Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in southern Arabia, the country includes the Socotra Archipelago and borders Saudi Arabia to the north, Oman to the northeast, the Arabian Sea to the east, the Gulf of Aden to the south, and the Red Sea to the west. It also shares maritime borders with Djibouti, Eritrea, and Somalia across the Horn of Africa. Covering , with a coastline of approximately , Yemen is the second-largest country on the Arabian Peninsula by area and the second-largest by population. Sanaa is its constitutional capital and largest city. Yemen's population is estimated at 34.7 million, predominantly Muslim Arabs.
Owing to its geographic location, Yemen has been at the crossroads of many civilisations for over 7,000 years. The Sabaeans formed a thriving commercial kingdom that influenced parts of modern Ethiopia and Eritrea. In AD 275, it was succeeded by the Himyarite Kingdom, which spanned much of Yemen's present-day territory and was heavily influenced by Judaism. Christianity arrived in the fourth century, followed by the rapid spread of Islam in the seventh century. From its conversion to Islam, Yemen became a centre of Islamic learning, and Yemenite troops played a crucial role in early Islamic conquests. For centuries, it was a primary producer of coffee, exported through the port of Mocha. Various dynasties emerged between the ninth and sixteenth centuries. During the 19th century, the country was divided between the Ottoman and British empires. After World War I, the Kingdom of Yemen was established, which in 1962 became the Yemen Arab Republic (North Yemen) following the North Yemen civil war. In 1967, the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (South Yemen) gained independence from the British Aden Protectorate, becoming the first and only communist state in the Middle East. In 1990, the two Yemeni states united to form the modern Republic of Yemen, with Ali Abdullah Saleh serving as the first president until his resignation in 2012 in the wake of the Arab Spring.
Since 2011, Yemen has been enduring a political crisis, marked by street protests against poverty, unemployment, corruption, and President Saleh's plan to amend Yemen's constitution. By 2015, the country became engulfed in an ongoing civil war with multiple entities vying for governance, including the Presidential Leadership Council of the internationally recognised government and the Houthi movement's Supreme Political Council. This conflict has led to a severe humanitarian crisis.
Yemen is one of the least developed countries in the world, facing significant obstacles to sustainable development, and is one of the poorest countries in the Middle East and North Africa. In 2019, the United Nations reported that Yemen had the highest number of people in need of humanitarian aid, amounting to about 24 million individuals, or nearly 75% of its population. It is a member of the Arab League, the United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement, and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
Etymology
The term Yamnat was first mentioned in the Old South Arabian inscriptions on the title of Shammar Yahri'sh, a king of Himyar. The term probably referred to the southwestern coastline of the Arabian Peninsula and the southern coastline between Aden and Hadhramaut.
One etymology derives Yemen from ymnt, meaning literally "the South", as Arabic derives cardinal directions based on orientation towards the east, hence the underlying linguistic root is ymn (𐩺𐩣𐩬 in the South Arabian alphabet) meaning "right". Other sources claim that Yemen is related to yamn or yumn, meaning "blessed", as the country is fertile, in contrast to the rest of Arabia.
History
Ancient history
With its long sea border between eastern and western civilisations, Yemen has long existed at a crossroads of cultures with a strategic location in terms of trade on the west of the Arabian Peninsula. Large settlements existed in the mountains of northern Yemen since 5000 BC. The four major kingdoms in South Arabia were Saba, Hadhramaut, Qataban, and Ma'in.
Sabaʾ () is thought to be biblical Sheba and was the most prominent federation. Sabaean rulers adopted a title generally thought to mean unifier, as the role of the Mukarrib was to bring the various tribes under their kingdom. Saba built the Great Dam of Marib around 940 BC.
By the third century BC, Qataban, Hadhramaut, and Ma'in became independent from Saba. Ma'in stretched to Dedan, (Snippet view). with their capital at Baraqish. The Sabaeans regained their hegemony in South Arabia, by establishing control over Ma'in, after the collapse of Qataban in 50 BC.
Aelius Gallus led a military campaign against the Sabaeans. A Roman army of 10,000 men was defeated before reaching Marib. The Romans took six months to reach Marib and 60 days to return to Egypt.
The country fell into chaos, with Hamdan and Himyar claiming kingship, assuming the title King of Sheba and Dhu Raydan. Dhu Raydan allied themselves with Aksum against the Sabaeans. The chief of Bakil and king of Saba and Dhu Raydan, El Sharih Yahdhib, launched successful campaigns against the Himyarites and Aksum. Sanaa came into prominence during his reign, as he built the Ghumdan Palace as his place of residence.
The Himyarites annexed Sanaa from Hamdan around 100 AD. Hashdi tribesmen rebelled and regained Sanaa around 180. Shammar Yahri'sh had conquered Hadhramaut, Najran, and Tihamah by 275, thus unifying Yemen and consolidating Himyarite rule. The Himyarites rejected polytheism and adhered to monotheistic Rahmanism.
