Yemen
Republic of Yemen
Asia
Geography
Area: 531,869 sq km
Mountainous south and southwestern portion of the Arabian Peninsula and the Indian Ocean island of Socotra.
Population: 24,255,928 Annual Growth: 2.90%
Capital: Sana'a
Urbanites: 31.8%
HDI Rank: 140 of 182 (UN Human Development Reports 2009)
Peoples
Peoples: 28 (61% unreached) All peoples
Unreached Peoples Prayer Card

Official language: Arabic Languages: 14 All languages
Religion
Largest Religion: Muslim
Prayercast
Challenges for Prayer
Yemen was once famous for frankincense, myrrh and coffee, but now growing the mild narcotic qat dominates agriculture. Over 80% of the adult population chew it, nearly 40% of the national economy is involved in qat farming and 55% of all water usage is devoted to its production. An estimated 20 million working hours a day are spent chewing it. The negative effects are immense on productivity and social and family life. Attempts to alleviate poor health care, low levels of education and economic underdevelopment are all undermined by widespread corruption.
Christianity once had a strong presence, but was almost completely wiped out by the 7th Century Muslim conquest. According to tradition, Shem founded the city of Sanaa, and the Queen of Sheba reigned in Yemen and sought wisdom from Solomon three millennia ago. May the modern people of Sheba seek after the wisdom from God as promised in Isaiah 60:6.
For an additional 7 Challenges for Prayer see Operation World book, CD-ROM, or DVD-ROM.