(9.2%), and Russia (8.1%). The 14 other successor nations of the
USSR and the other old Warsaw Pact nations again experienced widely
divergent growth rates; the three Baltic nations continued as strong
performers, in the 8%-10% range of growth. From 2006 to 2007 growth
rates slowed in all the major industrial countries except for the
United Kingdom (3.1%). Analysts attribute the slowdown to
uncertainties in the financial markets and lowered consumer
confidence. Worldwide, nations varied widely in their growth
results. Externally, the nation-state, as a bedrock
economic-political institution, is steadily losing control over
international flows of people, goods, funds, and technology.
Internally, the central government often finds its control over
resources slipping as separatist regional movements - typically
based on ethnicity - gain momentum, e.g., in many of the successor
states of the former Soviet Union, in the former Yugoslavia, in
India, in Iraq, in Indonesia, and in Canada. Externally, the central
government is losing decisionmaking powers to international bodies,
notably the EU. In Western Europe, governments face the difficult
political problem of channeling resources away from welfare programs
in order to increase investment and strengthen incentives to seek
employment. The addition of 80 million people each year to an
already overcrowded globe is exacerbating the problems of pollution,
desertification, underemployment, epidemics, and famine. Because of
their own internal problems and priorities, the industrialized
countries devote insufficient resources to deal effectively with the
poorer areas of the world, which, at least from an economic point of
view, are becoming further marginalized. The introduction of the
euro as the common currency of much of Western Europe in January
1999, while paving the way for an integrated economic powerhouse,
poses economic risks because of varying levels of income and
cultural and political differences among the participating nations.
The terrorist attacks on the US on 11 September 2001 accentuated a
growing risk to global prosperity, illustrated, for example, by the
reallocation of resources away from investment to anti-terrorist
programs. The opening of war in March 2003 between a US-led
coalition and Iraq added new uncertainties to global economic
prospects. After the initial coalition victory, the complex
political difficulties and the high economic cost of establishing
domestic order in Iraq became major global problems that continued
through 2007.
GDP (purchasing power parity):
GWP (gross world product): $65.61 trillion (2007 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate):
GWP (gross world product): $54.62 trillion (2007 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
5.2% (2007 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP):
$10,000 (2007 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 4%
industry: 32%
services: 64% (2007 est.)
Labor force:
3.131 billion (2007 est.)
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 40.2%
industry: 20.5%
services: 39.4% (2007 est.)
Unemployment rate:
30% combined unemployment and underemployment in many
non-industrialized countries; developed countries typically 4%-12%
unemployment (2007 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2.5%
highest 10%: 29.8% (2002 est.)
Investment (gross fixed):
22.7% of GDP (2007 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
developed countries 1% to 4% typically; developing countries 5% to
20% typically; national inflation rates vary widely in individual
cases, from declining prices in Japan to hyperinflation in one Third
World country (Zimbabwe); inflation rates have declined for most
countries for the last several years, held in check by increasing
international competition from several low wage countries (2005 est.)
Industries:
dominated by the onrush of technology, especially in computers,
robotics, telecommunications, and medicines and medical equipment;
most of these advances take place in OECD nations; only a small
portion of non-OECD countries have succeeded in rapidly adjusting to
these technological forces; the accelerated development of new
industrial (and agricultural) technology is complicating already
grim environmental problems
Industrial production growth rate:
5% (2007 est.)
Electricity - production:
18.96 trillion kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity - consumption:
16.88 trillion kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity - exports:
655.6 billion kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity - imports:
627.9 billion kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: NA
hydro: NA
nuclear: NA
other: NA
Oil - production:
84.79 million bbl/day (2007 est.)
Oil - consumption:
85.27 million bbl/day (2007 est.)
Oil - exports:
66.19 million bbl/day (2005)
Oil - imports:
65.41 million bbl/day (2005)
Oil - proved reserves:
1.332 trillion bbl (1 January 2008 est.)
Natural gas - production:
3.021 trillion cu m (2007 est.)
Natural gas - consumption:
3.198 trillion cu m (2007 est.)
Natural gas - exports:
929.9 billion cu m (2007 est.)
