63.26 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 68.12 deaths/1,000 live births female: 58.15 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) |
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Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 10.8% (2003 est.) | - |
International organization participation | AFESD, AMF, CAEU, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt (signatory), ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO (correspondent), ITU, LAS, MIGA, NAM, OAS (observer), OIC, ONUB, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNOCI, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer) | CE (observer), IAEA, ICFTU, Intelsat, IOM (observer), ITU, NAM (guest), OAS (observer), OPCW, OSCE, UN (observer), UNCTAD, UNHCR, UPU, WHO (observer), WIPO, WToO (observer), WTrO (observer) |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 93 (Holy See and Italy) (2000) |
Irrigated land | 4,900 sq km (1998 est.) | 0 sq km (1993) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court | none; normally handled by Italy |
Labor force | 5.79 million (2003 est.) | NA |
Labor force - by occupation | most people are employed in agriculture and herding; services, construction, industry, and commerce account for less than one-fourth of the labor force | agriculture NA%, industry NA%, services NA%; note - dignitaries, priests, nuns, guards, and 3,000 lay workers live outside the Vatican |
Land boundaries | total: 1,746 km
border countries: Oman 288 km, Saudi Arabia 1,458 km |
total:
3.2 km border countries: Italy 3.2 km |
Land use | arable land: 2.78%
permanent crops: 0.24% other: 96.98% (2001) |
arable land:
0% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 0% forests and woodland: 0% other: 100% (urban area) |
Languages | Arabic | Italian, Latin, French, various other languages |
Legal system | based on Islamic law, Turkish law, English common law, and local tribal customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | NA |
Legislative branch | a new constitutional amendment ratified on 20 February 2001 created a bicameral legislature consisting of a Shura Council (111 seats; members appointed by the president) and a House of Representatives (301 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms)
elections: last held 27 April 2003 (next to be held NA April 2009) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - GPC 228, Islah 47, YSP 7, Nasserite Unionist Party 3, National Arab Socialist Ba'th Party 2, independents 14 |
unicameral Pontifical Commission |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 61.36 years
male: 59.53 years female: 63.29 years (2004 est.) |
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Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 50.2% male: 70.5% female: 30% (2003 est.) |
definition:
NA total population: 100% male: NA% female: NA% |
Location | Middle East, bordering the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Red Sea, between Oman and Saudi Arabia | Southern Europe, an enclave of Rome (Italy) |
Map references | Middle East | Europe |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin |
none (landlocked) |
Merchant marine | total: 6 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 19,766 GRT/24,794 DWT
by type: cargo 1, livestock carrier 1, petroleum tanker 3, roll on/roll off 1 foreign-owned: Hong Kong 2, Lebanon 1 registered in other countries: 5 (2004 est.) |
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Military - note | establishment of a Coast Guard, scheduled for May 2001, has been delayed | defense is the responsibility of Italy; Swiss Papal Guards are posted at entrances to the Vatican City to provide security and protect the Pope |
Military branches | Army (including Special Forces), Naval Forces and Coastal Defenses (including Marines), Air Force (including Air Defense Forces), Republican Guard | - |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $885.6 million (2003) | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 7.9% (2003) | - |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 4,617,064 (2004 est.) | - |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 2,590,720 (2004 est.) | - |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males: 255,426 (2004 est.) | - |
National holiday | Unification Day, 22 May (1990) | Coronation Day of Pope JOHN PAUL II, 22 October (1978) |
Nationality | noun: Yemeni(s)
adjective: Yemeni |
noun:
none adjective: none |
Natural hazards | sandstorms and dust storms in summer | NA |
Natural resources | petroleum, fish, rock salt, marble, small deposits of coal, gold, lead, nickel, and copper, fertile soil in west | none |
Net migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) | - |
Pipelines | gas 88 km; oil 1,174 km (2004) | - |
Political parties and leaders | there are more than 12 political parties active in Yemen, some of the more prominent are: General People's Congress or GPC [President Ali Abdallah SALIH]; Islamic Reform Grouping or Islah [Shaykh Abdallah bin Husayn al-AHMAR]; National Arab Socialist Ba'th Party [Dr. Qassim SALAAM]; Nasserite Unionist Party [Abdel Malik al-MAKHLAFI]; Yemeni Socialist Party or YSP [Ali Salih MUQBIL]
note: President SALIH's General People's Congress or GPC won a landslide victory in the April 1997 legislative election and no longer governs in coalition with Shaykh Abdallah bin Husayn al-AHMAR's Islamic Reform Grouping or Islah - the two parties had been in coalition since the end of the civil war in 1994; the YSP, a loyal opposition party, represents the remnants of the former South Yemeni leadership; leaders of the 1994 secessionist movement have been pardoned by President SALIH and some are now returning to Yemen from exile |
none |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | none (exclusive of influence exercised by church officers) |
Population | 20,024,867 (July 2004 est.) | 890 (July 2001 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 15.7% (2001) | NA% |
Population growth rate | 3.44% (2004 est.) | 1.15% (2001 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Aden, Al Hudaydah, Al Mukalla, As Salif, Ras Issa, Mocha, Nishtun | none |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 6, FM 1, shortwave 2 (1998) | AM 3, FM 4, shortwave 2 (1998) |
Radios | - | NA |
Railways | - | total:
862 m; note - a spur of the Italian Railways system, serving Rome's Saint Peter's station standard gauge: 862 m 1.435-m gauge (1999) |
Religions | Muslim including Shaf'i (Sunni) and Zaydi (Shi'a), small numbers of Jewish, Christian, and Hindu | Roman Catholic |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.98 male(s)/female total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2004 est.) |
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Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | limited to cardinals less than 80 years old |
Telephone system | general assessment: since unification in 1990, efforts have been made to create a national telecommunications network
domestic: the national network consists of microwave radio relay, cable, tropospheric scatter, and GSM cellular mobile telephone systems international: country code - 967; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (2 Indian Ocean and 1 Atlantic Ocean), 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region), and 2 Arabsat; microwave radio relay to Saudi Arabia and Djibouti |
general assessment:
automatic exchange domestic: tied into Italian system international: uses Italian system |
Telephones - main lines in use | 542,200 (2002) | NA |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 411,100 (2002) | NA |
Television broadcast stations | 7 (plus several low-power repeaters) (1997) | 1 (1996) |
Terrain | narrow coastal plain backed by flat-topped hills and rugged mountains; dissected upland desert plains in center slope into the desert interior of the Arabian Peninsula | low hill |
Total fertility rate | 6.75 children born/woman (2004 est.) | - |
Unemployment rate | 35% (2003 est.) | - |
Waterways | - | none |