| Geography | Yemen |
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Location:
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Middle East, bordering the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Red Sea, between Oman and Saudi Arabia |
Geographic coordinates:
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15 00 N, 48 00 E |
Map references:
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Middle East |
Area:
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total: 527,968 sq km
land: 527,968 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:
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slightly larger than twice the size of Wyoming |
Land boundaries:
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total: 1,746 km
border countries: Oman 288 km, Saudi Arabia 1,458 km |
Coastline:
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1,906 km |
Maritime claims:
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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:
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mostly desert; hot and humid along west coast; temperate in western mountains affected by seasonal monsoon; extraordinarily hot, dry, harsh desert in east |
Terrain:
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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:
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lowest point: Arabian Sea 0 m
highest point: Jabal an Nabi Shu'ayb 3,760 m |
Natural resources:
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petroleum, fish, rock salt, marble; small deposits of coal, gold, lead, nickel, and copper; fertile soil in west |
Land use:
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arable land: 2.91%
permanent crops: 0.25%
other: 96.84% (2005) |
Irrigated land:
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6,800 sq km (2008) |
Total renewable water resources:
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4.1 cu km (1997) |
Total renewable water resources - per capita:
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170 cubic meters per capita |
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):
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total: 6.63 cu km/yr (4%/1%/95%)
per capita: 316 cu m/yr (2000) |
Natural hazards:
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sandstorms and dust storms in summer
volcanism: Yemen experiences limited volcanic activity; Jebel at Tair (Jabal al-Tair, Jebel Teir, Jabal al-Tayr, Jazirat at-Tair) (elev. 244 m), which forms an island in the Red Sea, erupted in 2007 after awakening from dormancy; other historically active volcanoes include Harra of Arhab, Harras of Dhamar, Harra es-Sawad, and Jebel Zubair, although many of these have not erupted in over a century |
Environment - current issues:
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limited natural freshwater resources; inadequate supplies of potable water; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification |
Environment - international agreements:
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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:
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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 |
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