Natural gas - imports:
957.6 billion cu m (2007)
Natural gas - proved reserves:
175.4 trillion cu m (1 January 2008 est.)
Exports:
$13.89 trillion f.o.b. (2006 est.)
Exports - commodities:
the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services
top ten - share of world trade: electrical machinery, including
computers 14.8%; mineral fuels, including oil, coal, gas, and
refined products 14.4%; nuclear reactors, boilers, and parts 14.2%;
cars, trucks, and buses 8.9%; scientific and precision instruments
3.5%; plastics 3.4%; iron and steel 2.7%; organic chemicals 2.6%;
pharmaceutical products 2.6%; diamonds, pearls, and precious stones
1.9% (2006 est.)
Exports - partners:
US 13.7%, Germany 7.3%, China 6.2%, France 4.6%, UK 4.5%, Japan 4.1%
(2007)
Imports:
$13.74 trillion f.o.b. (2006 est.)
Imports - commodities:
the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services
top ten - share of world trade: see listing for exports
Imports - partners:
China 10.7%, Germany 9.23%, US 8.28%, Japan 5.14%, France 3.99%
(2007)
Economic aid - recipient:
ODA, $106.4 billion (2005)
Debt - external:
$51.78 trillion
note: this figure is the sum total of all countries' external debt,
both public and private (2004 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:
World total DFI $14 trillion
top ten recipients of DFI: US $1.966 trillion; UK $1.324 trillion;
France $872.4 billion; Germany $811.0 billion; HK $780.4 billion;
China $758.9 billion; Belgium $703.9 billion; Netherlands $535.1
billion; Canada $527.4 billion; Spain $487.8 billion (year-end 2007
est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:
World total DFI $14 trillion
top ten sources of DFI: US $2.627 trillion; UK $1.741 trillion;
France $1.211 trillion; Germany $1.123 trillion; Netherlands $811.4
billion; HK $716.2 billion; Spain $613.9 billion; Switzerland $591.5
billion; Belgium $537.6 billion; Japan $527.8 billion (year-end 2007
est.)
Market value of publicly traded shares:
$53.51 trillion (2006)
Communications
World
Telephones - main lines in use:
1,263,367,600 (2005)
Telephones - mobile cellular:
2,168,433,600 (2005)
Telephone system:
general assessment: NA
domestic: NA
international: NA
Radio broadcast stations:
AM NA, FM NA, shortwave NA
Radios:
NA
Television broadcast stations:
NA
Televisions:
NA
Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
10,350 (2000 est.)
Internet users:
1,018,057,389 (2005)
Transportation
World
Airports:
total airports - 49,024
top ten by passengers: Atlanta - 84,846,639; Chicago - 77,028,134;
London - 67,530,197; Tokyo - 65,810,672; Los Angeles - 61,041,066;
Dallas/Fort Worth - 60,226,138; Paris - 56,849,567; Frankfurt -
52,810,683; Beijing - 48,654,770; Denver - 47,325,016
top ten by cargo (metric tons): Memphis - 3,692,081; Hong Kong -
3,609,780; Anchorage - 2,691,395; Seoul - 2,336,572; Tokyo -
2,280,830; Shanghai - 2,168,122; Paris - 2,130,724; Frankfurt -
2,127,646; Louisville (US) - 1,983,032; Singapore - 1,931,881 (2006)
Heliports:
1,359 (2007)
Railways:
total: 1,370,782 km (2006)
Roadways:
total: 68,937,575 km (2008)
Waterways:
671,886 km (2004)
Ports and terminals:
top ten container ports (TEUs): Singapore - 24,792,400; Hong Kong -
23,539,000; Shanghai - 21,710,000; Shenzhen (China) - 18,468,890;
Busan (South Korea) - 12,030,000; Kaohsiung (Taiwan) - 9,774,670; -
Rotterdam - 9,603,000; Dubai (UAE) - 8,923,465; Hamburg - 8,861,545;
Los Angeles - 8,469,853 (2006)
Military
World
Military expenditures:
roughly 2% of GDP of gross world product (2005 est.)
