Yemen

Yemen’s history extends back 3,000 years, its pre-Islamic ancient culture still in evidence today - especially in its unique architecture (the old part of the capital Sana'a is declared Universal Cultural Patrimony by UNESCO. Starting at 1000 BC territories that today form part of the Yemen Arab Republic were dominated by three successive civilisations – Minean, Sabaean and Himyarite. Yemen’s relatively fertile land and adequate rainfall could sustain stable populations. During Sabaean rule, in the 8th century an impressive dam was erected that provided irrigation and stood for over a millennium (It finally collapsed in 570 AD after centuries of neglect by the declining Sabaean kingdom). The ancient Greek geographer Ptolemy described Yemen as Eudaimon Arabia (in Latin it was later translated as Arabia Felix) meaning 'happy Arabia, due to green land and moderate climate. Much wealth was generated from the trade in myrrh and frankincense. These were exported to the Mediterranean, where they were greatly prized by many cultures, using camels on routes through Arabia, and to India by sea. During Minaean rule the capital was at Karna (now known as Sadah). The mighty Sabaean kingdom, with its capital at Ma'rib, where the remains of a large temple still remain, thrived for almost 14 centuries. The Himyarites established their capital at Dhafar (now just a small village in the Ibb region) and gradually absorbed the Sabaean kingdom. They were culturally inferior to the Sabaeans and traded from the port of al-Muza on the Red Sea. By the first century BC, the Romans had conquered certain coastal areas and Christianity reached the region. Ethiopians occupied other parts of the region until the Himyarites, in alliance with the Persians, defeated them. At the same time the spice trade declined. By the 4th century AD both Christianity and Judaism had been introduced into Yemen. Islam was introduced in about 630 AD, when the Prophet Mohammed was still alive, following the conversion of Badhan, Yemen’s then Persian governor many of the sheikhs and their tribes converted to Islam. Thereafter Yemen was ruled as part of Arab caliphates. Under the Ummayyad and Abbasid caliphates the Islamic capital moved first to Damascus and later to Baghdad, and Yemen became little more than a remote province governed by successive local dynasties including the Zayidis, the Najahids, the Sulayhids, the Egyptian Ayyubis and the Turkoman Rasulids. The most important dynasty, founded in 897 AD by Yayha bin Husayn bin Qasim ar-Rassi, were the Zaydis of Sa'da, whose Shiite dynasty lasted well into the 20th century. After 1517 AD the country became a nominal part of the Ottoman Empire albeit real power rested with the Zaydi imams. By the mid-15th century the town of al-Moka, on the Red sea coast, became the most important coffee port in the world. By the 19th century British colonialism led to the creation, in the region’s south, of the so-called ‘South Arabian Protectorate of Great Britain’. Meanwhile, in the North, after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in 1918 Imam Yahya established the modern Kingdom of Yemen. His eldest son Imam Ahmed who stayed in power until his death in September 1962 in turn succeeded by Crown Prince Mohammed al-Badr who, however, was overthrown by a regime of revolutionaries who founded the Yemen Arab Republic. In the south the 1960’s were a period of intense nationalist violence and British colonial repression. In 1967 the south gained independence from the British and, under Soviet influence, declared itself an independent communist stated, the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen, with its capital at Aden. There followed two decades of hostility between the two states.

On 22nd May 1990 the Yemen Arab Republic (North) were united with the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen (South) and the actual Republic of Yemen was declared. Following a brief civil war, which led to the defeat of ‘southern’ secessionist forces, stability was eventually achieved. From inception, the contemporary Republic of Yemen adopted a democratic constitution with elections taking place regularly and franchise extending to both sexes.

In late 2000, Yemen received worldwide attention when the American ship USS Cole was attacked in the port of Yemen by suicide bombers who were later found to be part of the Al-Qaida terrorist network. Since then the Yemeni government has applied itself to the task of solidifying its control of tribal areas and supressing militant fundamentalists.

Politics

Main article: Politics of Yemen

Governorates

Main article: Governorates of Yemen

Geography

Main article: Geography of Yemen

Economy

Main article: Economy of Yemen

Yemen, one of the poorest countries in the Arab world, reported strong growth in the mid-1990s with the onset of oil production, but was harmed by low oil prices in 1998. Yemen has embarked on an IMF-supported structural adjustment program designed to modernize and streamline the economy, which has led to foreign debt relief and restructuring. Aided by higher oil prices in 1999, Yemen worked to maintain tight control over spending and implement additional components of the IMF program. The high population growth rate of 3.4% and internal political dissension complicate the government's task.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Yemen

Culture

Main article: Culture of Yemen

**Holidays**
Date	English Name	Local Name	Remarks
January 1	New Year's Day	-
May 22	Day of National Unity	-	Celebrates Unification of Yemen
September 26	Revolution Day 1963	-	-
October 14	National Day	-	-
November 30	Independence Day	-	-
Dates following the lunar Islamic calendar
Dhul Hijja 10	Eid al-Adha	-	-
Shawwal 1	Eid al-Fitr	-	-
Muharram 1	Muharram	-	-
Rajab 27	Lailat ul-Miraj	-	-
Rabi`-ul-Awwal 12	Shahr al-Mawhid	Mouloud	Muhammad's birthday

Music of Yemen

Yemenite Jews are the Jewish people who live, or whose recent ancestors lived, in Yemen. They are known as Teimanim, and are considered to be a subdivision of Mizrahi Jews.

Miscellaneous topics

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