Serbia (2006) | Yemen (2005) | |
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Administrative divisions | 29 districts (okrugov; singular - okrug), 1 capital city*
Serbia Proper: Belgrad*, Bor, Branicevo, Jablanica, Kolubara, Macva, Moravica, Nisava, Pcinja, Pirot, Podunavlje, Pomoravlje, Rasina, Raska, Sumadija, Toplica, Zajecar, Zlatibor Vojvodina Autonomous Province: Central Banat, North Backa, North Banat, South Backa, South Banat, Srem, West Backa Kosovo and Metojia Autonomous Province: Kosovo, Kosovska-Mitrovica, Kosovo-Pomoravlje, Pec, Prizren |
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: for electoral and administrative purposes, the capital city of Sanaa is treated as an additional governorate |
Age structure | - | 0-14 years: 46.5% (male 4,905,831/female 4,727,177)
15-64 years: 50.8% (male 5,364,711/female 5,172,811) 65 years and over: 2.7% (male 274,166/female 282,367) (2005 est.) |
Agriculture - products | wheat, maize, sugar beets, sunflower, beef, pork, milk | grain, fruits, vegetables, pulses, qat (mildly narcotic shrub), coffee, cotton; dairy products, livestock (sheep, goats, cattle, camels), poultry; fish |
Airports | 39 (2006) | 44 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 16
over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 4 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 4 (2006) |
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 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 23
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 9 under 914 m: 12 (2006) |
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 (2004 est.) |
Area | total: 88,361 sq km
land: 88,361 sq km water: 0 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 larger than South Carolina | slightly larger than twice the size of Wyoming |
Background | The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes was formed in 1918; its name was changed to Yugoslavia in 1929. Occupation by Nazi Germany in 1941 was resisted by various paramilitary bands that fought each other as well as the invaders. The group headed by Josip TITO took full control of Yugoslavia upon German expulsion in 1945. Although Communist, his new government and its successors (he died in 1980) managed to steer their own path between the Warsaw Pact nations and the West for the next four and a half decades. In the early 1990s, post-TITO Yugoslavia began to unravel along ethnic lines: Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina were recognized as independent states in 1992. The remaining republics of Serbia and Montenegro declared a new Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) in April 1992 and, under President Slobodan MILOSEVIC, Serbia led various military intervention efforts to unite ethnic Serbs in neighboring republics into a "Greater Serbia." These actions led to Yugoslavia being ousted from the UN in 1992, but Serbia continued its campaign until signing the Dayton Peace Accords in 1995. In 1998-99, massive expulsions by FRY forces and Serb paramilitaries of ethnic Albanians living in Kosovo provoked an international response, including the NATO bombing of Belgrade and the stationing of a NATO-led force (KFOR), in Kosovo. Federal elections in the fall of 2000, brought about the ouster of MILOSEVIC and installed Vojislav KOSTUNICA as president. The arrest of MILOSEVIC in 2001 allowed for his subsequent transfer to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague to be tried for crimes against humanity. In 2001, the country's suspension from the UN was lifted, and it was once more accepted into UN organizations under the name of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Kosovo has been governed by the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) since June 1999, under the authority of UN Security Council Resolution 1244, pending a determination by the international community of its future status. In 2002, the Serbian and Montenegrin components of Yugoslavia began negotiations to forge a looser relationship. In February 2003 lawmakers restructured the country into a loose federation of two republics called Serbia and Montenegro. The Constitutional Charter of Serbia and Montenegro included a provision that allowed either republic to hold a referendum after three years that would allow for their independence from the state union. In the spring of 2006, Montenegro took advantage of the provision to undertake a successful independence vote enabling it to secede on 3 June. Two days later, Serbia declared that it was the successor state to the union of Serbia and Montenegro. | 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 | - | 43.07 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $11.45 billion
expenditures: $11.12 billion; including capital expenditures $NA; note - figures are for Serbia and Montenegro; Serbian Statistical Office indicates that for 2006 budget, Serbia will have revenues of $7.08 billion (2005 est.) |
