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National Trade Data Bank
ITEM ID     : ST BNOTES YEMEN
DATE        : Oct 28, 1994

AGENCY      : U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
PROGRAM     : BACKGROUND NOTES
TITLE       : Background Notes - YEMEN

Source key      : ST
Program key     : ST BNOTES
Update sched.   : Occasionally
Data type       : TEXT
End year        : 1993
Date of record  : 19941018
Keywords 3      :
Keywords 3      : | YEMEN

BACKGROUND NOTES:  YEMEN
PUBLISHED BY THE BUREAU OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS
US DEPARTMENT OF STATE

November 1992
Official Name:  Republic of Yemen

PROFILE

Geography
Area:  527,970 sq. km. (203,796 sq. mi.); about the size of
California and Pennsylvania combined.  Cities:  Capital--Sanaa.
Other cities--Aden, Taiz, Hodeida, and Al-Mukalla.  Terrain:
Mountainous interior with a flat and sandy coastal plain.
Climate:  Temperate in the mountainous regions in the western
part of the country; extremely hot with minimal rainfall in the
remainder of the country; humid on the coast.

People
Nationality:   Noun and adjective--Yemeni(s).  Population (1990
est.): 12 million.  Annual growth rate: 3.2%.  Ethnic group:
Arab.  Religion:  Islam.   Language: Arabic.  Education:
Attendance (est.)--67% primary, 10% secondary.  Literacy
(est.)--28%.  Health: Infant mortality rate--116/1,000 live
births.  Life expectancy--52 yrs.  Work force (2.8 million est.):
As percentage of total population--25%.  Agriculture and
fisheries--64%.  Industry and commerce--11%.  Services--25%.

Government
Type:  Republic.  Unification (of former South and North Yemen):
May 22, 1990.  Constitution:  Adopted May 21, 1990.

Branches:  Executive--Five-member Presidential Council assisted
by a 38-member cabinet.  Legislative--301-seat provisional unified
parliament (159 members from the North, 111 members from the
South, and 31 independent "at-large" members).   Judicial--The
constitution calls for an independent judiciary.  The
transitional parliament passed a law establishing the court
system, setting out qualifications for judges, and creating, for
the first time in either Yemen, a Supreme Court.  However, the
law has not yet been implemented.

Administrative subdivisions:  17 governorates subdivided into
districts.

Political parties:  Yemeni Socialist Party, General People's
Congress, Yemeni Grouping for Reform, Ba'athist Parties,
Nasserist Parties, and Muslim Fundamentalist Parties.  Suffrage:
Universal over 18.

National holiday:  May 22 (Unity Day).

Flag:  Three horizontal bands--red, white, and black bands.

Economy
GDP (1990 est.):   $7.4 billion.  Per capita GDP (1990 est.):
$617.

Natural resources:  Oil, natural gas, fish, rock salt, small
deposits of coal and copper.

Agriculture (est. 26% of GDP): Products--qat (a shrub containing
natural amphetamine), cotton, fruits, vegetables, cereals,
livestock and poultry, hides, skins, tobacco, honey.  Arable land
(est.)--5%.

Industry (est. 18% of GDP):  Types--petroleum refining, mining,
food processing, building materials.

Trade (1990 est.):  Exports--$908 million:  crude petroleum,
refined oil products, hides, fish, fruits, vegetables, cotton,
coffee, biscuits, plastic pipes.  Major markets--United States,
Western Europe, South Korea, Saudi Arabia.  Imports--$2.1
billion:  cereals, feed grains, foodstuffs, machinery, petroleum
products, transportation equipment.  Major suppliers--Japan,
Saudi Arabia, Australia, EC countries, China, Russia and other
newly independent states, United States.

Exchange rate (April 1991):  Official--12 rials=US$1.  Market--20
to 27 rials=US$1.

PEOPLE
Unlike other people of the Arabian Peninsula who have
historically been nomads or semi-nomads, Yemenis are almost
entirely sedentary and live in small villages and towns scattered
throughout the highlands and coastal regions.

