Yemen - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[right][right]Yemen
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Republic of Yemen
الجُمهورية اليَمَنية
al-Jumhūrīyah al-Yamanīyah

Flag Emblem
Motto: الله، الوَطَن، الثَورة، الوَحدة (Arabic)
"Allah, al-Watan, ath-Thawrah, al-Wahdah" (transliteration)
"God, Country, Revolution, Unity"
Anthem: "United Republic"




Capital Sana‘a
Official language(s) Arabic
Demonym Yemeni, Yemenite
Government United parliamentary republic
- President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Al-Hadi
- Prime Minister Mohammed Basindawa
Legislature Assembly of Representatives
Establishment
- North Yemen independence from the Ottoman Empire 1 November 1918
- South Yemen independence from the United Kingdom 30 November 1967
- Unification 22 May 1990
- The Yemeni Revolution 27 January 2011
Area
- Total 527,970 km2 (50th)
203,796 sq mi
- Water (%) negligible
Population
- 2011 estimate 25,130,000 (46st)
- April 2011 census 25,130,000
- Density 44.7/km2 (160th)
115.7/sq mi
GDP (PPP) 2011 estimate
- Total $57.966 billion[1]
- Per capita $2,306[1]
GDP (nominal) 2011 estimate
- Total $33.675 billion[1]
- Per capita $1,340[1]
HDI (2011) 0.462[2] (low) (154th)
Currency Yemeni rial (YER)
Time zone (UTC+3)
Drives on the right[3]
ISO 3166 code YE
Internet TLD .ye
Calling code 967
The Republic of Yemen (Arabic: الجمهورية اليمنية‎ al-Jumhūrīyah al-Yamanīyah), commonly known as Yemen i/ˈjɛmən/ (Arabic: اليَمَن‎ al-Yaman), is a country located in Western Asia, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east. Yemen is considered one of the poorest countries in the Arab world. Its capital and largest city is Sana'a. Yemen's territory includes over 200 islands, the largest of which is Socotra, about 415 km (258 mi) to the south of mainland Yemen, off the coast of Somalia. It is the only state in the Arabian Peninsula to have a purely republican form of government. Approximately 53% of Yemenis are Sunnis, while 45% are Zaydi Shias.[4]
Contents [hide]
1 Etymology
2 History
3 Geography
4 Economy
5 Government
5.1 Administrative divisions
6 Foreign relations
7 Demographics
7.1 Religion
7.2 Health
7.2.1 Health care
8 Human rights
9 Languages
10 Culture
10.1 Cinema
10.2 Education
11 Sport
12 World Heritage sites
13 See also
14 Notes
15 External links
[edit]Etymology

One etymology derives Yemen from yamin, meaning "on the right side", as the south is on the right when facing the sunrise. Another derives Yemen from yumn, meaning "felicity", as the region is fertile. The Romans called it Arabia Felix (Happy Arabia) as opposed to Arabia Deserta (Deserted Arabia), which was their term for northern Arabia.
[edit]History

