|
| Country Name: |
Yemen Al-Jumhuriyyah al-Yamaniyah الجمهوريّة اليمنية
|
| 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.
|
| Area: |
527,970 sq km |
| Population: |
23,822,783 (July 2009 est.) |
| Ethnic Groups: |
predominantly Arab; but also Afro-Arab, South Asians, Europeans |
| Borders: |
Oman 288 km, Saudi Arabia 1,458 km |
| Natural Resources: |
petroleum, fish, rock salt, marble, small deposits of coal, gold, lead, nickel, and copper, fertile soil in west |
| Capital: |
Sana |
| Government Type: |
republic |
| Independence: |
22 May 1990, Republic of Yemen was established |
| Languages: |
Arabic |
| Currency: |
Yemeni Rial |
| GMT: |
GMT (+3) |
|