Yemen (capital Sanaa), including its island Socotra.
Former President Saleh, had been a military man
supported by the army. Left office February 27, 2012.
World Factbook: "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"
Country Comparisons: chart
World Factbook: "Yemen is a low income country that is highly dependent on declining oil resources for revenue. Petroleum accounts for roughly 25% of GDP and 70% of government revenue."
Typical of poorer countries, Yemen has low health figures, a high birth rate and a poor corruption index figure.
Economic growth rate
2011: minus 2.5%
2010: 8%
2009: 3.9%
Most people are employed in agriculture and herding.
Unemployment rate
2003: 35%
Inflation rate for 2010: 12.2%
Public debt
2011: 3.2%
Export commodities
Crude oil, coffee, dried and salted fish, liquefied natural gas
Export partners
2010:
China 34.4%, India 23%, Thailand 6.6%, South Africa 5.7%, Japan 5.3%, UAE 4.8%
Export/import ratio
2011: exports $7.127 billion, imports $9.187 billion
Income Distribution – gini index
Ranks 76th among 140 countries (higher rank number is more equal, lower rank number is less equal). Less equal than Britain, which ranks 94th, and more equal than the US, which ranks 45th.
Two state-run television stations, Channel One from Sanaa and Channel Two from Aden.
Female to male income ratio: 30:100 (Foreign Policy magazine, 2008.
Health expenditures
2009: 5.6% of GDP
Living in an urban area
2010: 32%
Ethnic groups
Predominantly Arab; but also Afro-Arab, South Asians, Europeans
Religions
Muslim including Shaf'i (Sunni) and Zaydi (Shia), small numbers of Jewish, Christian, and Hindu
Literacy, Age 15 and Older
2003: males 70.5%, females 35%
South of Saudi Arabia: 1906 kilometers of coastline along the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. 1,100 kilometers east and west. 300 kilometers north and south. Mostly desert. Capital: Sanna
Chief of state: Abd Rabbuh Mansur Al-Hadi (president) since 23 Novermber 2011, Sunni Muslim, General People's Congress, former vice president under President Saleh, anti Al-Qaeda and terrorism. Head of government: Mohammed Basindawa (prime minister) since 10 December 2011, Sunni Muslim, in the early 2000s joined the opposition to President Saleh as an Independent.
President elected by popular vote for a seven-year term.
A bicameral legislature, one body, the Shura, consisting of 111 seats, its members appointed by the president. The second body, with 301 seats, its members elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms.
2008: Women in Assembly of Representatives: 1 percent. For women, a passport and travel abroad requires a husband’s or father’s permission.
Independent of the Ottoman Empire in 1918.
In 1970 a government in southern Yemen adopts a Marxist orientation.
Two decades of hostility between a government in the north and a government in the south ends in 1990 with unification: the creation of the Republic of Yemen.
A southern secessionist movement in 1994 is crushed.
April 2007: In Yemen water is precious and scarce. Forty percent of irrigation water goes to the growing the drug khat, widely used by the Yemeni people, with farmers receiving 20 times the return they would growing potatoes. Yemen is one of the poorest countries in the world and importing most of its food. Khat gives people who chew it a mild euphoria.
Apr 2008: Foreign Policy magazine describes Yemen as 36 percent undernourished, with wheat prices having doubled since February 2008.
Mar 5, 2011: Demonstrations have been going on in Yemen since early February. Protesters want a better distribution of wealth and President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has ruled for 33 years, to step down. Yemen is over-populated and suffers high unemployment. The protesters want more job opportunities and an end to corruption. Yemen has a Shia rebellion in the north, a separatist movement in the south, and a resurgent al-Qaeda in its east. President Saleh has agreed not to run again at the end of his term in office in 2013.
Copyright © 2009-2011 by Frank E. Smitha. All rights reserved.
