Yemen
One of the youngest states of the Arabian Peninsula, the present-day Republic of Yemen was born in 1990 from the unification of the Arab and Popular Republics. Located in the south of the Arabian Peninsula, the Republic of Yemen borders with Saudi Arabia to the north, Oman to the east, the Red Sea to the west and the Gulf of Oman to the south. The population is nearly 30 million and the official language is Arabic.
Affected by conflict and political instability, Yemen is the least developed economy in the Arabian Peninsula. The country enjoyed good economic development until 2011, mainly due to the exploitation of the port of Aden and the country’s oil and natural gas resources. Since 2011, on the heels of the Arab Spring uprisings, Yemen entered a spiral of political instability which reached its peak with the outbreak of the civil war in 2015. The Yemen conflict has also produced some destabilizing spillover effects in neighborhood countries. Despite an agreement between the two belligerent factions, signed in 2019 under the aegis of the United Nations, several unresolved issues jeopardize all attempts at stabilization.
The civil war has seriously affected the economy. To date, the population needs massive humanitarian aid, primarily due to the shortage of basic necessities.
Through the visibility and the popularity of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden attacks, the group is intensifying contacts with Russia and other terrorist groups in Africa and the Middle East. An analysis by Eleonora Ardemagni
In addition to the economic harm caused, the terrorist activities of the Yemeni group also pose a significant threat to the environmental security of the Red Sea, a region already struggling with the effects of climate change.
From Iran’s assertiveness to tensions between actors in the Horn of Africa, via piracy and terrorism: the role of the strategic straits in the new instability of the Gulf-Red Sea quadrant.
| Head of state | Rashad Muhammad al-Alimi |
| Head of Government | Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed |
| Institutional Form | It’s a transitional government form; before it was a Semi-presidential Republic |
| Capital | Sanaʿa (de jure); Aden (provisional) |
| Legislative Power | Bicameral Parliament or Majlis consists of the Shura Council (Majlis Alshoora, 111 members) and the House of Representatives (Majlis al Nuwaab, 301 members) |
| Judicial Power | Courts of First Instance, Courts of Appeal (each court has separate divisions for penal, military, civil and family matters), Supreme Court (one President of the Court, 2 deputies and almost 50 judges) |
| Ambassador to Italy | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Asmahan Abdulhameed Al-Toqi |
| Total Area kmq | 527.968 km2 |
| Land | 527.968 km2 |
| Weather | Desert; hot and humid along the west coast; temperate in the western mountains with seasonal monsoons; extraordinarily hot, dry and harsh desert in the east |
| Natural resources | Oil, fish, rock salt, marble; small deposits of coal, gold, lead, nickel and copper; fertile soil in the west |
| Economic summary | A country with a low-income economy struggling to stabilize its economy despite some armed conflicts, a severe humanitarian crisis, declining water resources and food shortages; it will require significant international assistance. |
| GDP | $21.06 billion (Dec. 2021) |
| Pro-capite GDP (Purchasing power parity) | $1096 (Dec. 2021) |
| Exports | $1.26 billion (2020) |
| Export partner | China 47.5%, Saudi Arabia 13.8%, UAE 9.95%, Malaysia 4.89% Imports: $10.5 billion (2020) |
| Imports | $10.5 billion (2020) |
| Import partner | China 27.5%, UAE 11.2%, Saudi Arabia 10.2%, India 7.54%, Türkiye 7.96%, Russia 2.27% |
| Trade With Italy | $98,76 million (2021) |
| Population | 30.984.689 (2022) |
| Population Growth | +1,88% (2022) |
| Ethnicities | Predominantly Arabs; Europeans, South Asians, Africans. Fair proportion of people of Persian origin |
| Languages | Arabic (official); a distinct Socotri language is widely used in the island and archipelago of Socotra; Mahri is still fairly widespread in eastern Yemen |
| Religions | 99.1% Muslims (55% Sunni and 45% Shia-Zaydi), Jews, Baha'is, Hindus, Christians (Catholics and Anglicans) are less than 1%. |
| Urbanization | 39,2% (2022) |
| Literacy | 70.1% |
