Area
536,869 square kilometres (207,286 square miles).
Population
20,727,063 people (the official estimate for 2005).
Population Density
36 people per square kilometre
Capital
Sana’a.
Population
of Sana’a
1,410,000 people (the United Nations 2001 official estimate,
including suburbs).
Geography
Some key geographical facts:
The Republic of Yemen is bordered in the north
west, north and north east by Saudi Arabia.
Oman borders Yemen in the east and the Gulf of Aden in the south.
The Red Sea lies
to the west, and the islands of Perim and Karam in the southern
Red Sea are also part of the Republic.
Yemen is primarily mountainous, supporting terraced
agriculture.
The Hadramaut is a range of high mountains in the centre of Yemen,
highlands rise steeply in central Yemen, ranging in height from
approximately 200 metres (656 feet) to the 4,000 metres (13,123
feet) peak of Jabal Nabi Shauib.
Tihama is the opposite to Hadramaut, a flat semi
desert coastal plain to the west, 50 to 100 kilometres (30 to 60
miles) wide.
Surface water flows down from
the mountains through the valleys during the rainy season and the
area is cultured for cotton and grain.
In the east, the mountains drop away to the Rub
al-Khali or ‘Empty Quarter’ of the Arabian Peninsula,
an immense sea of sand.
The dry coastal plains are fringed with sandy beaches.
Government
Yemen has been a republic country since
1990
The Head of State is President Ali
Abdullah Saleh since 1990.
The Head of Government
is Prime Minister Abdul Bajammal since 2001.
Language
Arabic is the official language, however
English is widely spoken as a 2nd language.
Religion
The religion is Sunni Muslim (especially
in the north) and Shia Muslim, with some small Christian and Hindu
communities. There is also a minute Jewish community.
Time Zone
Greenich Mean Time (GMT) + 3
Electricity
220 / 230 volts AC / 50Hz. |
