Last updated: August 22, 2024

Reunified in 1990, Yemen is located in the southwest of the Arabian Peninsula. It borders Saudi Arabia to the north, Oman to the east, the Gulf of Aden to the south and the Red Sea to the west. It is also home to the capital Sanaa, whose picturesque old town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The second largest city, Aden, is home to an important port and is the former capital of socialist South Yemen. The Yemeni population is estimated to be around 32.1 million people, living in an area around one and a half times the size of Germany. According to the United Nations Refugee Agency UNHCR, three quarters of them are affected by the humanitarian crisis in the country, which has been ongoing since the start of a joint military operation by several Arab countries against armed insurgents in March 2015.

Yemen is a member of the UN and the Arab League. It is also a member of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the World Trade Organization (WTO), as well as other international organizations.

The country is formally a presidential republic in transition, which has been led by an eight-member presidential leadership council since April 2022, which replaced President Abed Rabbo Mansur Hadi. The main goal of the international community is to resolve the crisis and civil war in Yemen. In December 2018, a fragile UN ceasefire was implemented for the important port city of Hudaida, which could no longer be accessed by large ships due to the destruction of infrastructure and cranes. In April 2021, the UN again urged an immediate ceasefire after further fighting broke out in the northern region of Marib, threatening displaced people who had previously found refuge there.

Since the outbreak of the Israeli war on Gaza, the Houthis, a major player in the civil war, have begun regularly attacking Israeli and American interests, particularly ships passing through the Strait of Aden, in response to the ongoing bombardment of Gaza. Retaliatory strikes and a tense regional environment have contributed to increased insecurity.

Food, petrochemical products, chemical products and metals were the most important imported goods in 2019. In 2021, Germany mainly exported machinery, chemical products and food to Yemen. German imports in 2021 consisted almost exclusively of crude oil. In 2020, Yemen is expected to import around 90 percent of its food due to the ongoing crisis. However, the weak national currency makes these immensely expensive.

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