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Description Yemen by rbd.me
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North Yemen became independent of the Ottoman Empire in 1918. The British, who had set up a protectorate area around the southern port of Aden in the 19th century, withdrew in 1967 from what became South Yemen. Three years later, the southern government adopted a Marxist orientation. The massive exodus of hundreds of thousands of Yemenis from the south to the north contributed to two decades of hostility between the states. The two countries were formally unified as the Republic of Yemen in 1990. A southern secessionist movement in 1994 was quickly subdued. In 2000, Saudi Arabia and Yemen agreed to a delimitation of their border.
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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
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Area - comparative
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slightly larger than twice the size of Wyoming
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Natural resources Yemen
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petroleum, fish, rock salt, marble; small deposits of coal, gold, lead, nickel, and copper; fertile soil in west
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Population Yemen
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23,495,361 (July 2010 est.)
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Religions Yemen
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Muslim including Shaf'i (Sunni) and Zaydi (Shia), small numbers of Jewish, Christian, and Hindu
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Languages
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Arabic
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Education Yemen expenditures
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9.6% of GDP (2001)
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Government Yemen type
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republic
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Independence
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22 May 1990 (Republic of Yemen was established with the merger of the Yemen Arab Republic [Yemen (Sanaa) or North Yemen] and the Marxist-dominated People's Democratic Republic of Yemen [Yemen (Aden) or South Yemen]); note - previously North Yemen became independent in November 1918 (from the Ottoman Empire) and became a republic with the overthrow of the theocratic Imamate in 1962; South Yemen became independent on 30 November 1967 (from the UK)
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Yemen Economy - overview
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Yemen is a low income country that is highly dependent on declining oil resources for revenue. Petroleum accounts for roughly 25% of GDP and 70% of government revenue. Annual real GDP growth has averaged 3-4% since 2000. Yemen has been largely unaffected by and insulated from the effects of the global economic crisis because its financial system is underdeveloped and not well integrated into the international community, but the drop in oil prices since mid-2008 slashed government oil revenues in 2009 by more than 50%, as compared to 2008. Yemen has tried to counter the effects of its declining oil resources by diversifying its economy through an economic reform program initiated in 2006 that is designed to bolster non-oil sectors of the economy and foreign investment. In October 2009, Yemen exported its first liquefied natural gas as part of this diversification effort. The Yemen government in August reaffirmed its commitment to reforms in a plan detailing the country's top ten development priorities. Despite these ambitious plans, Yemen faces difficult long term challenges, including declining water resources and a high population growth rate.
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Investment Yemen
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19.9% of GDP (2009 est.)
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Industries Yemen
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grain, fruits, vegetables, pulses, qat, coffee, cotton; dairy products, livestock (sheep, goats, cattle, camels), poultry; fish
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Airports Yemen
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242 (2009)
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