Main article: History of Yemen
Yemen has long existed at the crossroads of cultures; it linked some of the oldest centers of civilization in the Near East by virtue of its location in South Arabia. Between the 12th century BC and the 6th century, it was home of the Minaean, Sabaean, Hadhramaut, Qataban, Ausan, and Himyarite kingdoms, which controlled the lucrative spice trade, and later came under Byzantine and Persian rule.[5] In the 6th century, the Himyarite king Abu-Karib Assad converted to Judaism after expanding his kingdom to include most of the Arabian peninsula and parts of East Africa. In the 7th century, Islamic caliphs began to exert control over the area. After this caliphate broke up, Yemen came under the control of many dynasties who ruled part, or often all, of South Arabia Mecca and most of Oman and even some parts of Gujarat in India during the rule of Queen Arwa al-Sulayhi Imams – descendants of prophet Muhammad also known as sayyids – ruled Yemen intermittently for 980 years, establishing a theocratic political structure that flourished and covered at its pinnacle all the area south of Mecca to Dhoffar in Oman and all the way to Aden and the African coast of the Red sea, Gulf of Aden and parts of the Indian ocean adjacent to the Arabian Peninsula and strongly influencing and sometimes controlling sharifs of Hejaz. It survived until modern times.
Egyptian Shia caliphs occupied much of Yemen throughout the 11th century but were resisted by the Imams. By the 16th century and again in the 19th century, Yemen was part of the Ottoman Empire (first as the Eyalet of Yemen, later as the Vilayet of Yemen), and in some periods Imams exerted control over all Yemen.[5]
The modern history of South Arabia and Yemen began in 1918 when Yemen gained independence from the Ottoman Empire. Between 1918 and 1962, Yemen was a monarchy ruled by the Hamidaddin family. There was a brief revolution in 1948 in which Imam Yahya Muhammad Hamid ed-Din was killed. A rival sayyid family, the Alwazirs, seized power for several weeks. Backed by the al-Saud family of Saudi Arabia, the Hamidaddins restored their rule until 1962–1970 during the North Yemen Civil War. In 1962, North Yemen saw a republic rivaling the Imams with Egyptian Occupiers assistance, but Britain still had a protective area around the South Arabia port of Aden, which it had created in the 19th century. Britain withdrew in 1967 and the area became South Yemen. In 1970, the southern government adopted a Communist governmental system. The two countries were formally united as the Republic of Yemen on 22 May 1990.
From 27 April to 7 July 1994, a civil war between the former North and former South Yemen ended with the conquest of the southern capital, Aden. The dissatisfaction of the people in the South with the government of Sana’a led finally to an uprising in the South in 2007. Very soon the “al-Ḥirāk as-Silmī al-Janūbī”, the Southern Peaceful Movement (South Yemen Movement) was established in the same year to unify all southern activists. The demands on equality of treatment which was ignored by Sana’a developed very soon to the retrieval of the southern state.
The 2011–2012 Yemeni revolution followed the initial stages of the Tunisian Revolution and occurred simultaneously with the Egyptian Revolution and other mass protests in the Arab world in early 2011. The uprising was initially against unemployment, economic conditions and corruption, as well as against the government's proposals to modify the constitution of Yemen. The protestors' demands then escalated to calls for President Ali Abdullah Saleh to resign. After an election, power was transferred to the vice president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Al-Hadi, for a two-year term starting in February 2012. Al-Hadi will oversee the drafting of a new constitution, followed by parliamentary and presidential elections in 2014.
[edit]Geography

Main article: Geography of Yemen


Ancient Yemen 100 AD


Map of Yemen
Yemen is located in Western Asia, in the southern half of the Arabian Peninsula, bordering the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden, and the Red Sea. It lies south of Saudi Arabia and west of Oman, between latitudes 12° and 19° N and longitudes 42° and 55° E.
A number of Red Sea islands, including the Hanish Islands, Kamaran, and Perim, as well as Socotra in the Arabian Sea, belong to Yemen. Many of the islands are volcanic; for example Jabal al-Tair had a volcanic eruption in 2007 and before that in 1883.
At 527,970 km2 (203,850 sq mi), Yemen is the world's 50th-largest country. It is comparable in size to Thailand and larger than the U.S. state of California. Yemen is situated at 15°N 48°E.


Tihama on the Red Sea near Khaukha
Until the signing of the Yemen-Saudi Arabia peace treaty in July 2000 [6] Yemen's northern border was undefined; the Arabian Desert prevented any human habitation there.
The country can be divided geographically into four main regions: the coastal plains in the west, the western highlands, the eastern highlands, and the Rub al Khali in the east.
The Tihamah ("hot lands" or "hot earth") form a very arid and flat coastal plain along Yemen's entire Red Sea coastline. Despite the aridity, the presence of many lagoons makes this region very marshy and a suitable breeding ground for malaria mosquitoes. There are extensive crescent-shaped sand dunes. The evaporation in the Tihamah is so great that streams from the highlands never reach the sea, but they do contribute to extensive groundwater reserves. Today, these are heavily exploited for agricultural use. Near the village of Madar about 48 km (30 mi) north of Sana'a, dinosaur footprints were found, indicating that the area was once a muddy flat.
The Tihamah ends abruptly at the escarpment of the western highlands. This area, now heavily terraced to meet the demand for food, receives the highest rainfall in Arabia, rapidly increasing from 100 mm (3.9 in) per year to about 760 mm (29.9 in) in Ta'izz and over 1,000 mm (39.4 in) in Ibb.