Transnational Issues
World
Disputes - international:
stretching over 250,000 km, the world's 322 international land
boundaries separate 194 independent states and 70 dependencies,
areas of special sovereignty, and other miscellaneous entities;
ethnicity, culture, race, religion, and language have divided states
into separate political entities as much as history, physical
terrain, political fiat, or conquest, resulting in sometimes
arbitrary and imposed boundaries; most maritime states have claimed
limits that include territorial seas and exclusive economic zones;
overlapping limits due to adjacent or opposite coasts create the
potential for 430 bilateral maritime boundaries of which 209 have
agreements that include contiguous and non-contiguous segments;
boundary, borderland/resource, and territorial disputes vary in
intensity from managed or dormant to violent or militarized;
undemarcated, indefinite, porous, and unmanaged boundaries tend to
encourage illegal cross-border activities, uncontrolled migration,
and confrontation; territorial disputes may evolve from historical
and/or cultural claims, or they may be brought on by resource
competition; ethnic and cultural clashes continue to be responsible
for much of the territorial fragmentation and internal displacement
of the estimated 6.6 million people and cross-border displacements
of 8.6 million refugees around the world as of early 2006; just over
one million refugees were repatriated in the same period; other
sources of contention include access to water and mineral
(especially hydrocarbon) resources, fisheries, and arable land;
armed conflict prevails not so much between the uniformed armed
forces of independent states as between stateless armed entities
that detract from the sustenance and welfare of local populations,
leaving the community of nations to cope with resultant refugees,
hunger, disease, impoverishment, and environmental degradation
Refugees and internally displaced persons:
the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimated
that in December 2006 there was a global population of 8.8 million
registered refugees and as many as 24.5 million IDPs in more than 50
countries; the actual global population of refugees is probably
closer to 10 million given the estimated 1.5 million Iraqi refugees
displaced throughout the Middle East (2007)
Trafficking in persons:
current situation: approximately 800,000 people, mostly women and
children, are trafficked annually across national borders, not
including millions trafficked within their own countries; at least
80% of the victims are female and up to 50% are minors; 75% of all
victims are trafficked into commercial sexual exploitation; almost
two-thirds of the global victims are trafficked intra-regionally
within East Asia and the Pacific (260,000 to 280,000 people) and
Europe and Eurasia (170,000 to 210,000 people)
Tier 2 Watch List: Albania, Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain,
Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, China, Costa
Rica, Cote d'Ivoire, Cyprus, Democratic Republic of the Congo,
Dominican Republic, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, The Gambia,
Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, India, Jordan, Libya,
Malaysia, Montenegro, Mozambique, Niger, Panama, Republic of the
Congo, Russia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan,
Venezuela, Zambia, Zimbabwe
Tier 3: Algeria, Burma, Cuba, Fiji, Iran, Kuwait, Moldova, North
Korea, Oman, Papua New Guinea, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria
(2008)
Illicit drugs:
cocaine: worldwide coca leaf cultivation in 2007 amounted to 232,500
hectares; Colombia produced slightly more than two-thirds of the
worldwide crop, followed by Peru and Bolivia; potential pure cocaine
production decreased 7% to 865 metric tons in 2007; Colombia
conducts aggressive coca eradication campaign, but both Peruvian and
Bolivian Governments are hesitant to eradicate coca in key growing
areas; 551 metric tons of export-quality cocaine (85% pure) is
documented to have been seized or destroyed in 2005; US consumption
of export quality cocaine is estimated to have been in excess of 380
metric tons
opiates: worldwide illicit opium poppy cultivation continued to
increase in 2007, with a potential opium production of 8,400 metric
tons, reaching the highest levels recorded since estimates began in
mid-1980s; Afghanistan is world's primary opium producer, accounting
for 95% of the global supply; Southeast Asia - responsible for 9% of
global opium - saw marginal increases in production; Latin America
produced 1% of global opium, but most was refined into heroin
destined for the US market; if all potential opium was processed
into pure heroin, the potential global production would be 1,000
metric tons of heroin in 2007
This page was last updated on 18 December, 2008
======================================================================
@Yemen
Introduction
Yemen
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.
