Yemen » Key Facts
Location
Middle East, Arabian Peninsula.
Area
536,869 sq km (207,286 sq miles).
Population
22,200,000 (2007).
Population Density
41.4 per sq km.
Capital
Sana'a
Government
Republic since 1990.
Geography
The Republic of Yemen is bordered in the northwest, north and northeast by Saudi Arabia, in the east by Oman and in the south by the Gulf of Aden. To the west lies the Red Sea. The islands of Perim and Karam in the southern Red Sea are also part of the Republic. Yemen is predominantly mountainous, supporting terraced agriculture. The Hadramaut is a range of high mountains in the centre of the country. Highlands rise steeply in central Yemen, ranging in height from approximately 200m (656ft) to the 4,000m (13,123ft) peak of Jabal Nabi Shauib. In contrast is Tihama, a flat semi-desert coastal plain to the west, 50 to 100km (30 to 60 miles) wide. Surface water flows down from the mountains through the valleys during the rainy season and the area is cultivated for cotton and grain. In the east, the mountains drop away to the Rub al-Khali or 'Empty Quarter' of the Arabian Peninsula, a vast sea of sand. The arid coastal plains are fringed with sandy beaches.
Language
Arabic. English may be understood by some in larger cities.
Religion
Sunni Muslim (especially in the north) and Shia Muslim, with some small Christian and Hindu communities. There is still a tiny Jewish minority.
Time
GMT + 3.
Social Conventions
There are plenty of jokes about Yemeni hospitality, usually involving enforced stays in hidden mountain caves surrounded by armed men. However, with rare exceptions, Yemeni hospitality is traditional, courteous and generous. Yemen is a conservative Muslim country with all the prohibitions that this entails; women in particular should dress modestly and in some instances cover their hair. Mosques with the exception of certain times at Sana’a’s Al Saleh Mosque, and many Islamic holy sites, are off limits to non-Muslims; alcohol is forbidden to Yemenis and restricted to upmarket tourist hotels for foreigners. No such Islamic prohibition applies to qat. Pervading almost all strata of society, buying, chewing and waxing lyrical over narcotic qat leaves is a national obsession verging on addiction – everything stops for qat.
Electricity
220/230 volts AC, 50Hz.
Head of Government
Prime Minister Ali Muhammad Mujawar since 2007.
Head of State
President Ali Abdullah Saleh since 1990.
Recent History
At the most recent election for the House of Representatives, in April 2003, the General People’s Congress (GPC) took an overall majority with 238 seats; most of the remainder were taken by Al-Islah. President Ali Abdullah Saleh was re-elected to a further seven-year term in the September 2006 presidential elections (despite previously declaring he would not run), winning 77% of the vote. It was, however, the first time he had faced a serious challenge at the polls. His main rival, Faisal al-Shamlan, gained 21.8% of the vote.
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Information in this section was last updated: Wed May 23 2012
