Yemen - Geography
Here, let us take a look at the Geography of Yemen. 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. Mother's mean age at first birth is 20.8 years (2013 est.) (Note: data represents median age at first birth among women 25-49), whereas, the Maternal mortality ratio is 183 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)
Geographical data of Yemen
| 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 |
| Tarrain | 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 | petroleum, fish, rock salt, marble; small deposits of coal, gold, lead, nickel, and copper; fertile soil in west |
| Natural Hazards | sandstorms and dust storms in summer volcanism: limited volcanic activity; Jebel at Tair (Jabal al-Tair, Jebel Teir, Jabal al-Tayr, Jazirat at-Tair) (244 m), which forms an island in the Red Sea, erupted in 2007 after awakening from dormancy; other historically active volcanoes include Harra of Arhab, Harras of Dhamar, Harra es-Sawad, and Jebel Zubair, although many of these have not erupted in over a century |
| Irrigated Land | 6,800 sq km (2012) |
| Major rivers (by length in km) | |
| Major aquifers | |
| Land Boundaries | 1,601 km |
| Border Countries | Oman 294 km; Saudi Arabia 1,307 km |
| Coastline | 1,906 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 |
| Area | |
| Total Area | |
| Land Area | 527,968 sq km |
| Water Area | 0 sq km |
| comparative Area | almost four times the size of Alabama; slightly larger than twice the size of Wyoming |
| Maritime Claims | |
| Territorial sea | 12 nm |
| Contiguous zone | 24 nm |
| Exclusive economic zone | 200 nm |
| Continental shelf | 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin |
| Elevations | |
| Highest point | Jabal an Nabi Shu'ayb 3,666 m |
| Lowest point | Arabian Sea 0 m |
| Mean elevation | 999 m |
| Land Use | |
| Agricultural land | 44.5% (2018 est.) |
| Agricultural land: arable land | arable land: 2.2% (2018 est.) |
| Agricultural land: permanent crops | permanent crops: 0.6% (2018 est.) |
| Agricultural land: permanent pasture | permanent pasture: 41.7% (2018 est.) |
| Forest | 1% (2018 est.) |
| Other | 54.5% (2018 est.) |
Population Distribution
The vast majority of the population is found in the Asir Mountains (part of the larger Sarawat Mountain system), located in the far western region of the country
People and Society
In Yemen, the different Ethnic groups are such that we have: Predominantly Arab; but also Afro-Arab, South Asian, European
| Population | |
|---|---|
| Pop growth rate | 1.78% (2024 est.) |
| Birth rate | 23.4 births/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
| Death rate | 5.5 deaths/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
| Health expenditure | 4.3% of GDP (2015) |
| Physicians Density | |
| Hospital bed Density | 0.7 beds/1,000 population (2017) |
| Total fertility rate | 2.82 children born/woman (2024 est.) |
| Gross reproduction rate | 1.37 (2024 est.) |
| Contraceptive prevalence rate | 33.5% (2013) |
| Est married women (ages 15-49) | 60.4% (2023 est.) |
| Literacy | age 15 and over can read and write |
| Education expenditures | NA |
| Net Migration rate | -0.2 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
| Nationality | Yemeni | Yemeni(s) |
| Languages | |
| Religions | Muslim 99.1% (official; virtually all are citizens, an estimated 65% are Sunni and 35% are Shia), other 0.9% (includes Jewish, Baha'i, Hindu, and Christian; many are refugees or temporary foreign residents) (2020 est.) |
| Age Structure | |
| 0-14 years | 34.4% (male 5,622,998/female 5,430,285) |
| 15-64 years | 62.2% (male 10,112,603/female 9,865,805) |
| 65 years and over | 3.4% (2024 est.) (male 485,538/female 623,214) |
| Dependency Ratios | |
| Total dependency ratio | 71.7 |
| Youth dependency ratio | 69.4 |
| Elderly dependency ratio | 4.7 |
| Potential support ratio | 19.9 (2021 est.) |
| Median Age | |
| Total | 22 years (2024 est.) |
| Male | 21.9 years |
| Female | 22.2 years |
| Urbanization | |
| Urban population | 39.8% of total population (2023) |
| Rate of urbanization | 3.71% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.) |
| Major urban areas (Pop) | 3.292 million SANAA (capital), 1.080 million Aden, 941,000 Taiz, 772,000 Ibb (2023). |
| Sex Ratio | |
| At birth | 1.05 male(s)/female |
| 0-14 years | 1.04 male(s)/female |
| 15-64 years | 1.03 male(s)/female |
| 65 years and over | 0.78 male(s)/female |
| Total population | 1.02 male(s)/female (2024 est.) |
| Infant Motality | |
| Total | 44.6 deaths/1,000 live births (2024 est.) |
| Male | 49.9 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Female | 39 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Life Expectancy at birth | |
| Total population | 68.2 years (2024 est.) |
| Male | 65.8 years |
| Female | 70.6 years |
| Drinking Water Sources | |
| Improved: urban | urban: 98.5% of population |
| Improved: rural | rural: 84.2% of population |
| Improved: total | total: 99.6% of population |
| Unimproved: urban | urban: 1.5% of population |
| Unimproved: rural | rural: 15.8% of population |
| Unimproved: total | total: 10.4% of population (2020 est.) |
| Sanitation facility acess | |
| Improved: urban | urban: 83.5% of population |
| Improved: rural | rural: 44.2% of population |
| Improved: total | total: 59.1% of population |
| Unimproved: urban | urban: 16.5% of population |
| Unimproved: rural | rural: 55.8% of population |
| Unimproved: total | total: 40.9% of population (2020 est.) |
| Major Infectious diseases | |
| Degree of risk | high (2023) |
| Food or waterborne diseases | bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever |
| Vectorborne diseases | dengue fever, malaria, and sexually transmitted diseases: hepatitis B (2024) |
| Water contact diseases | schistosomiasis |
| Alcohol consumption per capita | |
| Total | 0.02 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Beer | 0.02 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Wine | 0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Spirits | 0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Other alcohols | 0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Tobacco use | |
| Total | 20.3% (2020 est.) |
| Male | 32.5% (2020 est.) |
| Female | 8.1% (2020 est.) |
Demographic profile
All Important Facts about Yemen
Want to know more about Yemen? Check all different factbooks for Yemen below.