revenues: $4.251 billion
expenditures: $4.568 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.) |
Capital | name: Belgrade
geographic coordinates: 44 50 N, 20 30 E time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October |
Sanaa |
Climate | in the north, continental climate (cold winters and hot, humid summers with well distributed rainfall); in other parts, continental and Mediterranean climate (hot, dry summers and autumns and relatively cold winters with heavy snowfall) | mostly desert; hot and humid along west coast; temperate in western mountains affected by seasonal monsoon; extraordinarily hot, dry, harsh desert in east |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 1,906 km |
Constitution | 28 September 1990; note - a new draft constitution approved by Parliament on 30 September 2006 stresses that Kosovo is an integral part of Serbia; the draft must still be approved by a national referendum | 16 May 1991; amended 29 September 1994 and February 2001 |
Country name | conventional long form: Republic of Serbia
conventional short form: Serbia local long form: Republika Srbija local short form: Srbija former: People's Republic of Serbia, Socialist Republic of Serbia |
conventional long form: Republic of Yemen
conventional short form: Yemen local long form: Al Jumhuriyah al Yamaniyah local short form: Al Yaman former: Yemen Arab Republic [Yemen (Sanaa) or North Yemen] and People's Democratic Republic of Yemen [Yemen (Aden) or South Yemen] |
Death rate | - | 8.53 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Debt - external | $15.43 billion (including Montenegro) (2005 est.) | $5.4 billion (2004 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Michael C. POLT
embassy: Kneza Milosa 50, 11000 Belgrade mailing address: 5070 Belgrade Place, Washington, DC 20521-5070 telephone: [381] (11) 361-9344 FAX: [381] (11) 361-8230 note: there is a branch office in Pristina at 30 Nazim Hikmet 38000 Prstina, Kososvo; telephone: [381] (38) 549-516; FAX:[381] (38) 549-890 |
chief of mission: Ambassador Thomas C. KRAJESKI
embassy: Saawan Street, Sanaa mailing address: P. O. Box 22347, Sanaa telephone: [967] (1) 303-151 through 159 FAX: [967] (1) 303-160/161/162/164/165 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Ivan VUJACIC
chancery: 2134 Kalorama Road NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 332-0333 FAX: [1] (202) 332-3933 consulate(s) general: Chicago, New York |
chief of mission: Ambassador Abd al-Wahab 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 | the final status of the Serbian province of Kosovo remains unresolved and several thousand peacekeepers from the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) have administered the region since 1999, with Kosovar Albanians overwhelmingly supporting and Serbian officials opposing Kosovo independence; the international community had agreed to begin a process to determine final status but contingency of solidifying multi-ethnic democracy in Kosovo has not been satisfied; ethnic Albanians in Kosovo refuse demarcation of the boundary with Macedonia in accordance with the 2000 Macedonia-Serbia and Montenegro delimitation agreement; Serbia and Montenegro delimited about half of the boundary with Bosnia and Herzegovina, but sections with Serbia along the Drina River remain in dispute | Yemen protests Eritrea fishing around the Hanish Islands awarded to Yemen by the ICJ in 1999; despite resistance from nomadic groups, the demarcation of the Saudi Arabia-Yemen boundary established under the 2000 Jeddah Treaty is almost complete; Yemen protests Saudi erection of a concrete-filled pipe as a security barrier in 2004 to stem illegal cross-border activities in sections of the boundary |
Economic aid - recipient | $2 billion pledged in 2001 to Serbia and Montenegro (disbursements to follow over several years; aid pledged by EU and US has been placed on hold because of lack of cooperation by Serbia in handing over General Ratco MLADIC to the criminal court in The Hague) | $2.3 billion (2003-07 disbursements) (2003-07 disbursements) |