Yemenis are divided into two principal Islamic religious groups:
the Zaidi community of the Shi'a sect, found in the north and
northwest, and the Shafa'i community of the Sunni sect, found in
the south and southeast.  Yemenis are mainly of Semitic origin,
although Negroid strains are present among inhabitants of the
coastal region.  Arabic is the official language, although
English is widely understood.  In the Mahra area (the extreme
east), several non-Arabic languages are spoken.  When the former
states of North and South Yemen were established, most resident
minority groups departed.

HISTORY
Although its early history is obscure, Yemen was one of the
oldest centers of civilization in the Near East.  Between the 12th
century BC and the 6th century AD, it was part of the Minaean,
Sabaean, and Himyarite kingdoms and later came under Ethiopian
and Persian rule.  In the 7th century, Islamic caliphs began to
exert control over the area.  After this caliphate broke up, the
former North Yemen came under control of the Zaidi sect
imams1, who established a theocratic political structure that
survived until modern times.  Egyptian caliphs occupied much of
North Yemen throughout the 11th century.  By the 16th century,
North Yemen was part of the Ottoman Empire and its imams exerted
suzerainty over South Yemen.

Former North Yemen.  Under the Ottoman Empire, Yemen had nominal
sovereignty until World War I.  Turkish forces withdrew from
former North Yemen in 1918, and Zaidi Imam Yahy strengthened his
control over the area of former North Yemen.  After brief
military encounters with Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom
(which controlled the Aden protectorate in what was former South
Yemen), its boundaries were established by treaty with those two
countries.  It became a member of the Arab League in 1945 and the
United Nations in 1947.

Imam Yahy died during a coup attempt in 1948 and was succeeded by
his son Ahmad, who ruled until his death in September 1962.  Imam
Ahmad's reign was marked by renewed friction with the United
Kingdom and growing pressures to support the Arab nationalist
objectives of Egyptian President Gamal Abdal Nasser.

Shortly after assuming power, Ahmad's son--Imam Badr--was deposed
by revolutionary (republican) forces which took control of Sanaa
and then created the Yemen Arab Republic (YAR).  At the request
of the new government, Egypt assisted the YAR with troops and
supplies to combat the deposed Imam Badr.  Saudi Arabia and
Jordan supported Badr's  royalist forces to oppose the newly
formed republic.

Conflict continued periodically until 1967 when Egyptian troops
were withdrawn from North Yemen after the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.
The Egyptian-supported regime then collapsed, and moderate
republican leaders rallied to the defense of Sanaa against a
final royalist siege of the city.  By 1968, most of the opposing
leaders reached a reconciliation; Saudi Arabia recognized the
republic in 1970.

Former South Yemen.  British influence increased in the south and
eastern portion of Yemen after capture of the port of Aden in
1839.  The area was ruled as part of British India until 1937,
when it was made a crown colony with designated East Aden and
West Aden protectorates.  By 1965, many of the tribal states
within the protectorates  and the Aden colony proper had joined
the British-sponsored Federation of South Arabia.

However, in 1965, two rival nationalist groups--the Front for
the Liberation of Occupied South Yemen (FLOSY) and the National
Liberation Front (NLF)--turned to terrorism in their struggle to
control the country.  FLOSY was associated with the sizable
number of Nasserite Egyptian supporters in neighboring YAR.

In 1967, in the face of rising violence, British troops began
with- drawing.  Federation rule collapsed.  NLF elements seized
control.  The United Kingdom, having announced its intention to
deal with any indigenous group capable of forming a new
government, met with the NLF at Geneva.  Following these
negotiations, South Arabia, including Aden, was declared
independent on November 30, 1967, and was renamed the People's
Republic of South Yemen.

During the early period of its independence, South Yemen was
ruled by a three-member presidential council and a council of
ministers.  The NLF was the dominant political force, although a
communist and a Ba'ath party also existed.  In June 1969, a
radical wing of the NLF gained power and changed the country's
name to the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY) on
December 1, 1970.  In August 1971, a more radical NLF group
achieved power at the expense  of Prime Minister Muhammad Ali
Haytham.  In 1978, President Salim Rubbaya Ali was overthrown in
a bloody coup and executed by Abdul Fattah Ismail, who assumed
the presidency.  The PDRY enacted a new constitution and
amalgamated the three political parties into one, the Yemeni
Socialist Party (YSP), which became the only legal party.

