Region: Western Asia

Capital: San’a’ (Sanaa)

Population: 20 024 867 (July 2004 est.)

Surface area: 527 968 square km

Currency: rial

GDP per capita: $800 (2003 est.)

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.

Economy – overview:
Yemen was able to report strong growth in the mid-1990s with the onset of oil production. It has later 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 and this 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.

A markedly high population growth rate and internal political dissension complicate the government's goal of improving the economy. Plans include a diversification of the economy, encouragement of tourism, and more efficient use of scarce water resources.

United Nations Membership date: 30 September 1947

New York Mission:
Permanent Mission of the Republic of Yemen to the United Nations
413 East 51st Street, New York, N.Y. 10022
Telephone: 212-355-1730 / 1731
Fax: 212-750-9613