Geography
Yemen
Location:
Middle East, bordering the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Red Sea,
between Oman and Saudi Arabia
Geographic coordinates:
15 00 N, 48 00 E
Map references:
Middle East
Area:
total: 527,970 sq km
land: 527,970 sq km
water: 0 sq km
note: includes Perim, Socotra, the former Yemen Arab Republic (YAR
or North Yemen), and the former People's Democratic Republic of
Yemen (PDRY or South Yemen)
Area - comparative:
slightly larger than twice the size of Wyoming
Land boundaries:
total: 1,746 km
border countries: Oman 288 km, Saudi Arabia 1,458 km
Coastline:
1,906 km
Maritime claims:
territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin
Climate:
mostly desert; hot and humid along west coast; temperate in western
mountains affected by seasonal monsoon; extraordinarily hot, dry,
harsh desert in east
Terrain:
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
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Arabian Sea 0 m
highest point: Jabal an Nabi Shu'ayb 3,760 m
Natural resources:
petroleum, fish, rock salt, marble; small deposits of coal, gold,
lead, nickel, and copper; fertile soil in west
Land use:
arable land: 2.91%
permanent crops: 0.25%
other: 96.84% (2005)
Irrigated land:
5,500 sq km (2003)
Total renewable water resources:
4.1 cu km (1997)
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):
total: 6.63 cu km/yr (4%/1%/95%)
per capita: 316 cu m/yr (2000)
Natural hazards:
sandstorms and dust storms in summer
Environment - current issues:
limited natural fresh water resources; inadequate supplies of
potable water; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto
Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental
Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer
Protection
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note:
strategic location on Bab el Mandeb, the strait linking the Red Sea
and the Gulf of Aden, one of world's most active shipping lanes
People
Yemen
Population:
23,013,376 (July 2008 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 46.2% (male 5,415,385/female 5,218,237)
15-64 years: 51.2% (male 5,996,202/female 5,795,779)
65 years and over: 2.6% (male 284,195/female 303,578) (2008 est.)
Median age:
total: 16.7 years
male: 16.7 years
female: 16.8 years (2008 est.)
Population growth rate:
3.46% (2008 est.)
Birth rate:
42.42 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Death rate:
7.83 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Net migration rate:
NA (2008 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.94 male(s)/female
total population: 1.03 male(s)/female (2008 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
total: 56.27 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 60.78 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 51.54 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 62.9 years
male: 60.96 years
female: 64.94 years (2008 est.)
Total fertility rate:
6.41 children born/woman (2008 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
0.1% (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
12,000 (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
NA
Major infectious diseases:
degree of risk: high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea,
hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: dengue fever and malaria
water contact disease: schistosomiasis (2008)
Nationality:
noun: Yemeni(s)
adjective: Yemeni
Ethnic groups:
predominantly Arab; but also Afro-Arab, South Asians, Europeans
Religions:
Muslim including Shaf'i (Sunni) and Zaydi (Shia), small numbers of
Jewish, Christian, and Hindu
Languages:
Arabic
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 50.2%
male: 70.5%
female: 30% (2003 est.)
