Yemen - MC Grecof

Introduction

Flag:

Card:

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

Geography

Location:

Middle East, bordering the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Red Sea, between Oman and Saudi Arabia

Coordinates:

15° 00' N, 48° 00' E

Map references:

Middle East

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)

Climate:

mostly desert; hot and humid along west coast; temperate in western mountains affected by seasonal monsoon; extraordinarily hot, dry, harsh desert in east

Gelände:

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

Elevation extremes:

lowest point: Arabian Sea 0 m
highest point: Jabal an Nabi Shu'ayb 3,760 m

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

People

Population:

18.078.035 (Juli 2001 est.)

Nationality:

noun: Yemeni(s)
adjective: Yemeni

Ethnic groups:

predominantly Arab; but also Afro-Arab, South Asians, Europeans

Religions:

Muslim including Shaf'i (Sunni) and Zaydi (Shi'a), small numbers of Jewish, Christian, and Hindu

Languages:

Arabic

Government

Country name:

conventional long form: Republic of Yemen
conventional short form: Yemen
local long form: Al Jumhuriyah al Yaman
iyahlocal short form: Al Yaman

Government type:

Republic

Capital:

Sanaa

National holiday:

Unification Day, 22 May (1990)

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

Economy

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, but was harmed by low oil prices in 1998. Yemen has embarked on an IMF-supported structural adjustment program designed to modernize and streamline the economy, which has led to foreign debt relief and restructuring. Aided by higher oil prices in 1999-2000, Yemen worked to maintain tight control over spending and implement additional components of the IMF program. A high population growth rate of nearly 3.4% and internal political dissension complicate the government's task.

Industries:

crude oil production and petroleum refining; small-scale production of cotton textiles and leather goods; food processing; handicrafts; small aluminum products factory; cement

Agriculture - products:

Agriculture - products

Currency:

Rial Yemeni (YER)

Currency code:

YER

Transportation

Railways:

0 Km

Highways:

total: 69,263 km
paved: 9,963 km
unpaved: 59,300 km (1999)

Ports and harbors:

Aden, Al Hudaydah, Al Mukalla, Mocha, Nishtun

Coffee

Growing-areas:

Razeh, Kohlan, Kawalan, Harraz

Qualities:

Arabica Coffee

Altitute:

1000 - 2300 meter

Harvest:

Oktober - December

Shippingperiod:

December - July

Port of Export:

Moka

Shipment:

in container in bags (250 of each 60,- kos net)

Caffeine content:

1,01 %