Yemen (2005) | Norfolk Island (2001) | |
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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 |
none (territory of Australia) |
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.) |
0-14 years:
NA% 15-64 years: NA% 65 years and over: NA% |
Agriculture - products | grain, fruits, vegetables, pulses, qat (mildly narcotic shrub), coffee, cotton; dairy products, livestock (sheep, goats, cattle, camels), poultry; fish | Norfolk Island pine seed, Kentia palm seed, cereals, vegetables, fruit; cattle, poultry |
Airports | 44 (2004 est.) | 1 (2000 est.) |
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:
1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
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.) |
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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:
34.6 sq km land: 34.6 sq km water: 0 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly larger than twice the size of Wyoming | about 0.2 times the size of Washington, DC |
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. | Two British attempts at establishing the island as a penal colony (1788-1814 and 1825-55) were ultimately abandoned. In 1856, the island was resettled by Pitcairn Islanders, descendants of the Bounty mutineers and their Tahitian companions. |
Birth rate | 43.07 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) | NA births/1,000 population |
Budget | revenues: $4.251 billion
expenditures: $4.568 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.) |
revenues:
$4.6 million expenditures: $4.8 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY92/93) |
Capital | Sanaa | Kingston |
Climate | mostly desert; hot and humid along west coast; temperate in western mountains affected by seasonal monsoon; extraordinarily hot, dry, harsh desert in east | subtropical, mild, little seasonal temperature variation |
Coastline | 1,906 km | 32 km |
Constitution | 16 May 1991; amended 29 September 1994 and February 2001 | Norfolk Island Act of 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 former: Yemen Arab Republic [Yemen (Sanaa) or North Yemen] and People's Democratic Republic of Yemen [Yemen (Aden) or South Yemen] |
conventional long form:
Territory of Norfolk Island conventional short form: Norfolk Island |
Currency | - | Australian dollar (AUD) |
Death rate | 8.53 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) | NA deaths/1,000 population |
Debt - external | $5.4 billion (2004 est.) | $NA |
Dependency status | - | territory of Australia; Canberra administers Commonwealth responsibilities on Norfolk Island through the Department of Environment, Sport, and Territories |
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 |
none (territory of Australia) |
Diplomatic representation in the US | 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 |
none (territory of Australia) |
Disputes - international | 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 | none |
Economic aid - recipient | $2.3 billion (2003-07 disbursements) (2003-07 disbursements) | $NA |
Economy - overview | 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. | Tourism, the primary economic activity, has steadily increased over the years and has brought a level of prosperity unusual among inhabitants of the Pacific islands. The agricultural sector has become self-sufficient in the production of beef, poultry, and eggs. |
Electricity - consumption | 2.827 billion kWh (2002 est.) | NA kWh |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2002) | - |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2002) | - |
Electricity - production | 3.04 billion kWh (2002 est.) | NA kWh |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel:
NA% hydro: NA% nuclear: NA% other: NA% |
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: Mount Bates 319 m |
Environment - current issues | very limited natural fresh water resources; inadequate supplies of potable water; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification | NA |
Environment - international 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 | predominantly Arab; but also Afro-Arab, South Asians, Europeans | descendants of the Bounty mutineers, Australian, New Zealander, Polynesians |
Exchange rates | Yemeni rials per US dollar - 184.78 (2004), 183.45 (2003), 175.63 (2002), 168.67 (2001), 161.72 (2000) | Australian dollars per US dollar - 1.7995 (January 2001), 1.7173 (2000), 1.5497 (1999), 1.5888 (1998), 1.3439 (1997), 1.2773 (1996) |
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:
Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); the UK and Australia are represented by Administrator Anthony J. MESSNER (since 4 August 1997) head of government: Assembly President and Chief Minister Ronald Coane NOBBS (since 23 February 2000) cabinet: Executive Council is made up of four of the nine members of the Legislative Assembly; the council devises government policy and acts as an advisor to the Administrator elections: the monarch is hereditary; administrator appointed by the governor general of Australia; chief minister elected by the Legislative Assembly for a term of not more than three years; election last held 23 February 2000 (next to be held by March 2003) election results: Ronald Coane NOBBS elected chief minister; percent of Legislative Assembly vote - NA% |
Exports | 370,300 bbl/day (2003) | $1.5 million (f.o.b., FY91/92) |
Exports - commodities | crude oil, coffee, dried and salted fish | postage stamps, seeds of the Norfolk Island pine and Kentia palm, small quantities of avocados |
Exports - partners | Thailand 33.8%, China 30.3%, Singapore 7.8% (2004) | Australia, other Pacific island countries, NZ, Asia, Europe |
Fiscal year | calendar year | 1 July - 30 June |
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 | three vertical bands of green (hoist side), white, and green with a large green Norfolk Island pine tree centered in the slightly wider white band |