Northern Yemen landscape


The town of Hajarin
Agriculture here is very diverse, with such crops as sorghum dominating. Cotton and many fruit trees are also grown, with mangoes being the most valuable. Temperatures are hot in the day but fall dramatically at night. There are perennial streams in the highlands but these never reach the sea because of high evaporation in the Tihamah.
The central highlands are an extensive high plateau over 2,000 metres (6,562 ft) in elevation. This area is drier than the western highlands because of rain-shadow influences but still receives sufficient rain in wet years for extensive cropping. Diurnal temperature ranges are among the highest in the world: ranges from 30 °C (86 °F) in the day to 0 °C (32 °F) at night are normal.[citation needed] Water storage allows for irrigation and the growing of wheat and barley. Sana'a is located in this region. The highest point in Yemen is Jabal an Nabi Shu'ayb, at 3,666 metres (12,028 ft).
Yemen's portion of the Rub al Khali desert in the east is much lower, generally below 1,000 metres (3,281 ft), and receives almost no rain. It is populated only by Bedouin herders of camels.
The growing scarcity of water is a source of increasing international concern. See Water supply and sanitation in Yemen.
[edit]Economy

Main article: Economy of Yemen
Further information: Telecommunications in Yemen, Transportation in Yemen, and Internet usage in Yemen
Yemen is one of the poorest and least developed countries in the Arab World, with a formal 35% employment rate, dwindling natural resources, a young population and increasing population growth. Yemen's economy is weak compared to most countries in the Middle-East, mainly because Yemen has very small oil reserves. Yemen's economy depends heavily on the oil it produces,[7] and its government receives the vast majority of its revenue from oil taxes. But Yemen's oil reserves are expected to be depleted by 2017, possibly bringing on economic collapse.[8] Yemen does have large proven reserves of natural gas.[9] Yemen's first liquified natural gas (LNG) plant began production in October 2009.
Rampant corruption is a prime obstacle to development in the country, limiting local reinvestments and driving away regional and international capital. Foreign investments remain largely concentrated around the nation's hydrocarbon industry.
Beginning in the mid-1950s, the Soviet Union and China provided large-scale assistance. For example, China is involved with the expansion of the Sana'a International Airport. In the south, pre-independence economic activity was overwhelmingly concentrated in the port city of Aden. The seaborne transit trade, which the port relied upon, collapsed with the closure of the Suez Canal and Britain's withdrawal from Aden in 1967.
Since unification in 1990,[10] the government has worked to integrate two relatively disparate economic systems. However, severe shocks, including the return in 1990 of approximately 850,000 Yemenis from the Persian Gulf states, a subsequent major reduction of aid flows, and internal political disputes culminating in the 1994 civil war hampered economic growth.


In the late 20th century Sana'a’s population grew rapidly, from roughly 55,000 in 1978 to more than 1 million in the early 21st century.[11] Sana'a may be the first capital city in the world to run out of water.[12]
Since the conclusion of the war, the government made an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to implement a structural adjustment program. Phase one of the program included major financial and monetary reforms, including floating the currency, reducing the budget deficit, and cutting subsidies. Phase two will address structural issues such as civil service reform.
In early 1995, the government of Yemen launched an economic, financial, and administrative reform program (EFARP) with the support of the World Bank and the IMF, as well as international donors. The First Five-Year Plan (FFYP) for the years 1996 to 2000 was introduced in 1996. The World Bank has focused on public sector management, including civil service reform, budget reform, and privatization. Additional priorities for the programs have become attracting diversified private investment, water management, and poverty-oriented social sector improvements. These programs had a positive impact on Yemen’s economy and led to the reduction of the budget deficit to less than 3% of gross domestic product (GDP) during the period 1995–1999 and the correction of macro-financial imbalances.[13]


