of Aden, one of world's most active shipping lanes

_*_People
_#_Population: 10,062,633 (July 1991), growth rate 3.2% (1991)

_#_Birth rate: 51 births/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Death rate: 16 deaths/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Net migration rate: - 3 migrants/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Infant mortality rate: 121 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)

_#_Life expectancy at birth: 49 years male, 51 years female (1991)

_#_Total fertility rate: 7.4 children born/woman (1991)

_#_Nationality: noun--Yemeni(s); adjective--Yemeni

_#_Ethnic divisions:
North--Arab 90%, Afro-Arab (mixed) 10%;
South--almost all Arabs; a few Indians, Somalis, and Europeans

_#_Religion:
North--Muslim 100% (Sunni and Shia);
South--Sunni Muslim, some Christian and Hindu

_#_Language: Arabic

_#_Literacy: 38% (male 53%, female 26%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1990 est.)

_#_Labor force:
North--NA number of workers with agriculture and herding 70%, and
expatriate laborers 30% (est.);
South--477,000 with agriculture 45.2%, services 21.2%, construction
13.4%, industry 10.6%, commerce and other 9.6% (1983)

_#_Organized labor:
North--NA;
South--348,200 and the General Confederation of Workers of the
People's Democratic Republic of Yemen had 35,000 members

_*_Government
_#_Long-form name: Republic of Yemen

_#_Type: republic

_#_Capital: Sanaa

_#_Administrative divisions: 17 governorates (muhafazat,
singular--muhafazah); Abyan, Adan, Al Bayda,
Al Hudaydah, Al Jawf, Al Mahrah, Al Mahwit, Dhamar,
Hadramawt, Hajjah, Ibb, Lahij, Marib, Sadah, Sana,
Shabwah, Taizz

_#_Independence: Republic of Yemen was established on 22 May 1990
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]; previously North Yemen had become
independent on NA November 1918 (from the Ottoman Empire) and South
Yemen had become independent on 30 November 1967 (from the UK); the
union is to be solidified during a 30-month transition period, which
coincides with the remainder of the five-year terms of both legislatures

_#_Constitution: 16 April 1991

_#_Legal system: based on Islamic law, Turkish law, English common
law, and local customary law; does not accept compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

_#_National holiday: Proclamation of the Republic, 22 May (1990)

_#_Executive branch: five-member Pr