Chapter 124
Economy - overview: Real global output - gross world product (GWP) - rose an estimated 3.6% in 1996, with the newly industrializing Third World countries again setting the pace. And once more, results varied widely among regions and countries. Average growth of 2.3% in the GDP of industrialized countries (55% of GWP in 1996) and average growth of 6.5% in the GDP of less developed countries (39% of GWP) were partly offset by a 2% drop in the GDP of the former USSR/Eastern Europe area (only 6% of GWP). With the notable exception of Japan at 3%, unemployment was typically 6%-12% in the industrial world. The US accounted for 21% of GWP in 1996; Western Europe accounted for 20%; and Japan accounted for 8%. These are the three "economic superpowers" presumably destined to compete for mastery in international markets on into the 21st century. As for the less developed countries: China, India, and the Four Dragons - South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore - once again posted records of 5% growth or better; however, many other countries, especially in Africa, continued to suffer from drought, rapid population growth, inflation, and civil strife. Central Europe and the 15 successor states to the USSR generally made progress in moving toward "market-friendly" economies, but output in Russia and Ukraine continued to fall. Externally, the nation-state, as a bedrock economic-political institution, is steadily losing control over international flows of people, goods, funds, and technology. Internally, the central government in a number of cases is losing control over resources as separatist regional movements - typically based on ethnicity - gain momentum, e.g., in the successor states of the former Soviet Union, in the former Yugoslavia, in India, and in Canada. In Western Europe, governments face the difficult political problem of channeling resources away from welfare programs in order to increase investment and strengthen incentives to seek employment. The addition of nearly 100 million people each year to an already overcrowded globe is exacerbating the problems of pollution, desertification, underemployment, epidemics, and famine. Because of their own internal problems, the industrialized countries have inadequate resources to deal effectively with the poorer areas of the world, which, at least from the economic point of view, are becoming further marginalized. (For specific economic developments in each country, see the individual country entries.)
GDP: GWP (gross world product) - purchasing power parity - $35.8 trillion (1996 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 3.6% (1996 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $6,200 (1996 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture : NA% industry: NA% services: NA%
Inflation rate - consumer price index: all countries 25%; developed countries 2% to 4% typically; developing countries 10% to 60% typically (1996 est.) note: national inflation rates vary widely in individual cases, from stable prices in Japan to hyperinflation in a number of Third World countries
Labor force: total : 2.24 billion (1992) by occupation: NA
Unemployment rate: 30% combined unemployment and underemployment in many non-industrialized countries; developed countries typically 6%-12% unemployment (1996 est.)
Industries: dominated by the onrush of technology, especially in computers, robotics, telecommunications, and medicines and medical equipment; most of these advances take place in OECD nations; only a small portion of non-OECD countries have succeeded in rapidly adjusting to these technological forces; the accelerated development of new industrial (and agricultural) technology is complicating already grim environmental problems
Industrial production growth rate: 5% (1996 est.)
Electricity - capacity: 4 billion kW (1994)
Electricity - production: 12.34268 trillion kWh (1994)
Electricity - consumption per capita: 1,996 kWh (1995 est.)
Agriculture - products: the whole gamut of crops, livestock, forest products, and fish
Exports: total value: $4.6 trillion (f.o.b., 1996 est.) commodities : the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services partners: in value, about 75% of exports from the developed countries
Imports: total value : $4.7 trillion (c.i.f., 1996 est.) commodities: the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services partners: in value, about 75% of imports by the developed countries
Debt - external: $2 trillion for less developed countries (1996 est.)
Economic aid: worldwide traditional foreign aid $50 billion (1995 est.)
