Yemen

Yemen is a country at the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, between Saudi Arabia, Oman, the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea. Its 455,503 km2 (175,871 sq mi) include the Socotra Archipelago and a coastline of about 2,000 km (1,200 mi).

Sanaa is the constitutional capital and largest city. Modern Standard Arabic is the official language, and the South Semitic languages Mehri and Soqotri are spoken in the far east and on Socotra. Settlements stood in the northern mountains from 5000 BC. Saba, thought to be the biblical Sheba, led the kingdoms of South Arabia beside Qataban, Hadhramaut and Ma'in, and built the Great Dam of Marib around 940 BC. The Himyarite Kingdom followed in AD 275, and Islam spread in the 7th century. Under the Rasulid dynasty Taiz and Zabid grew into international centers of Islamic learning. In the 19th century the land was divided between the Ottoman and British empires. The Kingdom of Yemen arose after World War I and in 1962 became the Yemen Arab Republic, South Yemen gained independence from Britain in 1967, and in 1990 the two states united as the Republic of Yemen.

Under the 1991 constitution the country is a unitary semi-presidential republic with an elected president, an elected Assembly of Representatives and an appointed Shura Council. Most people work in farming, growing grain, fruit, vegetables, coffee and cotton and keeping sheep, goats, cattle and camels. Crude oil, liquefied natural gas, coffee and dried and salted fish are the main exports. For centuries Yemen was a leading producer of coffee, shipped through the port of Mocha. The western highlands, terraced for crops, receive the most rain in Arabia.

Dinosaur footprints have been found near the village of Madar, north of Sanaa. Theatre in Yemen began in Aden in the early 20th century, and Ali Ahmed Ba Kathir and Wajdi al-Ahdal are among the authors who wrote for the stage. Hikers and climbers head for the Sarawat Mountains and the peak of An-Nabi Shu'ayb. On the west coast the Zaraniq tribe keeps up camel jumping, in which riders leap from a running start over camels standing side by side.