Movement Toward Union.  The Governments of the PDRY and the YAR
had declared in 1972 that they approved a future union.  However,
little progress was made toward unification, and relations were
often strained.  In 1979, simmering tensions led to fighting, and
PDRY troops occupied YAR territory.  After the intervention of
the Arab League, the troops withdrew.  During a summit meeting in
Kuwait in March 1979, the presidents of both countries reiterated
their support for unity.  However, that year PDRY President Abdul
Fattah Ismail established the National Democratic Front (NDF)
insurgency against the YAR.

In April 1980, PDRY President Abdul Fattah Ismail resigned,
ostensibly for health reasons, and  was  exiled and replaced by
Ali Nasir Muhammad.  The new president adopted a less
interventionist stance toward both the YAR and neighboring Oman
after 1982.  Both the NDF insurgency and a similar movement
against the Oman Government were reined in.  However, internal
opposition to Ali Nasir grew and, in August 1985, became more
focused after Ismail's return from exile in Moscow.  A Yemeni
Socialist Party conference in October 1985 did little to reduce
the tensions arising from his return.

On January 13, 1986, a violent struggle began in the PDRY capital
between Ali Nasir Muhammad and Abdul Fattah Ismail and their
supporters.  Fighting lasted for more than 1 month and resulted
in thousands of casualties, Ali Nasir's ouster, and Ismail's
death.  Some 60,000 exiles, including Ali-Nasser and his sup-
porters, fled to the YAR, producing a further deterioration in
YAR-PDRY relations.  In the PDRY, the prime minister, Haydar Abu
Bakr Al-Attas, assumed the presidency.  A period of instability
followed and continued until the summer of 1986.

In May 1988, the YAR and PDRY Governments concluded agreements
that considerably reduced tensions and renewed their discussions
concerning unification.  They also agreed to establish a joint
oil exploration investment area along their undefined border, to
demilitarize the border, and to allow all Yemenis free border
passage by presenting only a national identification card.

In November 1989, the leaders of the YAR and the PDRY agreed on a
draft unity constitution originally drawn up in 1981.  The
legislatures ratified this constitution on May 21,1990, and the
Republic of Yemen (RY) was declared on May 22.  On May 22, Yemen
also announced a 30-month transitional period for completing
arrangements for unifying the different political and economic
systems.

1 In Islam, a recognized leader or a religious leader.  Among the
Sunni, the term refers to the leader in the Friday Mosque prayer.
The term also is a synonym for caliph, the vicegerent of God.
The Shiites apply it to Ali, Hasan and Hussein, and the rest of
the caliphs in the family of Ali, whom they consider, alone of
the orthodox calips, to have been successors of the Prophet.

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICAL CONDITIONS
As part of the transitional period, a presidential council was
jointly elected by the 26-member YAR Advisory Council and the
17-member PDRY Presidium.  This council consists of five members-
-three from the North and two from the South--to oversee
executive duties during the transitional period.  The council has
appointed a prime minister, who formed a 38-member cabinet.  The
central government offices are located in Sanaa, capital of the
former YAR, with branches in Aden, capital of the former PDRY.
Employees are being transferred from the North to the South, and
vice versa, in order to facilitate ministry integration.  As part
of the new unified government, the council also has appointed a
45-member  advisory council.

Yemen has formed a new 301-seat provisional unified parliament,
consisting of 159 members from the North, 111 members from the
South, and 31 independent "at-large" members appointed by the
chairman of the council.  The 31 "at-large" positions include
some members of the opposition parties.  The provisional
parliament is entrusted with all legislative powers stipulated in
the constitution, with the exception of electing members of the
council and amendment of the constitution.  Country-wide
legislative elections are expected to be held before November 22,
1992.

