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National Geographic : 1979 Aug
Contents
than one percent of that. The difference is made up by the more than one billion dollars sent into the country by Yemenis working abroad, most of them in Saudi Arabia. More Yemenis may live in Jidda than in Sana. Saudi Arabia's boom has triggered a sec ondary explosion of activity in North Ye men. Construction activity doubled shortly after the oil price increases of 1973, and con tinues to climb. So does inflation, at the rate of 40 percent annually, by some accounts. Land prices in Sana soared from $36,000 an acre in 1972 to roughly $500,000 in 1979. The money flow brings new comforts to the lives of the North Yemeni people, still among the world's poorest. "We buy mills for grinding grain now, instead of using a stone," said a woman living near the south ern border. Jon Mandaville, resident director of the American Institute for Yemeni Studies and a frequent companion in my travels around the country, finds the country's progress im pressive. "It seems to have all happened in the last five years-and without the oil which makes it easy for other countries in National obsession with kat, a mild stim ulant,may consume as much asfour hours a day and a third of a family's income. Bought at market (above), thefresh green leaves are chewed in company (left) with waterpipes and conversation. Since a day's supply ofkat may cost $25, Yemeni farmers cultivate it rather than such crops as coffee, once widely grown and of excellent quality. 253
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