Yemen (2004) | Micronesia, Federated States of (2008) | |
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Administrative divisions | 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 |
4 states; Chuuk (Truk), Kosrae (Kosaie), Pohnpei (Ponape), Yap |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 46.6% (male 4,751,776; female 4,582,277)
15-64 years: 50.6% (male 5,166,437; female 4,973,543) 65 years and over: 2.8% (male 273,199; female 277,635) (2004 est.) |
0-14 years: 35.9% (male 19,726/female 19,011)
15-64 years: 61.2% (male 32,891/female 33,071) 65 years and over: 2.9% (male 1,379/female 1,784) (2007 est.) |
Agriculture - products | grain, fruits, vegetables, pulses, qat (mildly narcotic shrub), coffee, cotton; dairy products, livestock (sheep, goats, cattle, camels), poultry; fish | black pepper, tropical fruits and vegetables, coconuts, bananas, cassava (tapioca), sakau (kava), betel nuts, sweet potatoes; pigs, chickens; fish |
Airports | 44 (2003 est.) | 6 (2007) |
Airports - with paved runways | 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.) |
total: 6
1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 2 (2007) |
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 (2004 est.) |
- |
Area | 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) |
total: 702 sq km
land: 702 sq km water: 0 sq km (fresh water only) note: includes Pohnpei (Ponape), Chuuk (Truk) Islands, Yap Islands, and Kosrae (Kosaie) |
Area - comparative | slightly larger than twice the size of Wyoming | four times the size of Washington, DC (land area only) |
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. | In 1979 the Federated States of Micronesia, a UN Trust Territory under US administration, adopted a constitution. In 1986 independence was attained under a Compact of Free Association with the US, which was amended and renewed in 2004. Present concerns include large-scale unemployment, overfishing, and overdependence on US aid. |
Birth rate | 43.16 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 24.14 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $3.729 billion
expenditures: $4.107 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2003 est.) |
revenues: $127.3 million ($69 million less grants)
expenditures: $144.2 million (FY05 est.) |
Capital | Sanaa | name: Palikir
geographic coordinates: 6 55 N, 158 09 E time difference: UTC+11 (16 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
Climate | mostly desert; hot and humid along west coast; temperate in western mountains affected by seasonal monsoon; extraordinarily hot, dry, harsh desert in east | tropical; heavy year-round rainfall, especially in the eastern islands; located on southern edge of the typhoon belt with occasionally severe damage |
Coastline | 1,906 km | 6,112 km |
Constitution | 16 May 1991; amended 29 September 1994 and February 2001 | 10 May 1979 |
Country name | conventional long form: Republic of Yemen
conventional short form: Yemen local long form: Al Jumhuriyah al Yamaniyah local short form: Al Yaman |
conventional long form: Federated States of Micronesia
conventional short form: none local long form: Federated States of Micronesia local short form: none former: Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, Ponape, Truk, and Yap Districts abbreviation: FSM |
Currency | Yemeni rial (YER) | - |
Death rate | 8.78 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 4.66 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Debt - external | $6.044 billion (2003) | $60.8 million (FY05 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | 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 |
chief of mission: Ambassador Miriam K. HUGHES
embassy: 101 Upper Pics Road, Kolonia mailing address: P. O. Box 1286, Kolonia, Pohnpei, 96941 telephone: [691] 320-2187 FAX: [691] 320-2186 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | 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 |
chief of mission: Ambassador Jesse Bibiano MAREHALAU
chancery: 1725 N Street NW, Washington, DC 20036 telephone: [1] (202) 223-4383 FAX: [1] (202) 223-4391 consulate(s) general: Honolulu, Tamuning (Guam) |
Disputes - international | Yemen protests Eritrea fishing around the Hanish Islands awarded to Yemen by the ICJ in 1999; nomadic groups in border region with Saudi Arabia resist demarcation of boundary in accordance wih 2000 Jeddah Treaty; 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 | none |
Economic aid - recipient | $2.3 billion (2003-07 disbursements) | $106.4 million
note: under terms of the Compact of Free Association, the US pledged $1.3 billion in grant aid during the period 1986-2001; the level of aid has been subsequently reduced (2005) |
Economy - overview | Yemen, one of the poorest countries in the Arab world, reported strong growth in the mid-1990s with the onset of oil production. It has been harmed by periodic declines in oil prices, but now benefits from current high 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. International donors, meeting in Paris in October 2002, agreed on a further $2.3 billion economic support package. Yemen has worked to maintain tight control over spending and to implement additional components of the IMF program. A markedly 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. | Economic activity consists primarily of subsistence farming and fishing. The islands have few mineral deposits worth exploiting, except for high-grade phosphate. The potential for a tourist industry exists, but the remote location, a lack of adequate facilities, and limited air connections hinder development. The Amended Compact of Free Association with the US guarantees the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) millions of dollars in annual aid through 2023, and establishes a Trust Fund into which the US and the FSM make annual contributions in order to provide annual payouts to the FSM in perpetuity after 2023. The country's medium-term economic outlook appears fragile due not only to the reduction in US assistance but also to the current slow growth of the private sector. |