The unity constitution, ratified on May 21, 1990, will serve as
the legal cornerstone for the new state.  The constitution
affirms Yemen's commitment to several important principles,
including free elections, a multi-party political system, the
right to own private property, and equality under the law in the
areas of sex, color, origin, language, occupation, social status,
and religious belief.  The unity constitution was submitted to a
popular referendum in May 1991 and over-whelmingly approved.

Principal Government Officials

Presidential Council
Chairman Ali Abdallah Saleh--President
Prime Minister--Haydar Abu Bakr Al-Attas
Minister of Foreign Affairs--Abd al-Karim al-Iryani
 Ambassador to the United States--Moshin Al-Alaini
Ambassador to the United Nations--Abdullah Al-Ashtal

The Republic of Yemen maintains an embassy in the United States
at 2600 Virginia Ave., NW,  Suite 705, Washington, DC  20037
(tel. [phone]).

ECONOMY
At the time of unification, both the YAR and the PDRY were
struggling with underdeveloped economies.  In the North,
disruptions of civil war (1962-70) and frequent periods of
drought dealt severe blows to a previously prosperous
agricultural sector.  Coffee production, formerly the North's
main export and principal form of foreign exchange, declined in
the 1980s, as the cultivation of qat (a shrub whose leaves
contain natural amphetamine and are chewed for a mild stimulating
effect) increased.  Low levels of domestic industry and
agriculture and the lack of raw  materials made the YAR dependent
on imports.

Trade deficits were compensated for by remittances from Yemenis
working abroad and foreign aid.  Beginning in the mid-1950s, the
Soviet Union and China provided large-scale assistance to the
YAR.  This aid included funding of substantial construction
projects, scholarships for study in communist countries, and
considerable military assistance.  Since the collapse of the
Soviet Union, Russian aid to Yemen has effectively ceased.

Industrial development was still in its early stages at the time
of unification, and was mainly in cement, food processing,
cooking oil, flour, household plastic goods, and cigarettes.  In
1966, traces of copper, sulfur, coal, and quartz were found.  Oil
was discovered in the Marib area in 1984 by an American oil
company.  Reserves currently are projected at 500 million
barrels.  An oil refinery began operation in April 1986.

In the PDRY, economic activity was overwhelmingly concentrated in
the port city of Aden.  The economy of South Yemen suffered
greatly when the UK military base at Aden was closed in 1967.
The PDRY made small gains in diversification after the mid-1970s,
and in 1982, a minor oil discovery was made by an Italian
company.  Other firms and nations, particularly the former Soviet
Union, later participated in efforts to discover and produce oil
in South Yemen.  At the time of unification, much of South
Yemen's revenue was derived from refinery operations in which
crude oil was imported to Aden and refined products exported.  As
in its northern counterpart, worker remittances and foreign aid
were extremely important to the PDRY economy.  Foreign assistance
to both countries declined, however, as oil-rich Gulf states cut
back aid because of declining oil revenues.

At unification, the PDRY had a centrally planned Marxist-oriented
economy while the YAR was more market oriented.  The unified
Yemen Government currently is in the process of integrating two
disparate economic systems.  It hopes to complete this
integration by the end of the 30-month transitional period, which
is scheduled to end on November 22, 1992.  Parliamentary
elections, which will complete this process, probably will not
take place until February 1993.

The most important development for the Yemeni economy was the
discovery of oil in the 1980s.  The Shabwa fields in the South,
the Marib fields in the  North, and the Joint Investment Area
(called the "Jana Block" since unification) are all believed to
have substantial  oil reserves.  The success of oil development
activities will be important for Yemen's future economic
development.  In 1990 and 1991, more than a dozen foreign oil
companies, including US companies Occidental, Sun, Pecten
(Shell-USA), and Chevron, signed production-sharing agreements
with the Yemeni Government to begin oil exploration in the South.


After Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in August 1990, more than 750,000
Yemeni expatriates living and working in the Arab Gulf countries,
especially Saudi Arabia, returned to Yemen.  Saudi Arabia,
Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States stopped
or reduced their assistance to Yemen because of its Gulf policy,
which was sympathetic to Iraq.

