Travel Alert Status
Level 4: Do Not Travel
Time Difference
UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
Travel Climate
The interior highlands have two rainy seasons a year: the first in March and April, and a second with heavier rainfall in July and August. For the rest of the year, sunny, clear weather is the rule, with occasional dust storms. In winter, night temperatures in Sanaa can drop to 30°F, with sunshine and daytime highs of 70°F. Summer temperatures are moderate, with highs of 85°F, dropping to the low 60s at night.
To the west in the Tihama (lowlands adjoining the Red Sea) where there is a mixture of African and Arab cultures, the weather is hot and humid for much of the year. Even in winter, daytime highs can be in the 90s. During the summer, torrential monsoons occur. Aden and the southern coast are similarly hot and humid, with summer temperatures frequently in the 100s. However, winter temperatures are far milder and more pleasant. The Hadhramaut and the interior desert regions extending east from Aden to the Omani border are hot and dry. To the east of the highland interior, the terrain slopes down to the sandy wastes of the deserts of inner Arabia, the famous "Empty Quarter."
Travel Currency
Yemeni rial (YER)
Languages
Arabic
Ethnic Groups
predominantly Arab; but also Afro-Arab, South Asians, Europeans
National Holiday
Unification Day, 22 May (1990)
Geographic Coordinates
15 00 N, 48 00 E
Location
Middle East, bordering the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Red Sea, between Oman and Saudi Arabia
Airports
17