[FACTBOX] Yemen.. the only republic in the Arabian peninsula

Britain hosts an international meeting aimed at strengthening support for Yemen -- one of the world's poorest nations -- in its efforts to combat al-Qaeda.

Geography

Situated in the southwest of the peninsula, Yemen covers 536,689 square kilometers (214,675 sq. miles). It is flanked by Saudi Arabia to the north, Oman to the east, the Indian Ocean to the south, and the Red Sea to the west.

Population

23 million inhabitants (World Bank, 2008). The United Nations' 2008 Arab Human Development Report puts the population count at 24 million. An estimated 1.73 million Yemenis live abroad.

Capital

Sanaa (around two million inhabitants). Aden, the main port and capital of the former Marxist south, has some 600,000 inhabitants. The rural population is estimated at 77 percent.

Official language

The Arabic language. English is also used in official and business circles.

Religion

Sunni Muslim majority, while Zaidism, a moderate Shiite sect, is dominant in the northwest.

History

*Yemen formed part of the region known to the Romans as Arabia Felix (happy Arabia) and was home to the legendary Queen of Sheba from the eighth century BC, followed by the Himyarite dynasty, before the Muslim conquest in the seventh century AD. It was conquered by the Ottomans in 1517. The British invaded the south in 1839.

*The north won independence in 1918 but the British ruled the south until 1967. The northern and southern states were unified on May 22, 1990 to form the Republic of Yemen. Northern troops defeated a southern secession bid in a May-July 1994 civil war.

*In August 2009 the army launched an wide-scale offensive against Zaidi Shiite rebels in the north, while the south has been gripped by frequent pro-secession protests since April 2009.

*After the botched 2009 Christmas Day bombing of a U.S. airliner, Yemen has come under heavy pressure to uproot the al-Qaeda affiliate, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which claimed responsibility for the failed attack.

Society

A tribal structure, especially in the north. The strongest northern tribes, the Bakil and the Hashed, are capable of raising a fighting force of 100,000 and hold sway over large areas.

Political institutions

*Yemen is a republic headed by President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who was re-elected in 2006 for a new seven-year term. It has a 301-member parliament.

*It has a multi-party system and an elected parliament. Parliamentary elections which were due in April 2009 have been postponed by two years after an agreement was reached between the government and the opposition.

Economy, resources

*Yemen, one of the world's least developed countries, committed itself in 1995 to an economic reform program supervised by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

*A non-OPEC producer, Yemen's oil accounts for 70 percent of state revenues but production is falling by five to six percent a year. It produced less than 300,000 barrels of oil a day in 2008.

*The impoverished nation is blessed with natural gas reserves estimated at about 259 billion cubic meters (9.1 trillion cubic feet). In November 2009, Yemen joined the international club of gas exporters with pumping starting at a newly built liquefied natural gas plant in Balhaf, in the Gulf of Aden.

*Agriculture and fishing are the other important economic sectors. Tourism has been hard hit due to the kidnapping of foreigners and the rise of Islamist extremism linked to al-Qaeda.

*Total debt amounted to six billion dollars by the end of 2008 (World Bank).

GDP

Around $28 billion in 2008.

GNP per capita

*Around $950 dollars in 2008 (World Bank).

*Poverty affects 59 percent of Yemen's 24-million-strong population according to the United Nations' 2008 Arab Human Development Report. The International Monetary Fund and government data show that 45.2 percent of Yemenis live below the poverty line.

Armed forces

Around 66,700 men, plus some 40,000 reserves, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies in 2009. Paramilitary forces number an estimated 70,000.