Title: Background Note: Yemen
PA
Source: Office of Public Communication, Bureau of Public
Affairs
Description: Historical, Political and Economic Overviews of the
Countries of the World
Date: Nov, 15 199211/15/92
Category: Country Data
Region: MidEast/North Africa
Country: Yemen
Subject: Travel, History, International Organizations,
Trade/Economics, Military Affairs, Cultural Exchange,
State Department
[TEXT]
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.
202-965-4760).
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.
HOW TO ORDER BACKGROUND NOTES IN PAPER
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.(###)