| Area |
536,869 sq km (207,286 sq miles). |
| Population |
17,071,000 (1998). |
| Capital |
Sana'a- population 926,595 (1993) |
| Climate |
The climate varies according to altitude. The coastal plain is hot and dusty throughout most of the year. The highlands are warm in summer and during winter, from October to March, nights can be very cold in the mountains. Annual rainfall is extremely low and temperatures, particularly in the summer, are very high. The most pleasant time is from October to April |
| Language |
Arabic. English is spoken in some urban areas. |
| Religion |
Sunni Muslim (especially in the north) ans Shia Muslim, with some small Christian and Hindu communities. |
| Time |
GMT + 3
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| Highlights |
Yemen is the least known and in many ways the most spectacular country in Arabia. It offers the visitor striking scenery, much of which is mountainous, spectacular Islamic and pre-Islamic architecture and friendly people with a huge pride in their history. Sana'a lies in the Central Region of Yemen, an area that has been intensively cultivated for centuries and is the site of many of the major towns - it is the modern capital and has long been an important citadel along the trade route between Aden and Mecca. The Great Mosque of Sana'a is one of the oldest in the Muslim world, constructed in the time of Mohammed and enlarged in 705 AD. The vast Wadi Hadhramawt, running from East to West is the biggest wadi in the Arabian Peninsula and is very fertile supporting agriculture and goat herding. Shibam on the other hand is the most celebrated Arabic Islamic city built in traditional style. It is the Manhatten of the Arab world, being made up of some 500 skyscrapers which are 5 to 7 storeys high. Ta'izz lies in the south of the country at an altitude of 1400 m. Beautiful old houses and mosques remain within the line of the 13th century city wall, which is still intact along the southern side. Aden is mentioned in the Biblical book of Ezekiel (c. 6th Century). Crater, the oldest part of the city, lies in the crater of an extinct volcano and is where the most ancient constructions of Aden can be seen.
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| Country Facts |
The Republic of Yemen is bordered in the northwest, north and northeast by Saudi Arabia, in the east by Oman and in the south by the Gulf of Aden. To the west lies the Red Sea. The islands of Perim and Karam in the southern Red Sea are also part of the Republic. Yemen is predominantly mountainous, supporting terraced agriculture. The Hadramaut is a range of high mountains in the centre of the country. Highlands rise steeply in central Yemen, ranging in height from approximately 200 m to the 4000 m peak of Jabal Nabi Shoveb. In contrast is Tihama, a flat semi-desert coastal plain to the west, 50-100km wide. Surface water flows down from the mountains through the valleys during the rainy season and the area is cultivated for cotton and grain. In the east the mountains drop away to the Rub al-Khali or 'Empty Quarter' of the Arabian Peninsula, a vast sea of sand made famous in the west by Wilfred Thesiger's epic account of his journeys in the area, before oil was discovered. |