Yemin: Al Qaeda Central

Hilary Clinton is in Yemen today. Yemen has become AL Qaeda Central, connected to the Times Square Bomber and the UPS package bombs. Al Alawaki, the renegade imam, is hiding there.

What do you know about Yemen? Probably no more than I do. Here's what the CIA Factbook has to offer:

Background:
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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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Geography ::Yemen
Location:
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Middle East, bordering the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Red Sea, between Oman and Saudi Arabia
Geographic coordinates:
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15 00 N, 48 00 E
Map references:
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Middle East
Area:
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total: 527,968 sq km
country comparison to the world: 49
land: 527,968 sq km
water: 0 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)
Area - comparative:
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slightly larger than twice the size of Wyoming
Land boundaries:
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total: 1,746 km
border countries: Oman 288 km, Saudi Arabia 1,458 km
Coastline:
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1,906 km
Maritime claims:
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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
Climate:
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Current Weather
mostly desert; hot and humid along west coast; temperate in western mountains affected by seasonal monsoon; extraordinarily hot, dry, harsh desert in east
Terrain:
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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:
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lowest point: Arabian Sea 0 m
highest point: Jabal an Nabi Shu'ayb 3,760 m
Natural resources:
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petroleum, fish, rock salt, marble; small deposits of coal, gold, lead, nickel, and copper; fertile soil in west
Land use:
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arable land: 2.91%
permanent crops: 0.25%
other: 96.84% (2005)
Irrigated land:
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5,500 sq km (2003)
Total renewable water resources:
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4.1 cu km (1997)
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):
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total: 6.63 cu km/yr (4%/1%/95%)
per capita: 316 cu m/yr (2000)
Natural hazards:
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sandstorms and dust storms in summer
volcanism: Yemen experiences limited volcanic activity; Jebel at Tair (Jabal al-Tair, Jebel Teir, Jabal al-Tayr, Jazirat at-Tair) (elev. 244 m, 801 ft), 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
Environment - current issues:
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limited natural fresh water resources; inadequate supplies of potable water; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification
Environment - international agreements:
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party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, 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:
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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
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People ::Yemen
Population:
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23,495,361 (July 2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 48
Age structure:
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0-14 years: 43.9% (male 5,108,423/female 4,925,523)
15-64 years: 53.5% (male 6,215,999/female 6,013,334)
65 years and over: 2.6% (male 285,752/female 309,207) (2010 est.)
Median age:
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total: 17.9 years
male: 17.8 years
female: 18 years (2010 est.)
Population growth rate:
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2.713% (2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 23
Birth rate:
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34.37 births/1,000 population (2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 36
Death rate:
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7.24 deaths/1,000 population (July 2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 126
Net migration rate:
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0 migrant(s)/1,000 population
country comparison to the world: 99
Urbanization:
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urban population: 31% of total population (2008)
rate of urbanization: 4.9% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)
Sex ratio:
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at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.91 male(s)/female
total population: 1.03 male(s)/female (2010 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
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total: 56.77 deaths/1,000 live births
country comparison to the world: 39
male: 61.46 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 51.85 deaths/1,000 live births (2010 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
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total population: 63.36 years
country comparison to the world: 174
male: 61.35 years
female: 65.47 years (2010 est.)
Total fertility rate:
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4.81 children born/woman (2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 30
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
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0.1% (2001 est.)
country comparison to the world: 153
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
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12,000 (2001 est.)
country comparison to the world: 96
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
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NA
Major infectious diseases:
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degree of risk: high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: dengue fever and malaria
water contact disease: schistosomiasis (2009)
Nationality:
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noun: Yemeni(s)
adjective: Yemeni
Ethnic groups:
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predominantly Arab; but also Afro-Arab, South Asians, Europeans
Religions:
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Muslim including Shaf'i (Sunni) and Zaydi (Shia), small numbers of Jewish, Christian, and Hindu
Languages:
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Arabic (official)
Literacy:
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definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 50.2%
male: 70.5%
female: 30% (2003 est.)
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):
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total: 9 years
male: 11 years
female: 7 years (2005)
Education expenditures:
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5.2% of GDP (2008)
country comparison to the world: 60

And here's some additional reading, in case you are interested: