raphy
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Location: Middle East, bordering the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden,
and Red Sea, between Oman and Saudi Arabia

Geographic coordinates: 15 00 N, 48 00 E

Map references: Middle East

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
border countries: 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 nm or to the edge of the continental margin
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm

International disputes: large section of boundary with Saudi
Arabia not defined; a dispute with Eritrea over sovereignty of the
Hanish Islands in the southern Red Sea has been submitted to
arbitration under the auspices of the International Court of Justice

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
lowest point: Arabian Sea 0 m
highest point: Jabal an Nabi Shu'ayb 3,760 m

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: very limited natural fresh water resources;
inadequate supplies of potable water; overgrazing; soil erosion;
desertification
natural hazards: sandstorms and dust storms in summer
international agreements: party to - Environmental Modification, Law
of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban; signed, but not ratified -
Biodiversity, Climate Change

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

People
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Population: 13,483,178 (July 1996 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 48% (male 3,