@World:Communications
Telephones: NA
Telephone system: domestic : NA international: NA
Radio broadcast stations: AM NA, FM NA, shortwave NA
Radios: NA
Television broadcast stations: NA
Televisions: NA
@World:Transportation
Railways: total : 1,201,337 km includes about 190,000 to 195,000 km of electrified routes of which 147,760 km are in Europe, 24,509 km in the Far East, 11,050 km in Africa, 4,223 km in South America, and 4,160 km in North America; note - fastest speed in daily service is 300 km/hr attained by France's Societe Nationale des Chemins-de-Fer Francais (SNCF) Le Train a Grande Vitesse (TGV) - Atlantique line broad gauge: 251,153 km standard gauge: 710,754 km narrow gauge: 239,430 km
Highways: total: NA km paved: NA km unpaved : NA km
Ports and harbors: Chiba, Houston, Kawasaki, Kobe, Marseille, Mina' al Ahmadi (Kuwait), New Orleans, New York, Rotterdam, Yokohama
Merchant marine: total: 25,521 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 442,276,527 GRT/701,647,274 DWT ships by type: barge carrier 22, bulk 5,308, cargo 8,089, chemical tanker 920, combination bulk 307, combination ore/oil 279, container 1,938, liquefied gas tanker 709, livestock carrier 52, multifunction large-load carrier 62, oil tanker 4,320, passenger 298, passenger-cargo 117, railcar carrier 21, refrigerated cargo 1,022, roll-on/roll-off cargo 1,034, short-sea passenger 484, specialized tanker 81, vehicle carrier 458 (1995 est.)
Military
Military branches: ground, maritime, and air forces at all levels of technology
Military expenditures - dollar figure: aggregate real expenditure on arms worldwide in 1996 remained at about the 1995 level, about three-quarters of a trillion dollars in money terms (1996 est.)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: roughly 2% of gross world product (1996 est.) ______________________________________________________________________
YEMEN
@Yemen:Geography
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
Area: total: 527,970 sq km land: 527,970 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: slightly larger than twice the size of Wyoming
Land boundaries: total: 1,746 km border countries: Oman 288 km, Saudi Arabia 1,458 km
Coastline: 1,906 km
Maritime claims: contiguous zone: 18 nm in the North; 24 nm in the South continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin exclusive economic zone: 200 nm territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: mostly desert; hot and humid along west coast; temperate in western mountains affected by seasonal monsoon; extraordinarily hot, dry, harsh desert in east
Terrain: 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: lowest point: Arabian Sea 0 m highest point: Jabal an Nabi Shu'ayb 3,760 m
Natural resources: petroleum, fish, rock salt, marble, small deposits of coal, gold, lead, nickel, and copper, fertile soil in west
Land use: arable land : 3% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 30% forests and woodland: 4% other : 63% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 3,600 sq km (1993 est.)
Natural hazards: sandstorms and dust storms in summer
Environment - current issues: very limited natural fresh water resources; inadequate supplies of potable water; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification
Environment - international agreements: party to : Biodiversity, Climate Change, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note: controls Bab el Mandeb, the strait linking the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, one of world's most active shipping lanes
@Yemen:People
Population: 13,972,477 (July 1997 est.) note: other estimates range as high as 16.6 million
Age structure: 0-14 years: 48% (male 3,421,216; female 3,237,594) 15-64 years : 49% (male 3,454,912; female 3,479,395) 65 years and over: 3% (male 162,600; female 216,760) (July 1997 est.)
Population growth rate: 3.57% (1997 est.)
Birth rate: 44.83 births/1,000 population (1997 est.)
Death rate: 9.17 deaths/1,000 population (1997 est.)
Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1997 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 15-64 years : 0.99 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.75 male(s)/female total population: 1.02 male(s)/female (1997 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 68.1 deaths/1,000 live births (1997 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 60.31 years male : 58.9 years female: 61.78 years (1997 est.)
Total fertility rate: 7.18 children born/woman (1997 est.)
Nationality: noun: Yemeni(s) adjective: Yemeni
Ethnic groups: predominantly Arab; Afro-Arab concentrations in western coastal locations; South Asians in southern regions; small European communities in major metropolitan areas
Religions: Muslim including Sha'fi (Sunni) and Zaydi (Shi'a), small numbers of Jewish, Christian, and Hindu
Languages: Arabic
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 38% male: 53% female: 26% (1990 est.)
