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: North--no claim; South 200 nm
Territorial sea: 12 nm

Disputes: undefined section of boundary with Saudi Arabia; Administrative Line with Oman

Climate: desert; hot and humid along west coast; temperate in western mountains; 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

NOTE: The information regarding Yemen on this page is re-published from the 1991 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Yemen Geography 1991 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Yemen Geography 1991 should be addressed to the CIA.