Yemen

Introduction & Quick Facts
Land
- Relief and drainage
- Climate
- Plant and animal life
People
- Ethnic groups
- Languages
- Religion
- Settlement patterns
- Demographic trends
Economy
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing
- Resources and power
- Manufacturing
- Finance
- Trade
- Services
- Labor and taxation
- Transportation and telecommunications
Government and society
- Constitutional framework
- Local government
- Justice
- Political process
- Security
- Health and welfare
- Housing
- Education
Cultural life
- Daily life and social customs
- The arts
- Cultural institutions
- Sports and recreation
- Media and publishing
History
- The pre-Islamic period
- The advent of Islam
- The age of imperialism
- Two Yemeni states
- Unification of Yemen
- War of secession and political unrest
- Territorial disputes
- Economic challenges
- Unraveling of unification
  - Yemen and the “war on terror”
  - Mounting challenge to the Saleh regime
- Arab Spring uprising
  - Protests against Pres. Ali Abdullah Saleh
  - Transfer of power to Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi
- Yemeni Civil War (2014– )
  - Capture of Sanaa
  - Saudi-led intervention

References & Edit History Facts & Stats

Images, Videos & Interactives

Map of Yemen showing international boundaries, major cities including Sanaa, Aden, and Al-Mukalla, and neighboring countries Saudi Arabia and Oman. The map also includes parts of the Red Sea, Arabian Sea, and nearby countries Djibouti, Eritrea, and Ethiopia, with a locator inset highlighting Yemen's position in the Middle East.

Saywūn, Yemen: palace of the sultan

Map of the Middle East highlighting Yemen in orange, showing its location on the southern Arabian Peninsula bordered by Saudi Arabia and Oman, with nearby bodies of water including the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Arabian Sea. Neighboring countries such as Saudi Arabia, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Israel, Lebanon, Cyprus, Turkey, and Iran are also labeled. A small inset globe in the lower left indicates Yemen's global position.

Map of Yemen showing major physical features, including the Ramlat al-Sab'atayn Desert, Mahra Mountains, and Hadhramaut region. Neighboring countries Saudi Arabia and Oman are labeled, as are surrounding bodies of water such as the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Arabian Sea. Islands like Socotra and the Hanish Islands are marked, and an inset locator map shows Yemen's position on the Arabian Peninsula.

Yemen: Rubʿ al-Khali desert

Explore the unique landscapes and traditions of Yemen

Cluster of ripe and unripe coffee fruits in shades of red and green growing on a Coffea arabica plant with glossy green leaves.

At a Glance

default image

Yemen: Media

country, Asia

Videos

Explore the unique landscapes and traditions of Yemen

Explore the unique landscapes and traditions of Yemen

Overview of Yemen, including a discussion of Sanaa.

Video: Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz

Images

Yemen

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Map of Yemen showing international boundaries, major cities including Sanaa, Aden, and Al-Mukalla, and neighboring countries Saudi Arabia and Oman. The map also includes parts of the Red Sea, Arabian Sea, and nearby countries Djibouti, Eritrea, and Ethiopia, with a locator inset highlighting Yemen's position in the Middle East.

Yemen

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Saywūn, Yemen: palace of the sultan

Saywūn, Yemen: palace of the sultan

Palace of the sultan in Saywūn, Yemen

Katrina Thomas/Photo Researchers

Map of the Middle East highlighting Yemen in orange, showing its location on the southern Arabian Peninsula bordered by Saudi Arabia and Oman, with nearby bodies of water including the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Arabian Sea. Neighboring countries such as Saudi Arabia, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Israel, Lebanon, Cyprus, Turkey, and Iran are also labeled. A small inset globe in the lower left indicates Yemen's global position.

Yemen

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Hadīboh, Yemen

Hadīboh, Yemen

Hadīboh, principal settlement of Socotra island, at the foot of the Hajhir Mountains,...

Picturepoint, London

Map of Yemen showing major physical features, including the Ramlat al-Sab'atayn Desert, Mahra Mountains, and Hadhramaut region. Neighboring countries Saudi Arabia and Oman are labeled, as are surrounding bodies of water such as the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Arabian Sea. Islands like Socotra and the Hanish Islands are marked, and an inset locator map shows Yemen's position on the Arabian Peninsula.

Physical features of Yemen

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Yemen: Rubʿ al-Khali desert

Yemen: Rubʿ al-Khali desert

The Rubʿ al-Khali, a desert lying mainly in southeastern Saudi Arabia, with lesser...

Lynn Abercrombie

Cluster of ripe and unripe coffee fruits in shades of red and green growing on a Coffea arabica plant with glossy green leaves.

coffee plant

Coffee (Coffea arabica) leaves and fruits.

© Chanate7845/Dreamstime.com

Two Arabian oryx (Oryx leucoryx) with long, straight horns stand on sandy desert terrain, with more oryx and sparse vegetation in the background.

Arabian oryx

Arabian oryx (Oryx leucoryx).

© Kertu/Shutterstock.com

Sanaa, Yemen

Sanaa, Yemen

A neighborhood in western Sanaa, Yemen.

Art Resource, New York

Crowd of people and vehicles gather at Bab Al-Yemen, the large arched main gate leading into the old city of Sanaa, Yemen, with traditional multi-story buildings behind.

