Population: 26,052,966 (July 2014 est.)
Median age: 18.6 years
Capital: Sanaa
Ethnic Groups: Predominantly Arab, also Afro-Arab, South Asian, European
Religion: Muslim including Shaf’i (Sunni) and Zaydi (Shia), small numbers of Jewish, Christian, Hindu and Baha’i
GDP: $61.63 billion (2013 est.)
GDP per capita: $2,500 (2013 est.)
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January 24, 2013 – The Yemeni government confirms that Saeed al-Shahri, second in command of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, has died after being wounded on November 28, 2012.
August 7, 2013 – According to a spokesman for the prime minister, Yemen foils an al Qaeda plot to capture oil and gas facilities and seize two key southern ports.
December 5, 2013 – Militants stage a deadly attack on Yemen’s Defense Ministry in Sanaa, ramming the building with an explosives-laden vehicle, followed by gunmen battling security forces inside. The attack targets a hospital at the Defense Ministry complex, according to the state-run Saba news agency. At least 52 people are killed in the attack, including four foreign doctors.
December 15, 2013 – Yemen’s parliament calls for an end to drone strikes on its territory three days after a U.S. missile attack mistakenly strikes a wedding convoy, killing more than a dozen people.
February 10, 2014 – President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi approves making Yemen a federal state consisting of six regions: two in the south, and four in the more populated north.
April 22, 2014 – Yemeni officials say that at least 65 suspected al Qaeda militants in the Arabian Peninsula were killed in a combination of recent firefights and U.S. assisted drone strikes in a multi-day operation which involved ground combat and drone strikes. The officials say the United States assisted in the ground operation but did not take part in combat. The United States did not comment, however CIA drones are suspected to have targeted the al Qaeda fighters, weapons locations and a training camp.
September 21, 2014 – President Hadi, a powerful rebel group and representatives of major political parties sign an “immediate ceasefire, ending all forms of violence,” according to a written statement. The U.N.-brokered deal ends a month of tense protests by Houthis, anti-government protestors, that essentially halted life in Sanaa, the capital, and resulted in hundreds of people being killed or injured. Also, Prime Minister Mohammed Salem Basindwa submits his resignation.
