Country · Asia
Yemen
Republic of Yemen
Yemen is a country in Western Asia. Its capital city is Sana'a. About 28.5 million people live there, in an area of 527 968 square kilometres.
Picture credit: المصور أنس الحاج (CC BY-SA 2.0) · Rod Waddington (CC BY-SA 4.0) · yeowatzup (CC BY 2.0) · Rod Waddington (CC BY-SA 2.0) · المصور أنس الحاج (CC BY-SA 2.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is Yemen?
Yemen lies in Western Asia, on the continent of Asia.
It sits in the northern half of the world, roughly 1 670 km from the equator.
Its coastline is about 1 906 km long.
It shares a border with 2 countries: Oman and Saudi Arabia.
How big is Yemen?
Yemen covers 527 968 square kilometres.
That is about 5.1 times the size of Iceland.
Among the world's countries that makes it the 49th largest.
Spread out evenly, that is roughly 54 people per square kilometre.
Who lives in Yemen?
About 28.5 million people live in Yemen.
That is the 49th biggest population in the world.
People here speak Arabic.
They pay with the Yemeni rial (﷼).
On average, people born here can expect to live about 60 years.
The land of Yemen
The land in Yemen sits on average 999 metres above sea level.
Its coast runs for about 1 906 km. Walking it end to end, at twenty kilometres a day, would take roughly 95 days.
It lies inside the tropics, which is the single biggest reason its weather is the way it is.
What makes Yemen different?
A dish the country is known for: Saltah.
Websites from here often end in .ye.
Yemen and the rest of the world
Out of every thousand people alive on Earth, about 4 live in Yemen.
It takes up about 0.4 % of all the land that countries stand on.
Within Asia it is the 12th largest of 46 countries, and the 19th most populated.
That is close to the world average of roughly 60 people per square kilometre.
Yemen and its neighbours
Saudi Arabia, its largest neighbour, is about 4.1 times bigger.
Saudi Arabia has more people: 33.7 million against 28.5 million.
Questions children ask
What is the capital of Yemen?
The capital of Yemen is Sana'a. It is the city where the country's government works from.
How many people live in Yemen?
About 28.5 million people live in Yemen, which makes it the 49th most populated country in the world. (Source: World Bank, 2018.)
Which countries border Yemen?
Yemen borders Oman and Saudi Arabia — 2 neighbours in total.
How big is Yemen?
Yemen covers 527 968 square kilometres, making it the 49th largest country in the world. That is about 5.1 times the size of Iceland.
Which continent is Yemen in?
Yemen is in Asia, in the part called Western Asia.
Where these numbers come from
Borders and outlines: Natural Earth. Names, capitals, areas, languages and currencies: ISO 3166 data (world-countries). Population: World Bank, 2018. Every derived figure on this page (ranks, density, distance from the equator) is calculated from those values.
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