GDP | - | purchasing power parity - $NA |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 15.5%
industry: 44.7% services: 39.7% (2004 est.) |
agriculture:
NA% industry: NA% services: NA% |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $800 (2004 est.) | purchasing power parity - $NA |
GDP - real growth rate | 1.9% (2004 est.) | NA% |
Geographic coordinates | 15 00 N, 48 00 E | 29 02 S, 167 57 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 | - |
Highways | total: 67,000 km
paved: 7,705 km unpaved: 59,295 km (1999 est.) |
total:
80 km paved: 53 km unpaved: 27 km (2001) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 3%
highest 10%: 25.9% (2003) |
lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
Imports | NA | $17.9 million (c.i.f., FY91/92) |
Imports - commodities | food and live animals, machinery and equipment, chemicals | NA |
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) | Australia, other Pacific island countries, NZ, Asia, Europe |
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) | none (territory of Australia) |
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; commercial ship repair | tourism |
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.) |
NA deaths/1,000 live births |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 12.2% (2004 est.) | NA% |
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, WTO (observer) | none |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 2 (2000) |
Irrigated land | 4,900 sq km (1998 est.) | NA sq km |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court | Supreme Court; Court of Petty Sessions |
Labor force | 5.98 million (2004 est.) | 1,395 (1991 est.) |
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 | tourism NA%, subsistence agriculture NA% |
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:
0% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 25% forests and woodland: 0% other: 75% (1993 est.) |
Languages | Arabic | English (official), Norfolk a mixture of 18th century English and ancient Tahitian |
Legal system | based on Islamic law, Turkish law, English common law, and local tribal customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | based on the laws of Australia, local ordinances and acts; English common law applies in matters not covered by either Australian or Norfolk Island law |
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 Legislative Assembly (9 seats; members elected by electors who have nine equal votes each but only four votes can be given to any one candidate; members serve three-year terms)
elections: last held 23 February 2000 (next to be held by March 2003) election results: percent of vote - NA%; seats - independents 9 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 61.75 years
male: 59.89 years female: 63.71 years (2005 est.) |
total population:
NA years male: NA years female: NA years |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 50.2% male: 70.5% female: 30% (2003 est.) |
- |
Location | Middle East, bordering the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Red Sea, between Oman and Saudi Arabia | Oceania, island in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Australia |
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 |
exclusive fishing zone:
200 NM territorial sea: 3 NM |
Merchant marine | 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) |
none (2000 est.) |
Military - note | a Coast Guard was established in 2002 | defense is the responsibility of Australia |
Military branches | Army (includes Special Forces), Naval Forces and Coastal Defenses (includes Marines), Air Force (includes Air Defense Forces), Republican Guard (2002) | - |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $885.5 million (2003) | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 7.8% (2003) | - |
National holiday | Unification Day, 22 May (1990) | Pitcairners Arrival Day, 8 June (1856) |
Nationality | noun: Yemeni(s)
adjective: Yemeni |
noun:
Norfolk Islander(s) adjective: Norfolk Islander(s) |
Natural hazards | sandstorms and dust storms in summer | typhoons (especially May to July) |
Natural resources | petroleum, fish, rock salt, marble, small deposits of coal, gold, lead, nickel, and copper, fertile soil in west | fish |
Net migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) | NA migrant(s)/1,000 population |
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]; 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 |
none |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | none |
Population | 20,727,063 (July 2005 est.) | 1,879 (July 2001 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 45.2% (2003) | NA% |
Population growth rate | 3.45% (2005 est.) | -0.71% (2001 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Aden, Nishtun | none; loading jetties at Kingston and Cascade |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 6, FM 1, shortwave 2 (1998) | AM 0, FM 3, shortwave 0 (1998) |
Radios | - | 2,500 (1996) |
Railways | - | 0 km |
Religions | Muslim including Shaf'i (Sunni) and Zaydi (Shi'a), small numbers of Jewish, Christian, and Hindu | Anglican 39%, Roman Catholic 11.7%, Uniting Church in Australia 16.4%, Seventh-Day Adventist 4.4%, none 9.2%, unknown 16.9%, other 2.4% (1986) |
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 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 domestic: NA international: radiotelephone service with Sydney (Australia) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 542,200 (2002) | 1,087 (1983) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 411,100 (2002) | 0 (1983) |
Television broadcast stations | 7 (plus several low-power repeaters) (1997) | 1 (local programming station plus two repeaters that bring in Australian programs by satellite) (1998) |
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 | volcanic formation with mostly rolling plains |
Total fertility rate | 6.67 children born/woman (2005 est.) | NA children born/woman |
Unemployment rate | 35% (2003 est.) | NA% |
Waterways | - | none |