<hdr>The World Factbook 1994: Yemen<nl>Geography</hdr><body>
<list>
<item><hi format=bold>Location:</hi> Middle East, along the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea, south of Saudi Arabia
<item><hi format=bold>Area:</hi>
<list style=hang>
<item>• <hi format=ital>total area:</hi> 527,970 sq km
<item>• <hi format=ital>land area:</hi> 527,970 sq km
<item>• <hi format=ital>comparative area:</hi> slightly larger than twice the size of Wyoming
<item>• <hi format=ital>note:</hi> 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)
</list>
<item><hi format=bold>Land boundaries:</hi> total 1,746 km, Oman 288 km, Saudi Arabia 1,458 km
<item><hi format=bold>Coastline:</hi> 1,906 km
<item><hi format=bold>Maritime claims:</hi>
<list style=hang>
<item>• <hi format=ital>contiguous zone:</hi> 18 nm in the North; 24 nm in the South
<item>• <hi format=ital>continental shelf:</hi> 200-m depth in the North; 200 nm in the South or to the edge of the continental margin
<item><hi format=bold>International disputes:</hi> undefined section of boundary with Saudi Arabia; a treaty with Oman defining the Yemeni-Omani boundary was ratified in December 1992
<item><hi format=bold>Climate:</hi> mostly desert; hot and humid along west coast; temperate in western mountains affected by seasonal monsoon; extraordinarily hot, dry, harsh desert in east
<item><hi format=bold>Terrain:</hi> 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
<item><hi format=bold>Natural resources:</hi> petroleum, fish, rock salt, marble, small deposits of coal, gold, lead, nickel, and copper, fertile soil in west
<item><hi format=bold>Land use:</hi>
<list style=hang>
<item>• <hi format=ital>arable land:</hi> 6%
<item>• <hi format=ital>permanent crops:</hi> 0%
<item>• <hi format=ital>meadows and pastures:</hi> 30%
<item>• <hi format=ital>forest and woodland:</hi> 7%
<item>• <hi format=ital>other:</hi> 57%
</list>
<item><hi format=bold>Irrigated land:</hi> 3,100 sq km (1989 est.)
<item><hi format=bold>Environment:</hi>
<list style=hang>
<item>• <hi format=ital>current issues:</hi> scarcity of natural freshwater resources (shortages of potable water); overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification
<item>• <hi format=ital>natural hazards:</hi> subject to sandstorms and dust storms in summer
<item>• <hi format=ital>international agreements:</hi> party to—Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea; signed, but not ratified—Biodiversity, Climate Change
</list>
<item><hi format=bold>Note:</hi> controls Bab el Mandeb, the strait linking the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, one of world's most active shipping lanes
