Yemen

Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, formerly divided into Yemen (Sana), also known as North Yemen, and Yemen (Aden), also known as South Yemen, now united into a single republic occupying the southwest corner of the Arabian peninsula and including the islands of Kamaran, Perim, and Socotra. With a combined area of 207,232 sq mi (536,870 sq km), Yemen is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north and northeast, the Gulf of Aden to the south, Oman to the east, and the Red Sea to the west.

Land and climate

Beyond the Red Sea coast with its coral reefs and low-lying beaches is the Tihamah, a dry coastal plain, and, farther inland, a foothill region scored by valleys, known as wadis. The coastal plain along the Gulf of Aden is hot and arid with palm oases. The lowlands along both shores give way to a mountainous interior with some peaks exceeding 12,000 ft (3,658 m). Among the mountains is a mosaic of plateaus, upland plains, and fertile valleys. The mountains eventually give way in the north and east to the Rub'al-Khali desert. The highlands of Yemen enjoy the best climate on the Arabian peninsula, with annual rainfall of some 16–32 in (41–81 cm).

People

The people of what was formerly South Yemen consist of various tribes of Arabs and are either farmers or nomads. The people of what was formerly Yemen are mostly south Arabians, but there are African influences in the people living along the Red Sea coast and toward the south. Though the people are Muslim, they are divided about equally between Sunni and Shi'te Muslims. The religious differences translated into significant social and political divisions in the former Yemen Arab Republic, and are now part of the United Republic of Yemen as well. The official language of Yemen is Arabic.

History

The histories of North Yemen and South Yemen have, since antiquity, sometimes blended, sometimes gone their separate ways, and at other times collided. Formerly known as Al-Yaman, the land of South Yemen was once home to the Minaean, Sabaean, and Himyarite kingdoms. Conquered by Arabs in the 8th century A.D., it became part of the Ottoman Empire during the 16th century. Known as Aden under British control from the 1830s, South Yemen became fully independent in 1967 following the collapse of the Federation of South Arabia. Governed by the Marxist National Liberation Front, it was known as the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen.

Neighboring North Yemen was once part of the Sabaean kingdom and was incorporated into the Muslim caliphate in the 7th century A.D. Various foreign powers have exercised nominal suzerainty over North Yemen, including the Ottoman Turks from the 1500s to 1918. But effective power from the 9th to the 20th centuries lay in the hands of competing local imams. In 1962 an army coup led to the proclamation of a republic. In the ensuing civil war, Saudi Arabia backed the royalist tribes, while Egypt supported the republicans. The conflict ended with a mediated settlement in 1970 from which the republicans emerged in control of the fledgling Yemen Arab Republic.

In 1972 war erupted between the Yemen Arab Republic and the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen. A ceasefire was followed by an agreement to unify North Yemen and South Yemen, but hostilities flared again in 1979. Finally, on May 22, 1990, the two countries were united as the Republic of Yemen under the interim presidency of Ali Abdallah Salih. Yemen abstained from a vote in the Arab League to condemn Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait and earned the immediate enmity of its powerful neighbor, Saudi Arabia, at considerable cost to its already troubled economy. After the 1993 elections tensions between the north and the south increased. The ensuing civil war of 1994 was won by the north. In 1995 there was an armed conflict with Eritrea regarding some small islands in the strait which gives entrance to the Red Sea.