Since unification in May 1990, Chinese aid has steadily
decreased.  Trade also has decreased since the Gulf War, as China
now requires hard currency for all purchases.  Chinese
concessionary financing--no interest loans--has been
discontinued.  Current Yemeni debt to China is estimated at $200
million.  China is still involved with several public works
programs in Yemen, which includes highway construction and
building a dam.  They are still providing educational aid in the
form of medical training to Yemeni students.

The influx of the returnees, coupled with the cut in outside
assistance, has imposed severe burdens on the Yemeni economy:
Remittances from expatriate workers largely stopped, and
unemployment within Yemen increased. The returnees and their
children, comprising about 7% of the population, have increased
pressure on schools, health clinics, housing, and social
services.  The Yemeni Government seeks increased bilateral and
multilateral assistance to cope with these economic problems.

FOREIGN RELATIONS
Prior to unification, the two nations pursued very different
external relations.  In the North, the Imams of Yemen sought to
keep their countries isolated.  Under the influence of Crown
Prince Badr, large aid missions from the Soviet Union and the
People's Republic of China had been established in 1958 and 1959,
but communist aid declined after the end of the civil war in
1970.

Following the September 1962 revolution, the Yemen Arab Republic
became closely allied with and heavily dependent on Egypt, which
supplied troops to help defend the new republic.  The Saudis
feared that the republican government posed a threat to Saudi
Arabia's southern border and sup- ported the royalists, enabling
them to achieve considerable military success in North Yemen.
After the Egyptian evacuation in 1967 and the subsequent royalist
failure to topple the republican regime, Saudi-Yemeni differences
were overcome, and relations were re-established.

In February 1989, North Yemen joined Iraq, Jordan, and Egypt in
forming the Arab Cooperation Council (ACC), an Arab regional
organization intended to foster closer economic cooperation and
integration.  In September 1989, Sanaa hosted the second ACC
summit meeting, at which the four heads of state signed a number
of agreements in economic, agricultural, labor, cultural,
educational, and other fields.  After unification, Yemen was
accepted as a member of the ACC in place of its YAR predecessor.
In the wake of the Gulf crisis, the ACC has remained inactive.

In the South, the PDRY had diplomatic relations with many
countries in the East and West and with moderate Arab states,
including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Egypt.  However, relations
between it and the conservative Arab states of the Persian Gulf
and the Arabian Peninsula had been marked by political
incompatibility and military clashes, such as that with Saudi
Arabia in 1969 and 1973.  The PDRY was the only Arab state to
vote against admitting new Arab states in the Gulf area to the
United Nations and the Arab League.

The regime which took control in 1986, however, continued former
President Ali Nasir Muhammad's more conciliatory approach to
foreign relations and, in pursuit of wider acceptance, undertook
extensive consultations with the Eastern bloc and Arab states.

Since unification, the Yemen Government has reaffirmed its
commitment to the Arab League and its organizations and to the
Organization of the Islamic Conference.  It also has stated its
commitment to the cause of the Palestinians and the establishment
of a Palestinian state with its capital in Jerusalem.  On a
broader scope, it has emphasized that  it will pursue a
nonaligned policy and will seek security in the Red Sea and
Indian Ocean, with an emphasis on nuclear non-proliferation in
this region.  It also has stated its commitment to the
dissemination of democracy throughout the world.

The Gulf crisis dramatically affected Yemen's relations with its
neighbors  [see ECONOMY].   A member of the UN Security Council
(UNSC) for 1990 and 1991, Yemen abstained on a number of UNSC
resolutions concerning Iraq and Kuwait, including the mandatory
economic sanctions resolution (UNSCR 661), and voted against the
"use of force resolution" (UNSCR 678).  During the crisis, the
Yemeni media was pro-Iraqi, anti-American, and anti-Saudi.  After
the invasion of Kuwait, Yemen, contrary to the rest of the
region, did not condemn the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and did not
support UN action to reverse the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.  The
Yemeni Government maintained, and continues to maintain,
high-level contacts with the Saddam regime.  However, the
government called for the withdrawal of Iraqi troops from Kuwait.
The Yemeni Government abstained on the comprehensive "cease-fire
resolution" (UNSCR 687) at the end of the Gulf  War.