Graphical depiction of Yemen's product exports in 28 color coded categories.
In 1997, IMF and the Yemeni government began medium-term economic reform programs under the Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility (ESAF) and Extended Fund Facility (EFF). This program aimed to reduce dependence on the oil sector and to establish a market environment for real non-oil GDP growth and investment in the non-oil sector. Increasing the growth rate in the non-oil sector was one of the government's most important objectives. Programs also focused on reducing unemployment, strengthening the social safety net, and increasing financial stability. To achieve these reforms, the government and IMF implemented containment of government wages, improvements in revenue collection with the introduction of reforms in tax administration, and a sharp reduction in subsidies bills through increased prices on subsidized goods. As a result, the fiscal cash deficit was reduced from 16% of GDP in 1994 to 0.9% in 1997. This was supported by aid from oil-exporting countries, despite the wide-ranging fluctuations in world oil prices. The real growth rate in the non-oil sector rose by 5.6% from 1995 to 1997.[14]
[edit]Government

Main article: Politics of Yemen


Large areas of Yemen are controlled by armed rebel groups rather than the national government.
As a result of the 2011–2012 Yemeni uprising, the constitution of Yemen is expected to be rewritten, and then new elections held in 2014. The national government administers the capital and largest cities, but some other regions are outside of its grasp, governed by armed militant groups which expanded their control during the chaos of the 2011-2012 uprising. The two major groups are Ansar al-Sharia (a branch or affiliate of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula), which has declared several "Islamic emirates" in the southern provinces of Abyan and Shabwah, and the Houthis, a Shiite rebel group centered in Sa'dah province.
Yemen is a presidential republic with a bicameral legislature. Under the 1991 constitution, an elected President, an elected 301-seat Assembly of Representatives, and an appointed 111-member Shura Council share power. The President is the head of state, and the Prime Minister is the head of government.
The 1991 constitution provides that the president be elected by popular vote from at least two candidates endorsed by at least fifteen members of the Parliament. The prime minister, in turn, is appointed by the president and must be approved by two thirds of the Parliament. The presidential term of office is seven years, and the parliamentary term of elected office is six years. Suffrage is universal for people age 18 and older, but only Muslims may hold elected office.[15]
President Ali Abdullah Saleh became the first elected President in reunified Yemen in 1999 (though he had been President of unified Yemen since 1990 and President of North Yemen since 1978). He was re-elected to office in September 2006. Saleh's victory was marked by an election that international observers judged to be "partly free", though the election was accompanied by violence, violations of press freedoms, and allegations of fraud.[16] Parliamentary elections were held in April 2003, and the General People's Congress (GPC) maintained an absolute majority.
The constitution calls for an independent judiciary. The former northern and southern legal codes have been unified. The legal system includes separate commercial courts and a Supreme Court based in Sana'a. Sharia is the main source of laws, with many court cases being debated according to the religious basis of law and many judges being religious scholars as well as legal authorities.
[edit]Administrative divisions
Main article: Administrative divisions of Yemen
As of February 2004, Yemen is divided into twenty governorates (muhafazat) and one municipality called "Amanat Al-Asemah" (the latter containing the capital, Sana'a)[17]



Division Capital City Population
2004 Census [18] Population
2006 est.[19] Key
'Aden Aden 589,419 634,710 1
'Amran 'Amran 877,786 909,992 2
Abyan Zinjibar 433,819 454,535 3
Ad-Dali' Ad Dali' 470,564 504,533 4
Al Bayda' Al Bayda' 577,369 605,303 5
Al Hudaydah Al-Hudaydah 2,157,552 2,300,179 6
Al Jawf Al-Jawf 443,797 465,737 7
Al-Mahrah Al-Ghaydah 88,594 96,768 8
Al-Mahwit Al-Mahweet 494,557 523,236 9
Amanat Al-Asemah Sana'a 1,747,834 1,947,139 10
Dhamar Dhamar 1,330,108 1,412,142 11
Hadhramaut Al-Mukalla 1,028,556 1,092,967 12
Hajjah Hajjah 1,479,568 1,570,872 13
Ibb Ibb 2,131,861 2,238,537 14
Lahij Lahij 722,694 761,160 15
Ma'rib Ma'rib 238,522 251,668 16
Raymah Kosmah 394,448 418,659 17
Sa'dah Sa`dah 695,033 746,957 18
Sana'a Sana'a 919,215 957,798 19
Shabwah Ataq 470,440 494,638 20
Taiz Taiz 1,121,000 2,513,003 21
The governors are subdivided into 333 districts (muderiah), which are subdivided into 2,210 sub-districts, and then into 38,284 villages (as