Yemen

IN ANCIENT ROME, the land now known as Yemen was called Arabia Felix. Since that time, the country has had a divisive and rocky history. North Yemen, which became part of the Ottoman Empire, attained independence in 1918. South Yemen achieved independence in 1967 after decades as a British protectorate. South Yemen's turn toward Marxism in 1970 signaled an exodus of hundreds of thousands of Yemenis to the north and increased tensions between the two countries. In 1990, North and South Yemen united as the Republic of Yemen.

The majority of the Yemeni labor force is engaged in agriculture and herding. Since 2000, officials have reported strong growth, in large part because of oil production. Working with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Yemen has reduced its foreign debts and begun to modernize and streamline its economy, with the result that industry now provides 44.7 percent of the Yemeni Gross Domestic Product, followed by services at 39.7 percent. Plans are also under way to expand the tourist industry. Severe water shortages and excessive population growth present the greatest threats to future prosperity.

At present, however, Yemen is one of the poorest countries in the world, with an annual per capita income of only $800. Yemen has a poverty rate of 45.2 percent and an unemployment rate of 35 percent. Over 45 percent of the people survive on less than $2 a day, and 15.7 percent live on less than $1 a day. Government data indicate that 45 percent of the poor live in rural areas, and 30.8 percent reside in urban areas. One-third of the population is undernourished, and 17.5 percent of the population suffer from severe food shortages. Some 41 percent have inadequate access to education, healthcare, and clothing. Among female-headed families, 13 percent live in poverty, and 7.6 percent live in acute poverty. Resources in Yemen are unevenly divided, with the poorest 20 percent subsisting on 7.4 percent of resources, while the richest 20 percent lay claim to 41.2 percent. Yemen is ranked 33.4 percent on the Gini Index of Human Inequality.

Approximately 31 percent of Yemenis do not have access to safe drinking water, and 63 percent do not have access to proper sanitation. This lack of basic sanitation, coupled with water shortages and low levels of education, has left Yemenis susceptible to the same waterborne diseases that plague much of Africa. Through the efforts of Emory University's Carter Center, founded [Page 1206]by former president Jimmy Carter, programs have been successfully instituted to teach locals how to prevent those diseases. There are only 22 physicians for every 100,000 residents in Yemen, and 20 to 50 percent of the people lack access to affordable essential drugs. Health-care is over three times as accessible in urban areas as in rural areas. Yemen has made considerable progress on a number of social indicators. Life expectancy for males increased from 47 years in 1980 to 59.89 years in 2005. The projected life span for females rose from 50 to 57 years during the same period. The median age in Yemen is 16.54 years. Among the population of 20,727,063, 46.5 percent are under the age of 14, and only 2.7 percent have reached the age of 65.

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