Reunion (2002) | Yemen (2002) | |
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Administrative divisions | none (overseas department of France); there are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the US Government, but there are 4 arrondissements, 24 communes, and 47 cantons | 19 governorates (muhafazat, singular - muhafazah); Abyan, 'Adan, Ad Dali', Al Bayda', Al Hudaydah, Al Jawf, Al Mahrah, Al Mahwit, 'Amran, Dhamar, Hadramawt, Hajjah, Ibb, Lahij, Ma'rib, Sa'dah, San'a', Shabwah, Ta'izz
note: there may be one additional governorate of the capital city of Sanaa |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 31.7% (male 120,864; female 115,251)
15-64 years: 62.5% (male 228,864; female 235,991) 65 years and over: 5.8% (male 17,459; female 25,552) (2002 est.) |
0-14 years: 47% (male 4,468,928; female 4,317,648)
15-64 years: 50.1% (male 4,783,769; female 4,587,309) 65 years and over: 2.9% (male 273,282; female 270,321) (2002 est.) |
Agriculture - products | sugarcane, vanilla, tobacco, tropical fruits, vegetables, corn | grain, fruits, vegetables, pulses, qat (mildly narcotic shrub), coffee, cotton; dairy products, livestock (sheep, goats, cattle, camels), poultry; fish |
Airports | 2 (2001) | 49 (2001) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2002) |
total: 16
over 3,047 m: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 9 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2002) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | - | total: 28
over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 7 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 11 under 914 m: 4 (2002) |
Area | total: 2,517 sq km
land: 2,507 sq km water: 10 sq km |
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) |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Rhode Island | slightly larger than twice the size of Wyoming |
Background | The Portuguese discovered the uninhabited island in 1513. From the 17th to the 19th centuries, French immigration supplemented by influxes of Africans, Chinese, Malays, and Malabar Indians gave the island its ethnic mix. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 cost the island its importance as a stopover on the East Indies trade route. | 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. |
Birth rate | 20.7 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 43.3 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Budget | revenues: NA
expenditures: NA, including capital expenditures of $NA |
revenues: $3 billion
expenditures: $3.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001 est.) |
Capital | Saint-Denis | Sanaa |
Climate | tropical, but temperature moderates with elevation; cool and dry from May to November, hot and rainy from November to April | mostly desert; hot and humid along west coast; temperate in western mountains affected by seasonal monsoon; extraordinarily hot, dry, harsh desert in east |
Coastline | 207 km | 1,906 km |
Constitution | 28 September 1958 (French Constitution) | 16 May 1991; amended 29 September 1994 and February 2001 |
Country name | conventional long form: Department of Reunion
conventional short form: Reunion local long form: none local short form: Ile de la Reunion former: Bourbon Island |
conventional long form: Republic of Yemen
conventional short form: Yemen local long form: Al Jumhuriyah al Yamaniyah local short form: Al Yaman |
Currency | euro (EUR); French franc (FRF) | Yemeni rial (YER) |
Death rate | 5.51 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 9.31 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Debt - external | $NA | $4.7 billion (2001) |
Dependency status | overseas department of France | - |
Diplomatic representation from the US | none (overseas department of France) | chief of mission: Ambassador Edmund J. HULL
embassy: Dhahar Himyar Zone, Sheraton Hotel District, Sanaa mailing address: P. O. Box 22347, Sanaa telephone: [967] (1) 303-161 FAX: [967] (1) 303-182 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | none (overseas department of France) | chief of mission: Ambassador Abd al-Wahhab Abdallah al-HAJRI
chancery: Suite 705, 2600 Virginia Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20037 telephone: [1] (202) 965-4760 FAX: [1] (202) 337-2017 |
Disputes - international | none | demarcation of delimited boundary with Saudi Arabia involves nomadic tribal affiliations; Yemen has asserted traditional fishing rights to islands ceded to Eritrea in ICJ ruling |
Economic aid - recipient | $NA; note - substantial annual subsidies from France | $176.1 million (1995) (1995) |
Economy - overview | The economy has traditionally been based on agriculture. Sugarcane has been the primary crop for more than a century, and in some years it accounts for 85% of exports. The government has been pushing the development of a tourist industry to relieve high unemployment, which amounts to more than 40% of the labor force. The gap in Reunion between the well-off and the poor is extraordinary and accounts for the persistent social tensions. The white and Indian communities are substantially better off than other segments of the population, often approaching European standards, whereas minority groups suffer the poverty and unemployment typical of the poorer nations of the African continent. The outbreak of severe rioting in February 1991 illustrates the seriousness of socioeconomic tensions. The economic well-being of Reunion depends heavily on continued financial assistance from France. | Yemen, one of the poorest countries in the Arab world, reported strong growth in the mid-1990s with the onset of oil production, but has been harmed by periodic declines in oil prices. Yemen has embarked on an IMF-supported structural adjustment program designed to modernize and streamline the economy, which has led to substantial 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 and internal political dissension complicate the government's task. |
