FACTS

Location: Middle East, bordering the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Red Sea, between Oman and Saudi Arabia

Area (only Total) total: 527,970 sq km

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

Population: 23,013,376

Main Language (only first): Arabic

Government type: republic

Capital (Name): Sanaa

Capital (Time Difference):: UTC+3

Independence: 22 May 1990

National holiday: Unification Day, 22 May (1990)