Asia

Yemen

The Republic of Yemen , composed of former North and South Yemen, is a country on the Arabian Peninsula in Southwest Asia and is a part of the Middle East, bordering the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Aden on the south and the Red Sea on the west. It borders Oman to the northeast and Saudi Arabia elsewhere. Its territory includes the remote island of Socotra, about 350 km to the south off the coast of East Africa. The Republic of Yemen was formed in 1990 with the reunification of the Yemen Arab Republic in the north and the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen in the south. Marked by a brief, but devastating, civil war in 1994, the country has nonetheless succeeded in initiating significant political reform. According to the World Bank, Yemen is by most measures better off than it was in 1990, but there is still a long way to go.more...

Full country name: Republic of Yemen
National Name: Al-Jumhuriyah al-Yamaniyah
Area: 203,849 sq mi (527,970 sq km)
Population: 20,727,063 (growth rate: 3.5%); birth rate: 43.1/1000; infant mortality rate: 61.5/1000; life expectancy: 61.8; density per sq mi: 102
Capital City: Sanaa, 1,778,900
Language: Arabic
Religion: Islam (including Sunni and Shiite), small numbers of Jewish, Christian, and Hindu
Ethnicity/race: predominantly Arab; but also Afro-Arab, South Asians, Europeans
Literacy rate: 50% (2003 est.)
Government: Parliamentary republic
Prime Minister: Ali Abdullah Saleh (1990)
Head of State: Abdul Qader Bajamal (2001)

History of Yemen

Yemen was one of the oldest centers of civilization in the Near East. Its relatively fertile land and adequate rainfall in a moister climate helped sustain a stable population, a feature recognized by the ancient Greek geographer Ptolemy, who described Yemen as Eudaimon Arabia (better known in its Latin translation, Arabia Felix) meaning "fortunate Arabia." Between the 12th century BC and the 6th century AD, it was dominated by three successive civilisations which controlled the lucrative spice trade: Minaean, Sabaean and Himyarite. During Sabaean rule in the 8th century BC, an impressive dam was erected that provided irrigation and stood for over a millennium. (It finally collapsed in AD 570 after centuries of neglect.) Much wealth was generated from the spice trade, and Yemen was best known as the source of myrrh and frankincense. These were exported to the Mediterranean, where they were greatly prized by many cultures, using camels on routes through Arabia, and to India by sea. The mighty Sabaean kingdom, with its capital at Ma'rib where the remains of a large temple can still be seen, thrived for almost 14 centuries. Some have argued that this kingdom was the Sheba described in the Old Testament. more on history of Yemen.

Overview of Yemen's Economy

GDP: $16.25 billion
GDP per capita: $800
Annual Growth: 1.9%
Inflation: 12.2%
Unemployment: 35% (2003 est.).
Major 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.
Major Trading Partners: China, Thailand, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, UAE, Saudi Arabia, India, U.S., Kuwait, France (2003).
Natural resources: petroleum, fish, rock salt, marble, small deposits of coal, gold, lead, nickel, copper, fertile soil in west.
Exports: $4.468 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): crude oil, coffee, dried and salted fish.
Imports: $3.734 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): food and live animals, machinery and equipment, chemicals.

Also Read: A Brief insight in The Economy of Yemen


Political System of Yemen

- Politics of Yemen
- Foreign Relations of Yemen


Facts for the Traveler

Helath : Health care facilities are relatively poor, especially outside major cities. The major hospitals in Sana’a are: Al Jumhuriyya, Al Kuwait and Al Thawra. In Aden, there is the Al Jumhuriyya, the Saudi Hospital and the Refinery Hospital. Most large cities have a general hospital. There is no reciprocal health agreement with the UK. Medical insurance is essential.
Visa:The Government of the Republic of Yemen refuses entry and transit facilities to holders of Israeli...more
Time:.+3:00
Electricity Producation : 3.01 billion kWh (2001)
Country dialing code:
Currency: Yemeni rial (YER) = 100 fils

-Culture of Yemen : Yemen is a country on the Arabian Peninsula, and its music is primarily known as a treasure trove of rhythms...more
-Languages of Yemen : While the national language is Arabic (spoken in several regional dialects), Yemen...more
-Climate of Yemen: mostly desert; hot and humid along west coast; temperate in western mountains affected by seasonal monsoon; extraordinarily hot, dry, harsh desert in east
-Environment of Yemen: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection
-Terrain of Yemen: 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


When to Go

The best time to visit is between November and February when the climate is mild. The Asir mountains are at their best a bit earlier and a bit later than the rest of the country - during winter they are often locked in fog

Getting There

Flying to Saudi Arabia is an expensive proposition from the USA, and not much cheaper from Europe. There are buses between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Turkey. There is also a car ferry which links Jeddah to Suez, as well as passenger-only services from Jeddah to Port Sudan and Musawwa (in Eritrea). There is no departure tax


Getting Around

All domestic air services are run by Saudi, which is quite reliable and reasonably priced. The most frequent and efficient service runs Jeddah-Riyadh-Dhahran. If you're not pressed for time and you don't have a car, the bus is a pretty good option. The bus company, SAPTCO, has comfortable, air-conditioned buses, but you can only buy tickets one day in advance or on the day of travel. Service taxis go to most of the same destinations as buses for around the same price, but don't run to a timetable.

Saudi Arabia has the only stretch of railway track in the entire Arabian peninsula - one line from Riyadh to Dammam, via Hofuf and Abqaiq. Trains run three times a day. If you plan to drive, a western driving license is acceptable. Rental rates are government controlled and comparable to rates in the West. Theoretically Saudis drive on the right; car insurance, sensibly, is compulsory.


What to See in Yemen

Major Tourist Attractions in Yemen

-Jeddah: Hyperbolically known as the Paris of Arabia, Jeddah is one of the few cities in the region to have built around, rather than over, its history. Although it's definitely a modern metropolis, Jeddah (which is mid-way down the country's Red Sea coast) is also the most interesting and friendly of Saudi Arabia's big cities...more

-Mecca and Taif: Most visitors to Saudi Arabia come solely to visit Mecca, just inland from Jeddah. Mecca is Islam's holiest city, and all devout Muslims - wherever they live in the world - are supposed to make the pilgrimage (or hajj) here once in their life. This is where Mohammed was born in the 6th century AD, where he began preaching and where he returned for his final pilgrimage. Mecca and the holy sites in its immediate vicinity are off limits to non-Muslims. Apart from the obvious ideological arguments against breaking this rule, there are checkpoints along the roads to the city to stop non-Muslims from coming too close.more...

-Najran: Almost on the Yemeni border, in the south-west of the country, Najran is one of the most fascinating and least visited places in the kingdom. Set in a sprawling oasis, this area has been inhabited for about 4000 years, and was once a major stop on the frankincense route. Rumour has it that it's now a major stop on the Saudi-Yemen smuggling route. Yemen's cultural influence is stronger here than anywhere else in the country - you can see it in the architecture, and in the outgoing demeanour of the Najrani people. Najran has one big main road, and the bus station, hotels, post offices and places to eat are all along it or close by...more

-Riyadh: Although Riyadh has officially been the capital of Saudi Arabia since 1932, it played second fiddle to Jeddah until the 1970s. Built with oil boom money, Riyadh is now a high-tech oasis of glass, steel and concrete, home to huge hotels, even larger hospitals and one of the biggest airports in the world. The centre of Riyadh is called Al-Bathaa and is the oldest part of the city. Al Bathaa is home to the bus station, GPO and most other things a traveller needs. Most of Riyadh's places to stay are near the bus station, as are the coffee shops and shwarma stands.more...

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