@Yemen:Government
Country name: conventional long form : Republic of Yemen conventional short form: Yemen local long form: Al Jumhuriyah al Yamaniyah local short form: Al Yaman
Data code: YM
Government type: republic
National capital: Sanaa
Administrative divisions: 17 governorates (muhafazat, singular - muhafazah); Abyan, Aden, Al Bayda, Al Hudaydah, Al Jawf, Al Mahrah, Al Mahwit, Ataq, Dhamar, Hadhramaut, Hajjah, Ibb, Lahij, Ma'rib, Sa'dah, San'a', Ta'izz note: there may be a new governorate for the capital city of Sanaa
Independence: 22 May 1990 Republic of Yemen was established on 22 May 1990 with the merger of the Yemen Arab Republic {Yemen (Sanaa) or North Yemen} and the Marxist-dominated People's Democratic Republic of Yemen {Yemen (Aden) or South Yemen}; previously North Yemen had become independent on NA November 1918 (from the Ottoman Empire) and South Yemen had become independent on 30 November 1967 (from the UK)
National holiday: Proclamation of the Republic, 22 May (1990)
Constitution: 16 May 1991; amended 29 September 1994
Legal system: based on Islamic law, Turkish law, English common law, and local tribal customary law; does not accept compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch: chief of state: President Lt. Gen. Ali Abdallah SALIH (since 22 May 1990, the former president of North Yemen, assumed office upon the merger of North and South Yemen); Vice President Maj. Gen. Abd al-Rab Mansur al-HADI (since NA October 1994) head of government: Prime Minister Abd al-Aziz ABD AL-GHANI (since NA October 1994); Deputy Prime Ministers Abd al-Wahhab al-ANISI (since NA October 1994), Dr. Abd al-Karim Ali al-IRYANI (since NA October 1994), Dr. Muhammad Said al-ATTAR (since NA October 1994), and Abd al-Qadir al-BA JAMAL (since NA October 1994) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the advice of the prime minister elections : president elected by the House of Representatives for a five-year term; election last held 1 October 1994 (next to be held NA 1999); vice president appointed by the president; prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president election results: Ali Abdallah SALIH elected president; percent of House of Representatives vote - NA
Legislative branch: unicameral House of Representatives (301 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) elections: last held 27 April 1997 (next to be held NA April 2001) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - GPC 189, Islaah 52, Nasserite Unionist Party 3, Baath Party 2, independents 54, election pending 1
Judicial branch: Supreme Court
Political parties and leaders: there are over 12 political parties active in Yemen, some of the more important are: General People's Congress (GPC), President Ali Abdallah SALIH; Yemeni Reform Grouping or Islaah, Shaykh Abdallah bin Husayn al-AHMAR; Yemeni Socialist Party (YSP), Ali Salih UBAYD; Nasserite Unionist Party, leader NA; Baath Party, leader NA note: following the May-July 1994 civil war, President SALIH's General People's Congress and Shaykh Abdallah bin Husayn al-AHMAR's Yemeni Reform Grouping, or Islaah, formed a coalition government, but it is unclear whether this coalition will continue in light of the GPC's landslide victory in the April 1997 legislative election; the YSP, a loyal opposition party, boycotted the April 1997 legislative election
Political pressure groups and leaders: NA
International organization participation: ACC, AFESD, AL, AMF, CAEU, CCC, ESCWA, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITU, NAM, OIC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (applicant)
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant) chancery : Suite 705, 2600 Virginia Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20037 telephone: [1] (202) 965-4760, 4761 FAX: [1] (202) 337-2017
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador David G. NEWTON embassy: Dhahr Himyar Zone, Sheraton Hotel District, Sanaa mailing address : P. O. Box 22347, Sanaa telephone: [967] (1) 238843 through 238852 FAX: [967] (1) 251563
Flag description: three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and black; similar to the flag of Syria which has two green stars and of Iraq which has three green stars (plus an Arabic inscription) in a horizontal line centered in the white band; also similar to the flag of Egypt which has a symbolic eagle centered in the white band