Electricity - consumption | 1.014 billion kWh (2000) | 2.976 billion kWh (2000) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2000) | 0 kWh (2000) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2000) | 0 kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production | 1.09 billion kWh (2000) | 3.2 billion kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel: 55%
hydro: 45% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2000) |
fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2000) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Piton des Neiges 3,069 m |
lowest point: Arabian Sea 0 m
highest point: Jabal an Nabi Shu'ayb 3,760 m |
Environment - current issues | NA | very limited natural fresh water resources; inadequate supplies of potable water; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification |
Environment - international agreements | - | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: Nuclear Test Ban |
Ethnic groups | French, African, Malagasy, Chinese, Pakistani, Indian | predominantly Arab; but also Afro-Arab, South Asians, Europeans |
Exchange rates | euros per US dollar - 1.1324 (January 2002), 1.1175 (2001), 1.0854 (2000), 0.9386 (1999); French francs per US dollar - 5.8995 (1998), 5.8367 (1997) | Yemeni rials per US dollar - 171.860 (December 2001), 168.678 (2001), 161.718 (2000), 155.718 (1999), 135.882 (1998), 129.281 (1997) |
Executive branch | chief of state: President Jacques CHIRAC of France (since 17 May 1995), represented by Prefect Gonthier FRIEDERICI (since NA)
head of government: President of the General Council Jean-Luc POUDROUX (since NA March 1998) and President of the Regional Council Paul VERGES (since NA March 1993) cabinet: NA elections: French president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; prefect appointed by the French president on the advice of the French Ministry of the Interior; the presidents of the General and Regional Councils are elected by the members of those councils |
chief of state: President Field Marshall Ali Abdallah SALIH (since 22 May 1990, the former president of North Yemen, assumed office upon the merger of North and South Yemen); Vice President Maj. Gen. Abd al-Rab Mansur al-HADI (since 3 October 1994)
head of government: Prime Minister Abd al-Qadir BA JAMAL (since 4 April 2001) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the advice of the prime minister elections: president elected by direct, popular vote for a seven-year term (recently extended from a five-year term by constitutional amendment); election last held 23 September 1999 (next to be held NA 2006); vice president appointed by the president; prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president election results: Ali Abdallah SALIH elected president; percent of vote - Ali Abdallah SALIH 96.3%, Najib Qahtan AL-SHAABI 3.7% |
Exports | $214 million f.o.b. (1997) | $3.9 billion f.o.b. (2001 est.) |
Exports - commodities | sugar 63%, rum and molasses 4%, perfume essences 2%, lobster 3%, (1993) | crude oil, coffee, dried and salted fish |
Exports - partners | France 74%, Japan 6%, Comoros 4% (1994) | Thailand 34%, China 26%, South Korea 14%, Singapore 9%, Japan 3%, Saudi Arabia 3% (1999) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | the flag of France is used | 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 |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $3.4 billion (1998 est.) | purchasing power parity - $14.8 billion (2001 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: NA%
industry: NA% services: NA% |
agriculture: 17%
industry: 40% services: 43% (1998) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $4,800 (1998 est.) | purchasing power parity - $820 (2001 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 3.8% (1998 est.) | 4% (2001 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 21 06 S, 55 36 E | 15 00 N, 48 00 E |
Geography - note | this mountainous, volcanic island has an active volcano, Piton de la Fournaise; there is a tropical cyclone center at Saint-Denis, which is the monitoring station for the whole of the Indian Ocean | 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 |
Highways | total: 2,724 km
paved: 1,300 km (including 73 km of four-lane road) unpaved: 1,424 km note: 370 km of road are maintained by national authorities, 754 km by departmental authorities and 1,600 km by local authorities (1994) |
total: 69,263 km
paved: 9,963 km unpaved: 59,300 km (1999) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%: 3%
highest 10%: 26% (1998) (1998) |
Imports | $2.5 billion c.i.f. (1997) | $3 billion f.o.b. (2001 est.) |
Imports - commodities | manufactured goods, food, beverages, tobacco, machinery and transportation equipment, raw materials, and petroleum products | food and live animals, machinery and equipment |
Imports - partners | France 64%, Bahrain 3%, Germany 3%, Italy 3% (1994) | Saudi Arabia 10%, UAE 8%, France 7%, US 7%, Italy 6% (1999) |
Independence | none (overseas department of France) | 22 May 1990, Republic of Yemen was established 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) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA% | NA% |
Industries | sugar, rum, cigarettes, handicraft items, flower oil extraction | crude oil production and petroleum refining; small-scale production of cotton textiles and leather goods; food processing; handicrafts; small aluminum products factory; cement |
Infant mortality rate | 8.31 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) | 66.78 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | NA% | 10% (2001 est.) |
International organization participation | FZ, InOC, WFTU | ACC, AFESD, AL, AMF, CAEU, CCC, ESCWA, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ITU, NAM, OAS (observer), OIC, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer) |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 1 (2000) | 1 (2000) |
Irrigated land | 120 sq km (1998 est.) | 4,900 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Court of Appeals or Cour d'Appel | Supreme Court |
Labor force | 261,000 (1995) (1995) | NA |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 8%, industry 19%, services 73% (1990) (1990) | most people are employed in agriculture and herding; services, construction, industry, and commerce account for less than one-fourth of the labor force |
Land boundaries | 0 km | total: 1,746 km
border countries: Oman 288 km, Saudi Arabia 1,458 km |
Land use | arable land: 13.2%
permanent crops: 2% other: 84.8% (1998 est.) |
arable land: 2.75%
permanent crops: 0.21% other: 97.04% (1998 est.) |
Languages | French (official), Creole widely used | Arabic |
Legal system | French law | based on Islamic law, Turkish law, English common law, and local tribal customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
Legislative branch | unicameral General Council (49 seats; members are elected by direct, popular vote to serve six-year terms) and a unicameral Regional Council (45 seats; members are elected by direct, popular vote to serve six-year terms)
elections: General Council - last held 15 and 22 March 1998 (next to be held NA 2004); Regional Council - last held 15 March 1998 (next to be held NA 2004) election results: General Council - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - various right-wing candidates 13, PCR 10, PS 10, UDF 8, RPR 6, other left-wing candidates 2; Regional Council - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PCR 19, UDF 9, RPR 8, various right-wing candidates 4, various left-wing candidates 5 note: Reunion elects three representatives to the French Senate; elections last held NA 2001 (next to be held NA 2006); results - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NA; Reunion also elects five deputies to the French National Assembly; elections last held 9 June-16 June 2002 (next to be held NA 2007); results - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - UMP-RPR 1, UMP 1, PCR 1 |
a new constitutional amendment ratified on 20 February 2001 created a bicameral legislature consisting of a Shura Council (111 seats; members appointed by the president) and a House of Representatives (301 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms)
elections: last held 27 April 1997 (next to be held 27 April 2003) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - GPC 189, Islah 52, Nasserite Unionist Party 3, National Arab Socialist Baath Party 2, independents 54, election pending 1; seats by party as of January 2002: GPC 223, Islah 64, Nasserite Unionist Party 3, National Arab Socialist Baath Party 2, YSP 2, independents 7 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 73.18 years
male: 69.78 years female: 76.74 years (2002 est.) |
total population: 60.59 years
male: 58.81 years female: 62.46 years (2002 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 79% male: 76% female: 80% (1982 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 38% male: 53% female: 26% (1990 est.) |
Location | Southern Africa, island in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar | Middle East, bordering the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Red Sea, between Oman and Saudi Arabia |
Map references | World | Middle East |
Maritime claims | exclusive economic zone: 200 NM
territorial sea: 12 NM |
contiguous zone: 24 NM
continental shelf: 200 NM or to the edge of the continental margin exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
Merchant marine | total: 1 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 28,264 GRT/44,885 DWT
ships by type: chemical tanker 1 note: includes a foreign-owned ship registered here as a flag of convenience: France 1 (2002 est.) |
total: 4 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 15,002 GRT/23,752 DWT
ships by type: cargo 1, petroleum tanker 3 note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Hong Kong 2 (2002 est.) |