Sanaa, Yemen: Liberty Gate

The Liberty Gate (formerly known as Bāb al-Yaman, or Yemen Gate, until the 1962 revolution),...

© Vladimir Melnik/Shutterstock.com

Coffee cherries

Coffee cherries

Ripe Arabica coffee cherries (Coffea arabica).

© iStockphoto/Thinkstock

Shibam, Yemen: mud-brick houses

Shibam, Yemen: mud-brick houses

The mud-brick multistory houses of Shibam, Yemen.

Lynn Abercrombie

A Muslim woman wearing a black burka walks on a street in Sanaa, Yemen, with traditional multi-story buildings featuring intricate geometric patterns in the background.

Sanaa, Yemen: traditional houses

A woman walking by traditional Yemeni houses in Sanaa, Yemen.

© Robert Paul Van Beets/Shutterstock.com

Maʿīn, Yemen: Minaean temple

Maʿīn, Yemen: Minaean temple

Yemeni soldier standing in the ruins of a Minaean temple near Maʿīn, Al-Jawf, Yemen.

Lynn Abercrombie

Map of Africa showing the location of Aksum, marked in bold red text in the northeastern part of the continent, near the Red Sea in present-day Ethiopia. Surrounding continents Europe and Asia, as well as the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, are also labeled for context.

Aksum

The kingdom of Aksum was located in northeastern Africa.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Map showing the Ottoman Empire at its greatest extent, with the empire highlighted in orange stretching across southeastern Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East, including Anatolia, Egypt, the Balkans, and parts of the Arabian Peninsula. Lighter orange areas indicate tributary and vassal states surrounding the core territory. Major cities such as Constantinople, Cairo, Baghdad, and Mecca are labeled, along with surrounding bodies of water like the Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea, and Red Sea.

Ottoman Empire: greatest extent

The Ottoman Empire at its greatest extent.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Imam Muhammad al-Badr, wearing a white turban, walks through a crowd of armed Yemeni tribal supporters in a mountain camp.

Imam Muhammad al-Badr, December 1962

The last Zaydi imam, Muhammad al-Badr, among his supporters in the northern highlands,...

© AFP/Getty Images

Abdullah al-Sallal in military uniform, seated at a table with his hands folded.

Abdullah al-Sallal, first president of the Yemen Arab Republic (North Yemen)

Military officer and Nasserist Abdullah al-Sallal nominally led the 1962 revolution...

© Universal History Archive—Universal Images Group/Getty images

National Liberation Front members march through Yemen carrying rifles and red, white, and black flags.

National Liberation Front in South Yemen

Members of a South Yemen independence movement, the National Liberation Front (NLF),...

© Stan Meagher/Express—Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Women march in Aden carrying FLOSY banners with Arabic writing; one young woman holds a sign bearing the movement's name.

Front for the Liberation of (Occupied) South Yemen

Protesters of the independence movement Front for the Liberation of (Occupied) South...

© Terry Fincher/Daily Express—Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Map of Yemen before 1990 unification, showing South Yemen in purple from Aden east through Abyan, Shabwah, Hadhramaut, and Al-Mahra, including Socotra, beside the green Yemen Arab Republic of North Yemen.

Yemen before unification (1967–90)

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Portrait of Abdul Fattah Ismail in a blue suit and dotted tie, seated with his hands clasped below his chin.

Abdul Fattah Ismail, head of state of South Yemen, in September 1979

© François Lochon—Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images

Vice President Ali Salem al-Beidh, left, and President Ali Abdullah Saleh sit behind a cluster of microphones at a press conference.

Yemeni Vice Pres. Ali Salem al-Beidh (left) and Pres. Ali Abdullah Saleh (right) on election day, April 27, 1993

Upon unification in 1990, the leader of South Yemen, Ali Salem al-Beidh, became vice...

© Barry Iverson—The Chronicle Collection/Getty Images

Thick black smoke rises from buildings near the University of Science and Technology in Sanaa, Yemen, with city structures in the foreground and mountains in the background.

Sanaa amid the 2014 takeover by Houthi rebels

Smoke rising from the main gate of the army's 1st Armored Division after an attack...

© Mohammed Huwais—AFP/Getty Images

World map comparing two shipping routes from Dalian, China, to Rotterdam, Netherlands: the Suez Canal route, shown in blue, passing through the Strait of Malacca, Red Sea, and Mediterranean Sea, covering about 11,000 nautical miles and taking 48 days; and the alternate route, shown in red, traveling around the Cape of Good Hope at Africa's southern tip, covering about 14,500 nautical miles and taking 57 days.

Disruption in global shipping from Houthi attacks

Commercial ships avoiding Houthi attacks on the Red Sea require nine additional days...

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

dendritic drainage pattern

dendritic drainage pattern

Dendritic drainage pattern developed on flat-lying limestone in central Yemen.

Courtesy of National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Yemen

Yemen

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Audio

National anthem of Yemen

The instrumental version of the national anthem of Yemen.

Interactives

Yemen: Ethnic composition

Yemen: Ethnic composition

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Yemen: Religious affiliation

Yemen: Religious affiliation

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Yemen: Urban-rural

Yemen: Urban-rural

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Yemen: Age breakdown

Yemen: Age breakdown

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Yemen: Major import sources

Yemen: Major import sources

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Yemen: Major export destinations

Yemen: Major export destinations

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

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