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):
total: 9 years
male: 11 years
female: 7 years (2005)
Education expenditures:
9.6% of GDP (2001)
Government
Yemen
Country name:
conventional long form: Republic of Yemen
conventional short form: Yemen
local long form: Al Jumhuriyah al Yamaniyah
local short form: Al Yaman
former: Yemen Arab Republic [Yemen (Sanaa) or North Yemen] and
People's Democratic Republic of Yemen [Yemen (Aden) or South Yemen]
Government type:
republic
Capital:
name: Sanaa
geographic coordinates: 15 21 N, 44 12 E
time difference: UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC during
Standard Time)
Administrative divisions:
19 governorates (muhafazat, singular - muhafazah); Abyan, 'Adan, Ad
Dali', Al Bayda', Al Hudaydah, Al Jawf, Al Mahrah, Al Mahwit,
'Amran, Dhamar, Hadramawt, Hajjah, Ibb, Lahij, Ma'rib, Sa'dah,
San'a', Shabwah, Ta'izz
note: for electoral and administrative purposes, the capital city of
Sanaa is treated as an additional governorate
Independence:
22 May 1990 (Republic of Yemen was established with the merger of
the Yemen Arab Republic [Yemen (Sanaa) or North Yemen] and the
Marxist-dominated People's Democratic Republic of Yemen [Yemen
(Aden) or South Yemen]); note - previously North Yemen became
independent in November 1918 (from the Ottoman Empire) and became a
republic with the overthrow of the theocratic Imamate in 1962; South
Yemen became independent on 30 November 1967 (from the UK)
National holiday:
Unification Day, 22 May (1990)
Constitution:
16 May 1991; amended 29 September 1994 and February 2001
Legal system:
based on Islamic law, Turkish law, English common law, and local
tribal customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state: President Ali Abdallah SALIH (since 22 May 1990, the
former president of North Yemen, assumed office upon the merger of
North and South Yemen); Vice President Maj. Gen. Abd al-Rab Mansur
al-HADI (since 3 October 1994)
head of government: Prime Minister Ali Muhammad MUJAWWAR (since 31
March 2007)
cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the
advice of the prime minister
elections: president elected by popular vote for a seven-year term;
election last held 20 September 2006 (next to be held in September
2013); vice president appointed by the president; prime minister and
deputy prime ministers appointed by the president
election results: Ali Abdallah SALIH elected president; percent of
vote - Ali Abdallah SALIH 77.2%, Faysal BIN SHAMLAN 21.8%
Legislative branch:
a bicameral legislature consisting of a Shura Council (111 seats;
members appointed by the president) and a House of Representatives
(301 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms)
elections: last held on 27 April 2003 (next to be held in April 2009)
election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party -
GPC 228, Islah 47, YSP 7, Nasserite Unionist Party 3, National Arab
Socialist Ba'th Party 2, independents 14
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court
Political parties and leaders:
General People's Congress or GPC [Abdul-Kader BAJAMMAL]; Islamic
Reform Grouping or Islah [Mohammed Abdullah AL-YADOUMI (acting)];
Nasserite Unionist Party [Abdal Malik al-MAKHLAFI]; National Arab
Socialist Ba'th Party [Dr. Qasim SALAM]; Yemeni Socialist Party or
YSP [Ali Salih MUQBIL]; note - there are at least seven more active
political parties
Political pressure groups and leaders:
Muslim Brotherhood; Women National Committee
other: conservative tribal groups
International organization participation:
AFESD, AMF, CAEU, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt (signatory),
ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM,
IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITSO, ITU, ITUC, LAS, MIGA, MINURCAT,
MINURSO, MONUC, NAM, OAS (observer), OIC, OPCW, UN, UNAMID, UNCTAD,
UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNOCI, UNOMIG, UNWTO, UPU, WCO,
WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO (observer)
Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Abd al-Wahab Abdallah al-HAJRI
chancery: 2319 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 965-4760
FAX: [1] (202) 337-2017
Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Stephen A. SECHE
embassy: Sa'awan Street, Sanaa
mailing address: P. O. Box 22347, Sanaa
telephone: [967] (1) 755-2000 ext. 2153 or 2266
FAX: [967] (1) 303-182
Flag description:
three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and black; similar
to the flag of Syria, which has two green stars in the white band,
and of Iraq, which has an Arabic inscription centered in the white
band; also similar to the flag of Egypt, which has a heraldic eagle
centered in the white band
Economy
Yemen
Economy - overview:
Yemen, one of the poorest countries in the Arab world, reported
average annual growth in the range of 3-4% from 2000 through 2007.
Its economic fortunes depend mostly on declining oil resources, but
the country is trying to diversify its earnings. In 2006 Yemen began
an economic reform program designed to bolster non-oil sectors of
the economy and foreign investment. As a result of the program,
international donors pledged about $5 billion for development
projects. In addition, Yemen has made some progress on reforms over
the last year that will likely encourage foreign investment. Oil
revenues probably increased in 2007 as a result of higher prices.
GDP (purchasing power parity):
$56.24 billion (2007 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate):
$21.66 billion (2007 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
2.8% (2007 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP):
$2,500 (2007 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: