Geography (Yemen)
=================


     Total area:
         527,970 km2
     Land area:
         527,970 km2; 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)
     Comparative area:
         slightly larger than twice the size of Wyoming
     Land boundaries:
         1,746 km total; Oman 288 km, Saudi Arabia 1,458 km
     Coastline:
         1,906 km
     Maritime claims:
       Contiguous zone:
         North - 18 nm; South - 24 nm
       Continental shelf:
         North - 200 meters (depth); South - edge of continental margin or 200 nm
       Exclusive economic zone:
         200 nm
       Territorial sea:
         12 nm
     Disputes:
         undefined section of boundary with Saudi Arabia; Administrative Line with
         Oman; there is a proposed treaty with Oman (which has not yet been formerly
         accepted) to settle the Yemeni-Omani boundary
     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
     Natural resources:
         crude oil, fish, rock salt, marble; small deposits of coal, gold, lead,
         nickel, and copper; fertile soil in west
     Land use:
         arable land 6%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and pastures 30%; forest and
         woodland 7%; other 57%; includes irrigated NEGL%
     Environment:
         subject to sand and dust storms in summer; scarcity of natural freshwater
         resources; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification
     Note:
         controls Bab el Mandeb, the strait linking the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden,
         one of world's most active shipping lanes




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