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: 527,970 sq km
land: 527,970 sq km
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)
water: 0 sq km |
| Area - comparative: | slightly larger than twice the size of Wyoming |
| Land boundaries: | total: 1,746 km
border countries: Oman 288 km, Saudi Arabia 1,458 km |
| Coastline: | 1,906 km |
| Maritime claims: | territorial sea: 12 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm |
| 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 3,760 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: 2.78%
permanent crops: 0.24%
other: 96.98% (2001) |
| Irrigated land: | 4,900 sq km (1998 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, 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
Source: CIA World Factbook
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