mountains affected by seasonal monsoon; extraordinarily hot, dry,
harsh desert in east
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
Natural resources:
petroleum, fish, rock salt, marble, small deposits of coal, gold,
lead, nickel, and copper, fertile soil in west
Land use:
arable land:
6%
permanent crops:
0%
meadows and pastures:
30%
forest and woodland:
7%
other:
57%
Irrigated land:
3,100 sq km (1989 est.)
Environment:
current issues:
scarcity of natural freshwater resources (shortages of potable water);
overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification
natural hazards:
subject to sandstorms and dust storms in summer
international agreements:
party to - Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea; signed, but not
ratified - Biodiversity, Climate Change
Note:
controls Bab el Mandeb, the strait linking the Red Sea and the Gulf of
Aden, one of world's most active shipping lanes

@Yemen, People

Population:
11,105,202 (July 1994 est.)
Population growth rate:
3.34% (1994 est.)
Birth rate:
50.72 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Death rate:
14.94 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Net migration rate:
-2.44 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
112.8 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
51.47 years
male:
50.34 years
female:
52.65 years (1994 est.)
Total fertility rate:
7.2 children born/woman (1994 est.)
Nationality:
noun:
Yemeni(s)
adjective:
Yemeni
Ethnic divisions:
predominantly Arab; Afro-Arab concentrations in coastal locations;
South Asians in southern regions; small European communities in major
metropolitan areas; 60,000 (est.) Somali refugees encamped near Aden
Religions:
Muslim including Sha'fi (Sunni) and Zaydi (Shi'a), Jewish, Christian,
Hindu
Languages:
Arabic
Literacy:
age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)
total population:
38%
male:
53%
female:
26%
Labor force:
no reliable estimates exist, most people are employed in agriculture
and herding or as expatriate laborers; services, construction,
industry, and commerce account for less than half of the labor force

@Yemen, Government

Names:
conventional long form:
Republic of Yemen
conventional short form:
Yemen
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