Economy
Economy - overview: The northern city Sanaa is the political capital of a united Yemen, and the southern city Aden, with its refinery and port facilities, is the economic and commercial capital. Future economic development depends heavily on Western-assisted development of the country's moderate oil resources. Former South Yemen's willingness to merge stemmed partly from the steady decline in Soviet economic support. The low level of domestic industry and agriculture has made northern Yemen dependent on imports for practically all of its essential needs. Once self-sufficient in food production, northern Yemen has become a major importer. Land once used for export crops - cotton, fruit, and vegetables - has been turned over to growing a shrub called qat, whose leaves are chewed for their stimulant effect by Yemenis and which has no significant export market. Economic growth in former South Yemen has been constrained by a lack of incentives, partly stemming from centralized control over production decisions, investment allocation, and import choices. Yemen's GDP has been supplemented by remittances from Yemenis working abroad and by foreign aid. Since the Gulf crisis, however, remittances have dropped substantially. Floods in June 1996 caused the loss of much valuable topsoil in the agricultural sector, increasing the need for imports of foodstuffs. Oil production and GDP as a whole are expected to increase moderately in 1997.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $39.1 billion (1996 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 2.8% (1996 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $2,900 (1996 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 14% industry: 35% services : 51%
Inflation rate - consumer price index: 85% (1996 est.)
Labor force: no reliable estimates exist, most people are employed in agriculture and herding or as expatriate laborers; services, construction, industry, and commerce account for less than one-half of the labor force
Unemployment rate: 30% (1995 est.)
Budget: revenues: $3 billion expenditures: $3.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1996 est.)
Industries: crude oil production and petroleum refining; small-scale production of cotton textiles and leather goods; food processing; handicrafts; small aluminum products factory; cement
Industrial production growth rate: NA%
Electricity - capacity: 810,000 kW (1994)
Electricity - production: 1.84 billion kWh (1994)
Electricity - consumption per capita: 117 kWh (1995 est.)
Agriculture - products: grain, fruits, vegetables, qat (mildly narcotic shrub), coffee, cotton; dairy products, poultry, meat; fish
Exports: total value: $2.5 billion (f.o.b., 1996 est.) commodities : crude oil, cotton, coffee, hides, vegetables, dried and salted fish partners: China 23%, South Korea 19%, Japan 12%, Singapore 10%, Brazil 9%, Thailand 7% (1995)
Imports: total value: $2.2 billion (f.o.b., 1996 est.) commodities: textiles and other manufactured consumer goods, petroleum products, sugar, grain, flour, other foodstuffs, cement, machinery, chemicals partners: UAE 14%, Saudi Arabia 10%, US 8%, Malaysia 6%, UK 5% (1995)
Debt - external: $8 billion (1996)
Economic aid: recipient : ODA, $148 million (1993)
Currency: Yemeni rial (YRl) (new currency)
Exchange rates: Yemeni rials (YRl) per US$1 - 50.04 (new official fixed rate), 40.839 (1995), 12.010 (official fixed rate 1992-94); 490 (market rate, December 1994) note : on 29 March 1995 the official rate was changed from 12.01 Yemeni rials to 50.04 Yemeni rials per US dollar
Fiscal year: calendar year
@Yemen:Communications
Telephones: 131,655 (1992 est.)
Telephone system: since unification in 1990, efforts have been made to create a national telecommunications network domestic: the network consists of microwave radio relay, cable, and tropospheric scatter international : satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (2 Indian Ocean and 1 Atlantic Ocean), 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region), and 2 Arabsat; microwave radio relay to Saudi Arabia and Djibouti
Radio broadcast stations: AM 4, FM 1, shortwave 0
Radios: 325,000 (1993 est.)
Television broadcast stations: 10
Televisions: 100,000 (1993 est.)
@Yemen:Transportation
Railways: 0 km
Highways: total: 51,392 km paved : 4,831 km unpaved: 46,561 km (1992 est.)