Military - note | defense is the responsibility of France | establishement of a Coast Guard, scheduled for May 2001, has been delayed |
Military branches | no regular indigenous military forces; French forces (including Army, Navy, Air Force, and Gendarmerie) | Army (includes Special Forces, established in 1999), Navy, Air Force, Air Defense Forces, Republican Guard |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $482.5 million (FY01) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | - | 5.2% (FY01) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 194,485 (2002 est.) | males age 15-49: 4,272,156 (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 99,251 (2002 est.) | males age 15-49: 2,397,914 (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | 18 years of age (2002 est.) | 14 years of age (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males: 6,243 (2002 est.) | males: 238,690 (2002 est.) |
National holiday | Bastille Day, 14 July (1789) | Unification Day, 22 May (1990) |
Nationality | noun: Reunionese (singular and plural)
adjective: Reunionese |
noun: Yemeni(s)
adjective: Yemeni |
Natural hazards | periodic, devastating cyclones (December to April); Piton de la Fournaise on the southeastern coast is an active volcano | sandstorms and dust storms in summer |
Natural resources | fish, arable land, hydropower | petroleum, fish, rock salt, marble, small deposits of coal, gold, lead, nickel, and copper, fertile soil in west |
Net migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Pipelines | - | crude oil 644 km; petroleum products 32 km |
Political parties and leaders | Communist Party of Reunion or PCR [Paul VERGES]; Rally for the Republic or RPR [Andre Maurice PIHOUEE]; Socialist Party or PS [Jean-Claude FRUTEAU]; Union for French Democracy or UDF [Gilbert GERARD] | there are over 12 political parties active in Yemen, some of the more prominent are: General People's Congress or GPC [President Ali Abdallah SALIH]; Islamic Reform Grouping or Islah [Shaykh Abdallah bin Husayn al-AHMAR]; National Arab Socialist Baath Party [Dr. Qassim SALAAM]; Nasserite Unionist Party [Abdel Malik al-MAKHLAFI]; Yemeni Socialist Party or YSP [Ali Salih MUQBIL]
note: President SALIH's General People's Congress or GPC won a landslide victory in the April 1997 legislative election and no longer governs in coalition with Shaykh Abdallah bin Husayn al-AHMAR's Islamic Reform Grouping or Islah - the two parties had been in coalition since the end of the civil war in 1994; the YSP, a loyal opposition party, boycotted the April 1997 legislative election, but announced that it would participate in Yemen's first local elections which were held in February 2001; these local elections aim to decentralize political power and are a key element of the government's political reform program |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | NA |
Population | 743,981 (July 2002 est.) | 18,701,257 (July 2002 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | NA |
Population growth rate | 1.52% (2002 est.) | 3.4% (2002 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Le Port, Pointe des Galets | Aden, Al Hudaydah, Al Mukalla, As Salif, Ras Issa, Mocha, Nishtun |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 2, FM 55, shortwave 0 (2001) | AM 6, FM 1, shortwave 2 (1998) |
Radios | 173,000 (1997) | 1.05 million (1997) |
Railways | 0 km | 0 km |
Religions | Roman Catholic 86%, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist (1995) | Muslim including Shaf'i (Sunni) and Zaydi (Shi'a), small numbers of Jewish, Christian, and Hindu |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.68 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2002 est.) |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.01 male(s)/female total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2002 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: adequate system; principal center is Saint-Denis
domestic: modern open wire and microwave radio relay network international: radiotelephone communication to Comoros, France, Madagascar; new microwave route to Mauritius; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) |
general assessment: since unification in 1990, efforts have been made to create a national telecommunications network
domestic: the national network consists of microwave radio relay, cable, tropospheric scatter, and GSM cellular mobile telephone systems international: satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (2 Indian Ocean and 1 Atlantic Ocean), 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region), and 2 Arabsat; microwave radio relay to Saudi Arabia and Djibouti |
Telephones - main lines in use | 268,500 (1999) | 291,359 (1999) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 197,000 (September 2000) | 32,042 (2000) |
Television broadcast stations | 35 (plus 18 low-power repeaters) (2001) | 7 (plus several low-power repeaters) (1997) |
Terrain | mostly rugged and mountainous; fertile lowlands along coast | 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 |
Total fertility rate | 2.55 children born/woman (2002 est.) | 6.9 children born/woman (2002 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 42.8% (1998) (1998) | 30% (1995 est.) |
Waterways | none | none |