Yemen is an Arab country situated in the Arabian Peninsula, and part of southwest Asia. It is bordered by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the north, the Sultanate of Oman to the east, the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea to the south, and the Red Sea to the west.

The Republic of Yemen was established following the declaration of unity between the northern Yemen Arab Republic and the southern People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen on 22 May 1990.

Area: 527.968 km2

Population: est. 26,052,966 (July 2014)
Capital: Sana'a
Population growth rate: 2.72 per cent
Ethnic Groups: Predominantly Arab, in addition to Afro-Arab, South Asian and European
Religions: Islam including Shafe’i (Sunni) and Zaydi (Shiite), minority of Jews, Christians, Hindus and Baha’is
GDP: est. US$ 61.63 billion (2013)
GDP per capita: est. US$ 2,500 (2013)
Unemployment rate: est. 35 per cent

The territories of Yemen also include approximately 200 islands. The largest of which is Socotra to the south of the country.

Yemen is one of the oldest centres of civilization in the Middle East. Yet, it is the poorest country in the region, with serious security, economic and humanitarian challenges. It is the only republic in the Arabian Peninsula, and was the first to grant women the right to vote in 1967.

Ali Abdullah Saleh ruled the country between 1978 and 2011. During his long years in power, a war erupted between the north and the south in 1994, in addition to six wars in the northern governorate of Saada in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. As a result, hundreds of people were killed and injured, and thousands displaced.

In 2011, shortly after the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, Yemen witnessed a popular uprising against former President Saleh. Protesters flooded to the squares for months. Youth, political parties and opposition tribes demanded a modern civil state, justice and equal citizenship. Violence erupted and the country almost slid towards civil war.

In November 2011, the General People’s Congress party (GPC) and its allies, as well as the Joint Meeting Parties (JMP) and its partners, requested the United Nations, represented by Special Adviser Jamal Benomar, to facilitate face-to-face negotiations. Saleh then agreed to the Gulf Cooperation Council Initiative, and the Transition Agreement was signed on 23 November 2011. This comprehensive agreement, later known as the Implementation Mechanism, provided a detailed roadmap with the timeline and tasks for the political transition.

The signatories agreed to a comprehensive national dialogue conference. They also agreed to the participation of women and youth as independent constituencies for the first time, in addition to other political factions which were not part of the Transition Agreement, such as the Southern Hirak movement and Houthis (also known as Ansarullah). Saleh handed over power to Vice-President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi following elections with high voter participation.

Yemen is the only country in the context of the Arab Spring to have a negotiated political transition, a comprehensive national dialogue conference, and to be supported by three unanimously adopted Security Council resolutions. It took Yemen six months to prepare for the National Dialogue, and ten months to conclude with consensus over an Outcome Document in the beginning of 2014. This allowed for the launch of the constitution making process, and set principles for establishing a democratic federal state constituted of six regions. The Constitution Drafting Commission is currently writing a first draft based on the Outcome Document, to be followed by a referendum and general elections.