Polity · 1969 CE – 1989 CE
People's Democratic Republic of Yemen
اليمن الديمقراطي
- Peak recorded area
- 313,160 km²
- 1969 CE
- Rulers on record
- 5
- from 1967 CE
- Data series
- 51
- 1969 CE–1989 CE
Overview
South Yemen, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY), abbreviated to Democratic Yemen, was a country in South Arabia that existed in what is now southeast Yemen from 1967 until its unification with the Yemen Arab Republic in 1990. The sole communist state in the Middle East and the Arab world, it comprised the southern and eastern governorates of the present-day Republic of Yemen, including the islands of Perim, Kamaran, and the Socotra Archipelago.
Lead section from Wikipedia, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article.
Territory
2 dated territorial extents on record from Cliopatria. Areas are measured off the recorded polygons; the line steps because each extent holds until the next one is recorded — nothing is interpolated.
The record
The best-attested series in each category; where several projects publish the same quantity, the one with the most observations is shown. Each row is the most recent value the record holds at or before 1989 CE, shown with the year that value belongs to. Some statistical series also publish forward projections — the year column is the honest guide. Nothing on this page is interpolated or estimated by us.
People
| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Population23 obs · 1967 CE–1989 CE | 2.4Mpersons1989 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Urban Population23 obs · 1967 CE–1989 CE | 321Kpersons1989 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| % Muslim4 obs · 1970 CE–1985 CE | 97.78%1985 CE · CoW World Religion Project |
| % Other Religion2 obs · 1980 CE–1985 CE | 2.22%1985 CE · CoW World Religion Project |
Economy
| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Total Exports30 obs · 1960 CE–1989 CE | 199.75million USD (current)1989 CE · CoW Bilateral Trade v4.0 |
| Total Imports30 obs · 1960 CE–1989 CE | 687.61million USD (current)1989 CE · CoW Bilateral Trade v4.0 |
| Trade Balance30 obs · 1960 CE–1989 CE | -487.86million USD (current)1989 CE · CoW Bilateral Trade v4.0 |
| Trade Openness30 obs · 1960 CE–1989 CE | 887.35million USD (current)1989 CE · CoW Bilateral Trade v4.0 |
Military
6 of 22 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| CINC Score23 obs · 1967 CE–1989 CE | 0.0008CINC (share of world capability)1989 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Energy Consumption23 obs · 1967 CE–1989 CE | 5.3Mcoal-ton equivalents1989 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Iron Steel Production23 obs · 1967 CE–1989 CE | 0tons1989 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Military Expenditure23 obs · 1967 CE–1989 CE | 232.2Mcurrent USD1989 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Military Personnel23 obs · 1967 CE–1989 CE | 88Kpersons1989 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Arms Imports Tiv Million22 obs · 1967 CE–1989 CE | 50tiv_million1989 CE · SIPRI Arms Transfers TIV |
Territory & resources
| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Oil Proved Reserves Tonnes5 obs · 1985 CE–1989 CE | 272.8Mtonnes1989 CE · Energy Institute Statistical Review |
| Gas Proved Reserves M34 obs · 1986 CE–1989 CE | 193.1Bm31989 CE · Energy Institute Statistical Review |
Governance
6 of 17 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Electoral Democracy Index90 obs · 1900 CE–1989 CE | 0.119index (0-1)1989 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Liberal Democracy Index90 obs · 1900 CE–1989 CE | 0.09index (0-1)1989 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Participatory Democracy Index90 obs · 1900 CE–1989 CE | 0.052index (0-1)1989 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Regime Type90 obs · 1900 CE–1989 CE | 0RoW index (0-3)1989 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Rule Of Law Index90 obs · 1900 CE–1989 CE | 0.759index (0-1)1989 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Checks And Balances15 obs · 1975 CE–1989 CE | 1count1989 CE · Database of Political Institutions (DPI) 2023 |
Development
| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Freedom Of Expression Index90 obs · 1900 CE–1989 CE | 0.054index (0-1)1989 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Tech Electricity Production36 obs · 1750 CE–1989 CE | 13MGWh1989 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
Rulers
5 on record with dated reigns. Reign years follow the house convention: BCE years are negative.
- Qahtan al-ShaabiHead of State1967 CE – 1969 CE
- Salim Rubaya AliHead of State1969 CE – 1978 CE
- Abdul Fattah IsmailHead of State1978 CE – 1980 CE
- Ali Nasir MuhammadHead of State1978 CE
- Haidar Abu Bakr al-AttasHead of State1986 CE – 1990 CE
Language & currency
- Official & national languages
- Arabic
- Currency
- Yemeni Dinar (YDD)
Sources
Every figure above comes from one of these. Nothing on this page is estimated, interpolated or model-generated.
CHAT (Comin-Hobijn)2009 (FinalCHAT_72909)
Comin, D. & Hobijn, B. (2009). The CHAT Dataset. NBER Working Paper 15319.
NBER research data, freely downloadable
Seshat Global History Databank. Cliopatria: a historical basemap of polity borders (cliopatria.geojson).
Correlates of War NMC v6.0v6.0
Singer, J.D. (1987). National Material Capabilities Data (NMC), v6.0. Correlates of War Project.
Free academic use, citation
Barbieri, K. & Keshk, O. (2016). Correlates of War Project Trade Data Set, v4.0.
Free academic use, citation
CoW World Religion Projectv1.1
Maoz, Z. & Henderson, E.A. (2013). The World Religion Dataset, 1945-2010. International Interactions 39(3).
Free academic use, citation
Database of Political Institutions (DPI) 2023DPI 2023
Cruz, C., Keefer, P. & Scartascini, C. (2023). Database of Political Institutions 2023. Inter-American Development Bank.
IDB open data, attribution
Energy Institute Statistical Review2024 (73rd edition)
Energy Institute (2024). Statistical Review of World Energy 2024.
CC BY 4.0
SIPRI (2024). Arms Transfers Database (Trend-Indicator Values).
Free for non-commercial use, attribution
V-Dem v15v15
Coppedge, M. et al. (2025). V-Dem Country-Year Dataset v15. Varieties of Democracy Project.
Free academic/non-commercial use, attribution
Wikipedia contributors. Article lead sections, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
People's Democratic Republic of Yemen is one of the polities with a sourced record deep enough to publish.