Electricity - consumption | 2.8 billion kWh (2001) | 178.6 million kWh (2002) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2001) | 0 kWh (2002) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2001) | 0 kWh (2002) |
Electricity - production | 3.01 billion kWh (2001) | 192 million kWh (2002) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Arabian Sea 0 m
highest point: Jabal an Nabi Shu'ayb 3,760 m |
lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Dolohmwar (Totolom) 791 m |
Environment - current issues | very limited natural fresh water resources; inadequate supplies of potable water; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification | overfishing, climate change, pollution |
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: none of the selected agreements |
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Ethnic groups | predominantly Arab; but also Afro-Arab, South Asians, Europeans | Chuukese 48.8%, Pohnpeian 24.2%, Kosraean 6.2%, Yapese 5.2%, Yap outer islands 4.5%, Asian 1.8%, Polynesian 1.5%, other 6.4%, unknown 1.4% (2000 census) |
Exchange rates | Yemeni rials per US dollar - NA (2003), 175.625 (2002), 168.672 (2001), 161.718 (2000), 155.718 (1999) | the US dollar is used |
Executive branch | 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% |
chief of state: President Emmanuel MORI (since 11 May 2007); Vice President Alik L. ALIK (11 May 2007) note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Emmanuel MORI (since 11 May 2007); Vice President Alik L. ALIK (11 May 2007) cabinet: Cabinet includes the vice president and the heads of the eight executive departments elections: president and vice president elected by Congress from among the four senators at large for a four-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held 11 May 2007 (next to be held May 2011); note - a proposed constitutional amendment to establish popular elections for president and vice president failed election results: Emmanuel MORI elected president; percent of Congress vote - NA; Alik L. ALIK elected vice president; percent of Congress vote - NA |
Exports | NA (2001) | $14 million (f.o.b.) (2004 est.) |
Exports - commodities | crude oil, coffee, dried and salted fish | fish, garments, bananas, black pepper, sakau (kava), betel nut |
Exports - partners | China 31.7%, Thailand 20.3%, India 15.6%, South Korea 4.9%, Malaysia 4.3% (2003) | Japan, US, Guam (2006) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | 1 October - 30 September |
Flag description | 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 | light blue with four white five-pointed stars centered; the stars are arranged in a diamond pattern |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $15.09 billion (2003 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 15.2%
industry: 45% services: 39.7% (2003) |
agriculture: 28.9%
industry: 15.2% services: 55.9% (2004 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $800 (2003 est.) | - |
GDP - real growth rate | 2.8% (2003 est.) | 0.3% (2005 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 15 00 N, 48 00 E | 6 55 N, 158 15 E |
Geography - note | 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 | four major island groups totaling 607 islands |
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) |
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
Illicit drugs | - | major consumer of cannabis |
Imports | NA (2001) | $132.7 million f.o.b. (2004) |
Imports - commodities | food and live animals, machinery and equipment, chemicals | food, manufactured goods, machinery and equipment, beverages |
Imports - partners | UAE 12.9%, Saudi Arabia 10.2%, China 8.9%, US 4.9%, Kuwait 4.4%, France 4.1% (2003) | US, Japan, Hong Kong (2006) |
Independence | 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) | 3 November 1986 (from the US-administered UN trusteeship) |
Industrial production growth rate | 3% (2003 est.) | NA% |
Industries | crude oil production and petroleum refining; small-scale production of cotton textiles and leather goods; food processing; handicrafts; small aluminum products factory; cement | tourism, construction; fish processing, specialized aquaculture; craft items from shell, wood, and pearls |
Infant mortality rate | total: 63.26 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 68.12 deaths/1,000 live births female: 58.15 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) |
total: 28.15 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 31.08 deaths/1,000 live births female: 25.08 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 10.8% (2003 est.) | 2.2% (2005) |
International organization participation | 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, WTrO (observer) | ACP, ADB, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, IMF, IOC, ITSO, ITU, MIGA, OPCW, PIF, Sparteca, SPC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, WHO, WMO |
Irrigated land | 4,900 sq km (1998 est.) | NA |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court | Supreme Court |
Labor force | 5.79 million (2003 est.) | 37,410 (2000) |
Labor force - by occupation | most people are employed in agriculture and herding; services, construction, industry, and commerce account for less than one-fourth of the labor force | agriculture: 0.9%
industry: 34.4% services: 64.7% note: two-thirds are government employees (FY05 est.) |
Land boundaries | total: 1,746 km
border countries: Oman 288 km, Saudi Arabia 1,458 km |
