Yemen - The Eden

About Yemen

Yemen is a country at the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is the second-largest Arab Sovereign State in the peninsula, occupying 527,970 square kilometres (203,850 square miles). The coastline stretches for about 2,000 kilometres (1,200 miles). It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, the Gulf of Aden and Guardafui Channel to the south, and the Arabian Sea and Oman to the east. Yemen's territory encompasses more than 200 islands, including Socotra, one of the largest islands in the Middle East. Yemen is a member of the Arab League, United Nations, Non-Aligned Movement and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. The state is characterized as failed state with high necessity of transformation.

In ancient times, Yemen was the home of the Sabaeans,

a trading state that flourished for over a thousand years and included parts of modern-day Eithopia and Eritrea. In 275 CE, the region came under the rule of the later Jewish -influenced Himyarite Kingdom. Christianity arrived in the fourth century. Islam spreaded quickly in the seventh century and Yemenite troops were crucial in the early Islamic conquests. Administration of Yemen has long been notoriously difficult.Several dynasties emerged from the ninth to sixteenth century, the Rasulid dynasty being the strongest and most prosperous. The country was divided between the Ottoman and British empires in the early twentieth century. The Zaidi Mutawwaqalite Kingdom of Yemen was established after World War I in North Yemen before the creation of the Yemen Arab Republic in 1962. South Yemen remained a British protectorate known as the Aden Protectorate until 1967 when it became an independently state and later, a Marxist-Leninist State. The two Yemeni states united to form the modern Republic of Yemen Al-Jumhuriyah Al-Yamaniyah in 1990. President Ali Abdullah Saleh was the first president of the new republic until his resignation in 2012. His rule has been described as a Kleptocracy.

Geography of Yemen

Yemen is located in Southwest Asia, at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula between Oman and Saudia Arabia. It is situated at the entrance to the Bab-al-Mandeb Strait, which links the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean (via the Gulf of Aden) and is one of  most active and strategic shipping lanes in the world. Yemen has an area of 527,970 square kilometres (203,850 sq mi), including the islands of thePerim at the southern end of the Red Sea and Socotra at the entrance to the Gulf of Aden. Yemen's land boundaries total 1,746 kilometres (1,085 mi). Yemen borders Saudi Arabia to the north (1,458 km or 906 mi) and Oman to the northeast (288 km or 179 mi).

Yemen is in the southern half of the Arabian Peninsula, bordering the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea. The country is divided into four geographical regions: the Tihamah or coastal plains to the west, the western highlands, the central highlands, and the Rub' al Khali, or "Empty Quarter", in the east, the largest sand desert in the world. The Tihamah forms an arid flat plain alongside the Red Sea coast. There are many lagoons here and considerable biodiversity; streams from the western highlands sink and evaporate before reaching the coast.

Bridge at Shaharah in the western highlands, with terracing at top right

The Sarawat Mountains (or Sarat Mountains) in Saudi Arabia extend southwards into Yemen, where they divide into two ranges. The western highlands run parallel with the Red Sea coast and to the east of them, the land slopes gently towards the Persian Gulf. These mountains receive up to 1,000 mm (40 in) of rain in places and are the wettest part of the country. Rainfall comes from southwestern monsoons and from thunderstorms in summer. For over two thousand years the steep slopes of these mountains have been terraced and intensively cropped, and little of the indigenous vegetation remains.

The central highlands rise up to over 3,300 m (10,830 ft) and contain the highest peaks of the Arabian Peninsula. They are in the rain shadow of the western highlands but receive enough rainfall for the cultivation of irrigated wheat and barley. The Rub' al Khali desert region receives almost no rainfall. Both this range and the western highlands feature many wadis, dry watercourses which have been carved out by floods when the occasional torrential downpour occurs. These often support more vascular plants than other arid areas.

]