Economy - overview | MILOSEVIC-era mismanagement of the economy, an extended period of economic sanctions, and the damage to Yugoslavia's infrastructure and industry during the NATO airstrikes in 1999 left the economy only half the size it was in 1990. After the ousting of former Federal Yugoslav President MILOSEVIC in October 2000, the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) coalition government implemented stabilization measures and embarked on a market reform program. After renewing its membership in the IMF in December 2000, a down-sized Yugoslavia continued to reintegrate into the international community by rejoining the World Bank (IBRD) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). A World Bank-European Commission sponsored Donors' Conference held in June 2001 raised $1.3 billion for economic restructuring. In November 2001, the Paris Club agreed to reschedule the country's $4.5 billion public debt and wrote off 66% of the debt. In July 2004, the London Club of private creditors forgave $1.7 billion of debt, just over half the total owed. Belgrade has made only minimal progress in restructuring and privatizing its holdings in major sectors of the economy, including energy and telecommunications. It has made halting progress towards EU membership and is currently pursuing a Stabilization and Association Agreement with Brussels. Serbia is also pursuing membership in the World Trade Organization. Unemployment remains an ongoing political and economic problem. The Republic of Montenegro severed its economy from Serbia during the MILOSEVIC era; therefore, the formal separation of Serbia and Montenegro in June 2006 had little real impact on either economy. Kosovo's economy continues to transition to a market-based system and is largely dependent on the international community and the diaspora for financial and technical assistance. The euro and the Yugoslav dinar are both accepted currencies in Kosovo. While maintaining ultimate oversight, UNMIK continues to work with the EU and Kosovo's local provisional government to accelerate economic growth, lower unemployment, and attract foreign investment to help Kosovo integrate into regional economic structures. The complexity of Serbia and Kosovo's political and legal relationships has created uncertainty over property rights and hindered the privatization of state-owned assets in Kosovo. Most of Kosovo's population lives in rural towns outside of the largest city, Pristina. Inefficient, near-subsistence farming is common.
note: economic data for Serbia currently reflects information for the former Serbia and Montenegro, unless otherwise noted; data for Serbia alone will be added when available |
Yemen, one of the poorest countries in the Arab world, has reported strong growth since 2000, but its economic fortunes depend mostly on oil. 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. Yemen has worked to maintain tight control over spending and to implement additional components of the IMF program, but a high population growth rate and internal political dissension complicate the government's task. Plans include a diversification of the economy, encouragement of tourism, and more efficient use of scarce water resources. |
Electricity - consumption | NA | 2.827 billion kWh (2002 est.) |
Electricity - exports | 12.05 billion kWh (excluding Kosovo; exported to Montenegro) (2004) | 0 kWh (2002) |
Electricity - imports | 11.23 billion kWh (excluding Kosovo; imports from Montenegro) (2004) | 0 kWh (2002) |
Electricity - production | 33.87 billion kWh (excluding Kosovo and Montenegro) (2004) | 3.04 billion kWh (2002 est.) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: NA
highest point: Daravica 2,656 m |
lowest point: Arabian Sea 0 m
highest point: Jabal an Nabi Shu'ayb 3,760 m |
Environment - current issues | air pollution around Belgrade and other industrial cities; water pollution from industrial wastes dumped into the Sava which flows into the Danube | very limited natural fresh water resources; inadequate supplies of potable water; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification |
Environment - international agreements | party to: Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Ethnic groups | Serb 66%, Albanian 17%, Hungarian 3.5%, other 13.5% (1991) | predominantly Arab; but also Afro-Arab, South Asians, Europeans |
Exchange rates | new Yugoslav dinars per US dollar - 58.6925 (2005) | Yemeni rials per US dollar - 184.78 (2004), 183.45 (2003), 175.63 (2002), 168.67 (2001), 161.72 (2000) |
Executive branch | chief of state: President Boris TADIC (since 11 July 2004)
head of government: Prime Minister Vojislav KOSTUNICA (since 3 March 2004) cabinet: Federal Ministries act as cabinet elections: president elected by direct vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held 27 June 2004 (next to be held June 2009); prime minister elected by the Assembly election results: Boris TADIC elected president in the second round of voting; Boris TADIC received 53% of the vote |
chief of state: President 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 | 0 cu m | 370,300 bbl/day (2003) |
Exports - commodities | manufactured goods, food and live animals, machinery and transport equipment | crude oil, coffee, dried and salted fish |
Exports - partners | - | Thailand 33.8%, China 30.3%, Singapore 7.8% (2004) |
Fiscal year | - | calendar year |