0 km |
Land use | arable land: 2.78%
permanent crops: 0.24% other: 96.98% (2001) |
arable land: 5.71%
permanent crops: 45.71% other: 48.58% (2005) |
Languages | Arabic | English (official and common language), Trukese, Pohnpeian, Yapese, Kosrean, Ulithian, Woleaian, Nukuoro, Kapingamarangi |
Legal system | based on Islamic law, Turkish law, English common law, and local tribal customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | based on adapted Trust Territory laws, acts of the legislature, municipal, common, and customary laws |
Legislative branch | 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 |
unicameral Congress (14 seats; 4 - one elected from each state to serve four-year terms and 10 - elected from single-member districts delineated by population to serve two-year terms; members elected by popular vote)
elections: last held 6 March 2007 (next to be held in March 2009) election results: percent of vote - NA%; seats - independents 14 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 61.36 years
male: 59.53 years female: 63.29 years (2004 est.) |
total population: 70.35 years
male: 68.52 years female: 72.28 years (2007 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 50.2% male: 70.5% female: 30% (2003 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 89% male: 91% female: 88% (1980 est.) |
Location | Middle East, bordering the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Red Sea, between Oman and Saudi Arabia | Oceania, island group in the North Pacific Ocean, about three-quarters of the way from Hawaii to Indonesia |
Map references | Middle East | Oceania |
Maritime claims | 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 |
territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm |
Merchant marine | total: 6 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 19,766 GRT/24,794 DWT
by type: cargo 1, livestock carrier 1, petroleum tanker 3, roll on/roll off 1 foreign-owned: Hong Kong 2, Lebanon 1 registered in other countries: 5 (2004 est.) |
total: 3 ships (1000 GRT or over) 3,560 GRT/2,060 DWT
by type: cargo 1, passenger/cargo 2 (2007) |
Military - note | establishment of a Coast Guard, scheduled for May 2001, has been delayed | defense is the responsibility of the US |
Military branches | Army (including Special Forces), Naval Forces and Coastal Defenses (including Marines), Air Force (including Air Defense Forces), Republican Guard | no regular military forces (2007) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $885.6 million (2003) | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 7.9% (2003) | - |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 4,617,064 (2004 est.) | - |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 2,590,720 (2004 est.) | - |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males: 255,426 (2004 est.) | - |
National holiday | Unification Day, 22 May (1990) | Constitution Day, 10 May (1979) |
Nationality | noun: Yemeni(s)
adjective: Yemeni |
noun: Micronesian(s)
adjective: Micronesian; Chuukese, Kosraen(s), Pohnpeian(s), Yapese |
Natural hazards | sandstorms and dust storms in summer | typhoons (June to December) |
Natural resources | petroleum, fish, rock salt, marble, small deposits of coal, gold, lead, nickel, and copper, fertile soil in west | forests, marine products, deep-seabed minerals, phosphate |
Net migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) | -21.02 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Pipelines | gas 88 km; oil 1,174 km (2004) | - |
Political parties and leaders | 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]; National Arab Socialist Ba'th 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, 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 |
no formal parties |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | - |
Population | 20,024,867 (July 2004 est.) | 107,862 (July 2007 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 15.7% (2001) | 26.7% (2000) |
Population growth rate | 3.44% (2004 est.) | -0.154% (2007 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Aden, Al Hudaydah, Al Mukalla, As Salif, Ras Issa, Mocha, Nishtun | - |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 6, FM 1, shortwave 2 (1998) | AM 5, FM 1, shortwave 0 (2004) |
Religions | Muslim including Shaf'i (Sunni) and Zaydi (Shi'a), small numbers of Jewish, Christian, and Hindu | Roman Catholic 50%, Protestant 47%, other 3% |
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: 0.98 male(s)/female total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2004 est.) |
NA (2007 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | 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 |
general assessment: adequate system
domestic: islands interconnected by shortwave radiotelephone (used mostly for government purposes), satellite (Intelsat) ground stations, and some coaxial and fiber-optic cable; cellular service available on Kosrae, Pohnpei, and Yap international: country code - 691; satellite earth stations - 5 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean) (2002) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 542,200 (2002) | 12,400 (2005) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 411,100 (2002) | 14,100 (2005) |
Television broadcast stations | 7 (plus several low-power repeaters) (1997) | 3 (cable TV also available) (2004) |
Terrain | 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 | islands vary geologically from high mountainous islands to low, coral atolls; volcanic outcroppings on Pohnpei, Kosrae, and Chuuk |
Total fertility rate | 6.75 children born/woman (2004 est.) | 3.07 children born/woman (2007 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 35% (2003 est.) | 22% (2000 est.) |