YEMEN (SANAA)
_Yemen_(Sanaa).jpg)
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LAND
194,250 km2 (parts of border with Saudi Arabia and Southern Yemen undefined); 20% agricultural, 1% forested, 79% desert, waste, or urban
Land boundaries: 1,528 km
WATER
Limits of territorial waters (claimed): 12 nm (plus 6 nm "necessary supervision zone")
Coastline: 523 km
PEOPLE
Population: 5,490,000 (July 1982), average annual growth rate 2.3%
Nationality: noun—Yemeni(s); adjective—Yemeni
Ethnic divisions: 90% Arab, 10% Afro-Arab (mixed)
Religion: 100% Muslim
Language: Arabic
Literacy: 15% (est.)
Labor force: almost entirely agriculture and herding
GOVERNMENT
Official name: Yemen Arab Republic
Type: republic; military regime assumed power in June 1974
Capital: Sanaa
Political subdivisions: 8 provinces
Legal system: based on Turkish law, Islamic law, and local customary law; first constitution promulgated December 1970, suspended June 1974; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday: Proclamation of the Republic, 26 September
Branches: President, Prime Minister, Cabinet; Constituent Assembly
Government leaders: Col. 'Ali 'Abdallah SALIH, President; 'Abd Al-KARIM IRYANI, Prime Minister
Communists: small number
Political parties or pressure groups: conservative tribal groups, some Muslim Brotherhood followers, leftist sentiment represented by pro-Iraqi Ba'thists, Nasirists, small clandestine groups supported by Yemen (Aden)
Member of: Arab League, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMCO, IMF, ISCON, ITU, NAM, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO
ECONOMY
GNP: $3.8 billion (FY79), $740 per capita
Agriculture: sorghum and millet, qat (a mild narcotic), cotton, coffee, fruits and vegetables; largely self-sufficient in food
Major industries: cotton textiles and leather goods produced on a small scale; handicraft and some fishing; small aluminum products factory
Electric power: 100,500 kW capacity (1980); 220 million kWh produced (1980), 41 kWh per capita
Exports: $12.7 million (f.o.b., 1980); qat, cotton, coffee, hides, vegetables
Imports: $1,685.0 million (f.o.b., 1980); textiles and other manufactured consumer goods, petroleum products, sugar, grain, flour, other foodstuffs, and cement
Major trade partners: China, Yemen (Aden), USSR, Japan, UK, Australia, Saudi Arabia
Budget: (1978-79) total receipts $909 million, current expenditure $409 million, development expenditure $590 million
Monetary conversion rate: 1 Yemeni rial=US$0.22 (1980)
Fiscal year: 1 July-30 June
COMMUNICATIONS
Railroads: none
Highways: 3,477 km total; 467 km bituminous; 435 km crushed stone and gravel; 2,575 km earth, sand, and light gravel
Ports: 1 major (Al Hudaydah), 2 minor
Civil air: 10 major transport aircraft
Airfields: 26 total, 15 usable; 4 with permanent—surface runways; 3 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 8 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: system inadequate; consists of meager open-wire lines and low-power radiocommunication stations; 5,000 telephones (0.1 per 100 popl.); 2 AM stations, no FM, 2 TV stations; 1 Indian Ocean satellite station
DEFENSE FORCES
Military manpower: males 15-49, 1,008,000; 560,000 fit for military service; about 59,000 reach military age (18) annually
Military budget: for fiscal year ending 30 June 1979, $156 million; 22% of central government budget
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