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COUNTRY HOPPING: Yemen
Official name: Republic of Yemen
Area: 531,900 sq km
Population: 16,887,000
Capital: San’a
Currency: Riyal (North); Dinar (South), both legal currencies throughout the country
Language: Arabic Aden, Ta’izz, Al Mukalla, Hodeida, Ibb, Dhamar
Independence Day: May 22, 1990
Major exports: Petroleum and petroleum products, cotton, basic manufactures, clothing, live animals, hides and skins, fish, rice, coffee.
Yemen is situated in southwest Asia, bordered in the north by Saudi Arabia, east by Oman, south by the Gulf of Aden, and west by the Red Sea.
Physical features
The coastal plain is a narrow, sandy, dry area with high temperatures. Along the west coast, a semi-desert region, the Tihamah, extends inland. Mountains dominate the centre of the country. The highest mountain in Yemen is Hadur Shuayb, which rises to 12,336 feet. The largest valley is Hadhramaut in the central region. Near the northeastern border, the elevations decrease, and the land is dominated by the great sandy desert of the Ar Rubal Khali (“Empty Quarter”).
Climate
The climate of the coastal plains is hot and dry; the average annual temperature is about 28°C. Average annual rainfall is 76mm on the south coast, and 229mm on the west coast. Winds blowing in winter bring severe sandstorms. The mountainous interior has a temperate climate, and the winters are generally cool. Annual rainfall in the highlands ranges from about 406 to 762mm.
Government
The 1991 constitution, amended in 1994, provides for a president and 301-member house of representatives. Both are directly elected for a five-year term, with the president’s term being renewable only once. The president appoints a council of ministers.
Ethnicity
Most inhabitants of Yemen are ethnic Arabs, although there are relatively small communities of Africans, mainly in western coastal regions, South Asians in southern regions, and Europeans in metropolitan areas. Thousands of refugees from the clan conflicts in Somalia were residing in Yemen in the early 1990s. A significant minority of the population is organized into tribes and, for many Yemenis, tribal identity is of primary importance.
Religion
The indigenous population of Yemen is almost entirely Muslim, with small communities of Christians, Jews, and Hindus. A long-standing division remains between the Zaydi Shiite Muslims and the Shafi’i Sunni Muslims, Yemen’s two principal religious groups.
Diet
The Yemeni diet includes rice, bread, vegetables, fish, and lamb. A spicy stew called salta is one of Yemen’s most popular dishes.
Places to visit
Sandy beaches along coastal plains; Hadhramaut mountain range; Aden; San’a’s old city, with its mediaeval mosques and other buildings; hillside villages of Kawkaban, Thulla, and Shiban attract tourists to Yemen.
Coffee Town of Al Mukha
The English name for this city, Mocha, has become synonymous with chocolate-laced coffee, Al Mukhb was a thriving port when coffee was the country’s main export and principal source of foreign exchange. Today, coffee-bean plants share irrigated land with qat, the leaves of which contain a mild stimulant, which are chewed by Yemenis but not exported.
Wildlife
The animals found in Yemen are leopard, small spotted-genet, red fox, wild cat, dromedary, Mediterranean chameleon and desert jerboa. The birds found here include peregrine falcon, greater flamingo, hoopoe, osprey and bearded vulture.
History
1st millennium BC: South Yemen (Aden) divided between economically advanced Qataban and Hadramawt kingdoms.
5th century BC: Qataban fell to the Sabaeans (Shebans) of North Yemen (Sana).
100 BC-AD 525: All of Yemen became part of Himyarite kingdom.
AD 628: Islam introduced.
1174-1229: Under the control of Egyptian Ayyubids.
1229-1451: ‘Golden age’ for arts and sciences under the Rasulids, who had served as governors of Yemen under the Ayyubids.
1538: North Yemen came under the control of Turkish Ottoman Empire.
1636: Ottomans left North Yemen and power fell into the hands of Yemeni Imams, based on local Zaydi tribes, who also held South Yemen until 1735.
1839: Aden became a British territory. The port developed into an important ship refuelling station after opening of Suez Canal in 1869; protectorate was gradually established over 23 Sultanates inland.
1870s: The Ottomans re-established control over North Yemen.
1918: North Yemen became independent, with Imam Yahya from Hamid al-Din family as king.
1937: Aden became British crown colony.
1948: Imam Yahya was assassinated by exiled Free Yemenis nationalist movement, but his son, Imam Ahmad, crushed the uprising.
1959: Federation of South Arabia formed by Britain between city of Aden and feudal Sultanates (Aden Protectorate).
1962: Military coup after the death of Imam Ahmad; North Yemen declared Yemen Arab Republic (YAR), with Abdullah al-Sallal as president. Civil war broke out between royalists (supported by Saudi Arabia) and republicans (supported by Egypt).
1963: Armed rebellion by National Liberation Front (NLF) began against British rule in Aden.
1967: Civil war ended with republicans being victorious. Sallal deposed and replaced by Republican Council. The Independent People’s Republic of South Yemen formed after British withdrawal from Aden. Many fled to north as repressive communist NLF regime took over in the south.
1970: People’s Republic of South Yemen was renamed People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen.
1971-72: War between South Yemen and YAR; union agreement brokered by Arab League signed but not kept.
1974: The pro-Saudi Col Ibrahim al-Hamadi seized power in North Yemen; Military Command Council set up.
1977: Hamadi assassinated; replaced by Col Ahmed ibn Hussein al-Ghashmi.
1978: Constituent people’s assembly appointed in North Yemen and Military Command Council dissolved. Ghashmi killed by envoy from South Yemen; succeeded by Ali Abdullah Saleh. War broke out again between two Yemens. South Yemen president deposed and executed; Yemen Socialist Party (YSP) formed in south by communists.
1979: Cease-fire agreed with commitment to future union.
1980: YSP leader Ali Nasser Muhammad became the head of state in South Yemen.
1986: Civil war in South Yemen; autocratic Ali Nasser dismissed. New administration formed under more moderate Haydar Abu Bakr al-Attas, who was committed to negotiating union with the north as a result of deteriorating economy in the south.
1989: Draft multiparty constitution for single Yemen state published.
1990: Border between two Yemens opened; the two countries formally united on May 22 as Republic of Yemen.
1991: New constitution approved; Yemen opposed US-led operations against Iraq in Gulf War.
1992: Anti-government riots.
1993: Saleh’s General People’s Congress (GPC) won majority of the seats in the general election but no overall majority; five-member presidential council elected, including Saleh as president, YSP leader Ali Salim al-Baidh as vice president, and Bakr al-Attas as prime minister.
1994: Fighting erupted between northern forces, led by President Saleh, and southern forces, led by Vice President al-Baidh, as southern Yemen announced its secession. Saleh inflicted crushing defeat on al-Baidh and new GPC coalition appointed.
1997: GPC election victory. Farag Said Ben Ghanem appointed prime minister.
1998: New government headed by Abdul Ali al-Rahman al-Iryani.
1999: Yemen’s first direct presidential elections held; Saleh returned to office.
2000: A border treaty ending disputes with Saudi Arabia that dated to the 1930s was signed.
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