Flag description | three equal horizontal stripes of red (top), blue, and white; charged with the coat of arms of Serbia shifted slightly to the hoist side | 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 - composition by sector | agriculture: 16.6%
industry: 25.5% services: 57.9% (2005 est.) |
agriculture: 15.5%
industry: 44.7% services: 39.7% (2004 est.) |
GDP - per capita | - | purchasing power parity - $800 (2004 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 5.9% for Serbia alone (excluding Kosovo) (2005 est.) | 1.9% (2004 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 44 00 N, 21 00 E | 15 00 N, 48 00 E |
Geography - note | controls one of the major land routes from Western Europe to Turkey and the Near East | 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 |
Heliports | 4 (2006) | - |
Highways | - | total: 67,000 km
paved: 7,705 km unpaved: 59,295 km (1999 est.) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | - | lowest 10%: 3%
highest 10%: 25.9% (2003) |
Illicit drugs | transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin moving to Western Europe on the Balkan route; economy vulnerable to money laundering | - |
Imports | 0 cu m | NA |
Imports - commodities | - | food and live animals, machinery and equipment, chemicals |
Imports - partners | - | UAE 12.2%, Saudi Arabia 9.7%, China 8.8%, France 7.3%, India 4.4%, US 4.4%, Kuwait 4.2% (2004) |
Independence | 5 June 2006 (from Serbia and Montenegro) | 22 May 1990 (Republic of Yemen 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]); note - previously North Yemen had become independent in November of 1918 (from the Ottoman Empire) and South Yemen had become independent on 30 November 1967 (from the UK) |
Industrial production growth rate | 1.4% (2006 est.) | 3% (2003 est.) |
Industries | sugar, agricultural machinery, electrical and communication equipment, paper and pulp, lead, transportation equipment | crude oil production and petroleum refining; small-scale production of cotton textiles and leather goods; food processing; handicrafts; small aluminum products factory; cement; commercial ship repair |
Infant mortality rate | - | total: 61.5 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 66.26 deaths/1,000 live births female: 56.49 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 15.5% (2005 est.) | 12.2% (2004 est.) |
International organization participation | ABEDA, BIS, BSEC, CE, CEI, EBRD, FAO, G-9, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD (suspended), IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU, MIGA, MONUC, NAM, OAS (observer), OIF (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, SECI, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIL, UNOCI, UPU, WCL, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO (observer) | AFESD, AMF, CAEU, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt (signatory), ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO (correspondent), ITU, LAS, MIGA, NAM, OAS (observer), OIC, ONUB, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNOCI, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO (observer) |
Irrigated land | NA | 4,900 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Constitutional Court (nine justices with life tenure) | Supreme Court |
Labor force | 2.961 million for Serbia (including Kosovo) (2002 est.) | 5.98 million (2004 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture: 30%
industry: 46% services: 24% note: excluding Kosovo and Montenegro (2002) |
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 | total: 2,027 km
border countries: Albania 115 km, Bosnia and Herzegovina 302 km, Bulgaria 318 km, Croatia 241 km, Hungary 151 km, Macedonia 221 km, Montenegro 203 km, Romania 476 km |
total: 1,746 km
border countries: Oman 288 km, Saudi Arabia 1,458 km |
Land use | arable land: NA
permanent crops: NA other: NA |
arable land: 2.78%
permanent crops: 0.24% other: 96.98% (2001) |
Languages | Serbian (official nationwide); Romanian, Hungarian, Slovak, Ukrainian, and Croatian (all official in Vojvodina); Albanian (official in Kosovo) | Arabic |
Legal system | based on civil law system | based on Islamic law, Turkish law, English common law, and local tribal customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
Legislative branch | unicameral National Assembly (250 deputies elected by direct vote for a four-year term)
elections: last held 28 December 2003 (next to be held December 2007) election results: SRS 83, DSS 53, DS 37, G17 Plus 34, SPO-NS 22, SPS 22 |
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 2003 (next to be held NA April 2009) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - GPC 228, Islah 47, YSP 7, Nasserite Unionist Party 3, National Arab Socialist Ba'th Party 2, independents 14 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 74 years
male: 71 years female: 76 years |
total population: 61.75 years
