GEOGRAPHY OF YEMEN

'Location:'
Southwest Asia, in the south of Arabia, bordering the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Red Sea, west of Oman and south of Saudi Arabia.
'Geographic coordinates:'
'Map references:'
Middle East
'Area:'

''total:''
527,970 km²

''land:''
527,970 km²

''water:''
0 km²

''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 nautical miles (33 km) in the North; 24 nautical miles (44 km) in the South

''continental shelf:''
200 nautical miles (370 km) or to the edge of the continental margin

''exclusive economic zone:''
200 nautical miles (370 km)

''territorial sea:''
12 nautical miles (22 km)
'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
'Elevation extremes:'

''lowest point:''
Arabian Sea 0 m

''highest point:''
Jabal an Nabi Shu'ayb 3,666 m, NOT 3,760 m as sometimes reported
'Natural resources:'
petroleum, fish, rock salt, marble, small deposits of coal, gold, lead, nickel, and copper, fertile soil in west
'Land use:'

''arable land:''
3%

''permanent crops:''
0%

''permanent pastures:''
30%

''forests and woodland:''
4%

''other:''
63% (1993 est.)
'Irrigated land:'
3,600 km² (1993 est.)
'Natural hazards:'
sandstorms and dust storms in summer
'Environment - current issues:'
very limited natural fresh water resources; inadequate supplies of potable water; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification
'Environment - international agreements:'

''party to:''
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection

''signed, but not ratified:''
none of the selected agreements
'Geography - note:'
strategic location on Bab el Mandeb, the strait linking the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, one of world's most active shipping lanes

Contents

Gallery

See also

Gallery

See also

★ Yemen