Location: Middle East, along the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea, south of Saudi Arabia

Map references: Africa, Middle East, Standard Time Zones of the World

Area:
total area: 527,970 sq km
land area: 527,970 sq km
comparative area: slightly larger than twice the size of Wyoming
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)

Land boundaries: total 1,746 km, Oman 288 km, Saudi Arabia 1,458 km

Coastline: 1,906 km

Maritime claims:
contiguous zone: 18 nm in the North; 24 nm in the South
continental shelf: 200-m depth in the North; 200 nm in the South or to the edge of the continental margin
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm

International disputes: undefined section of boundary with Saudi Arabia; a treaty with Oman defining the Yemeni-Omani boundary was ratified in December 1992

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: petroleum, fish, rock salt, marble, small deposits of coal, gold, lead, nickel, and copper, fertile soil in west

Land use:
arable land: 6%
permanent crops: 0%
meadows and pastures: 30%
forest and woodland: 7%
other: 57%

Irrigated land: 3,100 sq km (1989 est.)

Environment:
current issues: scarcity of natural freshwater resources (shortages of potable water); overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification
natural hazards: subject to sandstorms and dust storms in summer
international agreements: party to - Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea; signed, but not ratified - Biodiversity, Climate Change

Note: controls Bab el Mandeb, the strait linking the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, one of world's most active shipping lanes

NOTE: The information regarding Yemen on this page is re-published from the 1995 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Yemen Geography 1995 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Yemen Geography 1995 should be addressed to the CIA.