male: 59.89 years female: 63.71 years (2005 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 96.4% male: 98.9% female: 94.1% (2002 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 50.2% male: 70.5% female: 30% (2003 est.) |
Location | Southeastern Europe, between Macedonia and Hungary | Middle East, bordering the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Red Sea, between Oman and Saudi Arabia |
Map references | Europe | Middle East |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin |
Merchant marine | note: see entry for Montenegro | total: 5 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 19,766 GRT/24,794 DWT
by type: cargo 1, chemical tanker 1, petroleum tanker 2, roll on/roll off 1 registered in other countries: 2 (2005) |
Military - note | - | a Coast Guard was established in 2002 |
Military branches | Serbian Armed Forces (Vojska Srbije, VS): Serbian Land Forces (Kopnene Vojska, KoV), Air Force and Air Defense Force (Vozduhoplostvo i Protivozduhoplovna Odbrana, ViPO), naval force to be determined (2006) | Army (includes Special Forces), Naval Forces and Coastal Defenses (includes Marines), Air Force (includes Air Defense Forces), Republican Guard (2002) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $14.85 million | $885.5 million (2003) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | - | 7.8% (2003) |
National holiday | National Day, 27 April | Unification Day, 22 May (1990) |
Nationality | noun: Serb(s)
adjective: Serbian |
noun: Yemeni(s)
adjective: Yemeni |
Natural hazards | destructive earthquakes | sandstorms and dust storms in summer |
Natural resources | oil, gas, coal, iron ore, copper, lead, zinc, antimony, chromite, nickel, gold, silver, magnesium, pyrite, limestone, marble, salt, arable land | 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 (2005 est.) |
Pipelines | gas 3,177 km; oil 393 km (2006) | gas 88 km; oil 1,174 km (2004) |
Political parties and leaders | Democratic Party of Serbia or DSS [Vojislav KOSTUNICA]; Democratic Party or DS [Boris TADIC]; G17 Plus [Mladjan DINKIC is acting leader]; Serbian Radical Party or SRS [Vojislav SESELJ, but Tomislav NIKOLIC is acting leader]; Socialist Party of Serbia or SPS [vacant, but Ivica DACIC is head of the SPS Main Board]; New Serbia or NS [Velimir ILIC]; Serbian Renewal Movement or SPO [Vuk DRASKOVIC] | there are more than 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]; Nasserite Unionist Party [Abdel Malik al-MAKHLAFI]; National Arab Socialist Ba'th Party [Dr. Qassim SALAAM]; 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, represents the remnants of the former South Yemeni leadership; leaders of the 1994 secessionist movement have been pardoned by President SALIH and some are now returning to Yemen from exile |
Political pressure groups and leaders | - | NA |
Population | 9,396,411 (2002 census) | 20,727,063 (July 2005 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 30%
note: data covers the former Serbia and Montenegro (1999 est.) |
45.2% (2003) |
Population growth rate | - | 3.45% (2005 est.) |
Ports and harbors | - | Aden, Nishtun |
Radio broadcast stations | 153 (2001) | AM 6, FM 1, shortwave 2 (1998) |
Railways | total: 4,135 km
standard guage: 4,135 km 1.435-m guage (electrified 1,195 km) (2005) |
- |
Religions | Serbian Orthodox, Muslim, Roman Catholic, Protestant | 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: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.97 male(s)/female total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2005 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: modernization of the telecommunications network has been slow as a result of damage stemming from the 1999 war and transition to a competitive market-based system; network was only 65% digitalized in 2005
domestic: teledensity remains below the average for neighboring states; GSM wireless service, available through two providers with national coverage, is growing very rapidly; best telecommunications service limited to urban centers international: country code - 381 |
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: country code - 967; 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 | 2,685,400 (2004) | 542,200 (2002) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 5.229 million (2005) | 411,100 (2002) |
Television broadcast stations | - | 7 (plus several low-power repeaters) (1997) |
Terrain | extremely varied; to the north, rich fertile plains; to the east, limestone ranges and basins; to the southeast, ancient mountains and hills | 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 | 1.78 children born/woman (2006 est.) | 6.67 children born/woman (2005 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 31.6%
note: unemployment is approximately 50% in Kosovo (2005 est.) |
35% (2003 est.) |
Waterways | 587 km - primarily on Danube and Sava rivers (2005) | - |