US-YEMEN RELATIONS
The United States had differing relations with the two Yemeni
nations.  The United States established diplomatic relations with
the Imamate of Yemen in 1946.  A resident legation, later
elevated to embassy status, was opened in Taiz, the capital at
the time, on March 16, 1959.  The United States recognized the
new Yemen Arab Republic on December 19, 1962.  On June 6, 1967,
the YAR broke diplomatic relations with the United States in the
wake of the Arab-Israeli conflict of that year.  Diplomatic
relations were restored following a visit by Secretary of State
William P. Rogers  in 1972.

During a border conflict between the Yemen Arab Republic and the
People's Democratic Republic of Yemen in February 1979, the
United States cooperated with Saudi Arabia to greatly expand the
security assistance program to the YAR, and relations improved
greatly.  Hunt Oil of Dallas, Texas, discovered oil in the YAR in
1984.  George Bush, while Vice President, visited  in April 1986,
and YAR President Saleh visited the United States in January
1990.  The United States had a $42 million US Agency for
International Development (USAID) program in 1990.  From 1980 to
1990, the United States provided the YAR with assistance in the
agriculture, education, health, and water sectors.  In addition
to its USAID program, the United States has about 50 Peace Corps
volunteers in Yemen engaged in agricultural development,
irrigation, nursing, and English instruction.  The US Information
Service operates an English-language institute in Sanaa.

On December 7, 1967, the United States recognized the People's
Democratic Republic of Yemen and elevated its consulate general
in Aden to embassy status.  However, relations were strained due
to South Yemen's apparent concerns over US policy toward Saudi
Arabia and Israel.  Furthermore, the PDRY Government was closely
associated with known terrorist organizations and was,
consequently,  placed on the list of nations that support
terrorism.  On October 24, 1969, South Yemen formally broke
diplomatic relations with the United States and expelled the
diplomatic mission.

The United States and the PDRY re-established diplomatic
relations on April 30, 1990,  3 weeks before the announcement of
unification.  After the announcement, the United States
officially recognized the Republic of Yemen.  Widely divergent
views between the American and Yemeni Governments have affected
the bilateral relationship.  In FY 1990, US foreign aid to Yemen
was $22 million.  This aid was reduced to $2.9 million in FY 1991
and $3 million in FY 1992, due to Yemeni support for Iraq in the
Gulf War.  The small US military assistance program to Yemen also
was canceled during the Gulf crisis.

Principal US Officials:

Ambassador--Arthur H. Hughes
Charge d'Affaires a.i.--Bruce Strathearn


The address of the US Embassy in Yemen is PO Box 22347, Sanaa,
Republic of Yemen.

Additional Information
Available from the Superintendent of Documents, US Government
Printing Office, Washington, DC  20402:
American University.  Area Handbook for the Yemens.

TRAVEL NOTES:

Customs and currency:  A visa is required for US citizens and may
be obtained at the Republic of Yemen  Embassy in Washington, DC,
or the Mission to the United Nations, 211 East 43d St., New York,
NY 10017.  Customs controls prohibit liquor.  Persons arriving in
the Republic of Yemen may be required to change US $150 into
Yemeni rials at the time of arrival; sufficient funds should,
therefore, be carried to meet this requirement.

Climate and clothing:  Climate varies according to area; cool and
dry at high elevations (Sanaa), hot and humid along the Red Sea
and Gulf of Aden coastal plains.  Lightweight wash-and-wear
clothing is best.

Health:  Smallpox, yellow fever, cholera, typhoid, and gamma
globulin shots are recommended; check current health
requirements.

Published by the United States Department of State --  Bureau of
Public Affairs  -- Office of Public Communication -- Washington,
DC -- November 1992.

Department of State Publication 10021--Background Notes Series
-- This material is in the public domain and may  be reprinted
without permission; citation of this source is appreciated.

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, US Government
Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402.