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

15 00 N, 48 00 E

Middle East

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)

slightly larger than twice the size of Wyoming

total: 1,746 km
border countries: Oman 288 km, Saudi Arabia 1,458 km

1,906 km

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

mostly desert; hot and humid along west coast; temperate in
western mountains affected by seasonal monsoon; extraordinarily hot,
dry, harsh desert in east

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

lowest point: Arabian Sea 0 m
highest point: Jabal an Nabi Shu'ayb 3,760 m

petroleum, fish, rock salt, marble, small deposits
of coal, gold, lead, nickel, and copper, fertile soil in west

arable land: 3%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 30%
forests and woodland: 4%
other: 63% (1993 est.)

3,600 sq km (1993 est.)

sandstorms and dust storms in summer

very limited natural fresh water
resources; inadequate supplies of potable water; overgrazing; soil
erosion; desertification

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered
Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea,
Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

strategic location on Bab el Mandeb, the strait
linking the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, one of world's most active
shipping lanes