Pipelines: crude oil 644 km; petroleum products 32 km
Ports and harbors: Aden, Al Hudaydah, Al Mukalla, Mocha, Nishtun
Merchant marine: total: 3 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 12,059 GRT/18,563 DWT ships by type : cargo 1, oil tanker 2 (1996 est.)
Airports: 42 (1996 est.)
Airports - with paved runways: total: 12 over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 6 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 under 914 m: 3 (1996 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 30 over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m : 10 1,524 to 2,437 m: 8 914 to 1,523 m : 10 (1996 est.)
Military
Military branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, paramilitary (includes Police)
Military manpower - military age: 18 years of age
Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49 : 3,109,553 (1997 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service: males: 1,753,779 (1997 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually: males: 148,864 (1997 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $NA
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: NA%
Transnational Issues
Disputes - international: a large section of boundary with Saudi Arabia is not defined; a dispute with Eritrea over sovereignty of the Hanish Islands in the southern Red Sea has been submitted to arbitration under the auspices of the International Court of Justice ______________________________________________________________________
ZAMBIA
@Zambia:Geography
Location: Southern Africa, east of Angola
Geographic coordinates: 15 00 S, 30 00 E
Map references: Africa
Area: total: 752,610 sq km land: 740,720 sq km water: 11,890 sq km
Area - comparative: slightly larger than Texas
Land boundaries: total: 5,664 km border countries: Angola 1,110 km, Democratic Republic of the Congo 1,930 km, Malawi 837 km, Mozambique 419 km, Namibia 233 km, Tanzania 338 km, Zimbabwe 797 km
Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)
Maritime claims: none (landlocked)
Climate: tropical; modified by altitude; rainy season (October to April)
Terrain: mostly high plateau with some hills and mountains
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Zambezi river 329 m highest point: in Mafinga Hills 2,301 m
Natural resources: copper, cobalt, zinc, lead, coal, emeralds, gold, silver, uranium, hydropower potential
Land use: arable land: 7% permanent crops : 0% permanent pastures: 40% forests and woodland: 39% other: 14% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 460 sq km (1993 est.)
Natural hazards: tropical storms (November to April)
Environment - current issues: air pollution and resulting acid rain in the mineral extraction and refining region; poaching seriously threatens rhinoceros and elephant populations; deforestation; soil erosion; desertification; lack of adequate water treatment presents human health risks
Environment - international agreements: party to : Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note: landlocked
@Zambia:People
Population: 9,349,975 (July 1997 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 49% (male 2,315,739; female 2,286,829) 15-64 years: 48% (male 2,212,021; female 2,301,354) 65 years and over : 3% (male 112,134; female 121,898) (July 1997 est.)
Population growth rate: 2.02% (1997 est.)
Birth rate: 44.37 births/1,000 population (1997 est.)
Death rate: 24.18 deaths/1,000 population (1997 est.)
Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1997 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth : 1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.92 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (1997 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 96.5 deaths/1,000 live births (1997 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 35.58 years male : 35.58 years female: 35.59 years (1997 est.)
Total fertility rate: 6.48 children born/woman (1997 est.)
Nationality: noun: Zambian(s) adjective: Zambian
Ethnic groups: African 98.7%, European 1.1%, other 0.2%
Religions: Christian 50%-75%, Muslim and Hindu 24%-49%, indigenous beliefs 1%
Languages: English (official), major vernaculars - Bemba, Kaonda, Lozi, Lunda, Luvale, Nyanja, Tonga, and about 70 other indigenous languages
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write in English total population: 78.2% male: 85.6% female: 71.3% (1995 est.)
@Zambia:Government
Country name: conventional long form : Republic of Zambia conventional short form: Zambia former: Northern Rhodesia
Data code: ZA
Government type: republic
National capital: Lusaka
Administrative divisions: 9 provinces; Central, Copperbelt, Eastern, Luapula, Lusaka, Northern, North-Western, Southern, Western
Independence: 24 October 1964 (from UK)
National holiday: Independence Day, 24 October (1964)
Constitution: 2 August 1991
Legal system: based on English common law and customary law; judicial review of legislative acts in an ad hoc constitutional council; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal