As of February 2004, Yemen is divided into twenty governorates (muhafazat) and one municipality called "Amanat Al-Asemah" (the latter containing the capital, Sana'a)
The population of Yemen was about 28 million according to July 2005 estimates, with 46% of the population being under 15 years old and 2.7% above 65 years. In 1950, it was 4.3 million. By 2050, the population is estimated to increase to about 60 million.
Yemen has one of the world's highest birth rates; the average Yemeni woman bears five children. Although this is similar to the rate in Somalia to the south, it is roughly twice as high as that of Saudi Arabia and nearly three times as high as those in the more modernized Persian Gulf states. Yemen's population is increasing by 700,000 every year.
Situated on the Arabian Peninsula in Southwest Asia, Yemen is a Middle Eastern country comprised of the formerly separate republics of North and South Yemen.