By 515, Himyar became increasingly divided along religious lines and civil turmoil led to an Aksumite intervention. The last Himyarite king Ma'adikarib Ya'fur was supported by Aksum against his Jewish rivals. Ma'adikarib was Christian and launched a campaign against the Persia-allied Lakhmids in southern Iraq, with Arabs allied to Byzantium supporting.
After the death of Ma'adikarib Ya'fur around 521, a Himyarite Jewish warlord called Dhu Nuwas rose to power. Emperor Justinian I wanted the Himyarites to attack Persia. The Romans were successful in religiously converting and culturally influencing Aksum.
Yazid bin Kabshat, a Kendite prince, rebelled against Abraha and his Arab Christian allies. A truce was reached when the Great Dam of Marib was damaged. After Abraha died around 570, the Sassanids annexed Yemen. Under their rule, Yemen, except for Aden and Sanaa, enjoyed significant autonomy. The annexation ended ancient South Arabian civilisation, with the country being fractured between clans, until the arrival of Islam.
Islamic era
Muhammad sent his cousin Ali to Sanaa and its surroundings around 630. At the time, Yemen was the most advanced region in Arabia. The Banu Hamdan confederation was among the first to accept Islam. Muhammad sent Muadh ibn Jabal to Al-Janad in present-day Taiz, and dispatched letters to various tribal leaders.Abd al-Muhsin Madʼaj M. Madʼaj The Yemen in Early Islam (9–233/630–847): A Political History p. 12 Ithaca Press, 1988 Major tribes, including Himyar, sent delegations to Medina during the "year of delegations" around 630–631. Several Yemenis accepted Islam before 630, such as Ammar ibn Yasir, Al-Ala'a Al-Hadrami, Miqdad ibn Aswad, Abu Musa Ashaari, and Sharhabeel ibn Hasana. A self-proclaimed prophet of Rahman, 'Abhala ibn Ka'ab Al-Ansi, expelled the remaining Persians. He was assassinated by a Yemeni of Persian origin called Fayruz al-Daylami. Christians, who were mainly staying in Najran along with Jews, agreed to pay jizyah (), although some Jews converted to Islam, such as Wahb ibn Munabbih and Ka'ab al-Ahbar.
Yemen was stable during the Rashidun Caliphate. Yemeni tribes played a pivotal role in the Islamic expansion into Egypt, Iraq, Persia, the Levant, Anatolia, North Africa, Sicily, and Andalusia.Wilferd Madelung The Succession to Muhammad: A Study of the Early Caliphate p. 199 Cambridge University Press, 15 October 1998 Ṭabarī The History of al-Tabari Vol. 12: The Battle of al-Qadisiyyah and the Conquest of Syria and Palestine A.D. 635–637/A.H. 14–15 pp. 10–11 SUNY Press, 1992 Idris El Hareir The Spread of Islam Throughout the World p. 380 UNESCO, 2011 Yemeni tribes who settled in Syria contributed significantly to the solidification of Umayyad rule, especially during the reign of Marwan I. Powerful Yemenite tribes such as the Kinda were on his side during the Battle of Marj Rahit.Nejla M. Abu Izzeddin The Druzes: A New Study of Their History, Faith, and Society BRILL, 1993 Hugh Kennedy The Armies of the Caliphs: Military and Society in the Early Islamic State p. 33 Routledge, 17 June 2013
Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn Ziyad founded the Ziyadid dynasty in Tihamah around 818. The state stretched from Haly (in present-day Saudi Arabia) to Aden. They nominally recognised the Abbasid Caliphate but ruled independently from Zabid.Paul Wheatley The Places Where Men Pray Together: Cities in Islamic Lands, Seventh Through the Tenth Centuries p. 128 University of Chicago Press, 2001 By virtue of its location, they developed a special relationship with Abyssinia. The chief of the Dahlak islands exported slaves, as well as amber and leopard hides, to the ruler of Yemen. They controlled only a small portion of the coastal strip in Tihamah along the Red Sea, and never exercised control over the highlands and Hadhramaut.Kamal Suleiman Salibi A History of Arabia p. 108 Caravan Books, 1980 OCLC Number: 164797251 A Himyarite clan called the Yufirids established their rule over the highlands from Saada to Taiz, while Hadhramaut was an Ibadi stronghold and rejected all allegiance to the Abbasids in Baghdad.
The first Zaidi imam, Yahya ibn al-Husayn, arrived in Yemen in 893. He was a religious cleric and judge who was invited to come to Saada from Medina to arbitrate tribal disputes.Stephen W. Day Regionalism and Rebellion in Yemen: A Troubled National Union p. 31 Cambridge University Press, 2012 Yahya persuaded local tribesmen to follow his teachings. The sect slowly spread across the highlands, as the tribes of Hashid and Bakil, later known as "the twin wings of the imamate", accepted his authority.Gerhard Lichtenthäler Political Ecology and the Role of Water: Environment, Society and Economy in Northern Yemen p. 55 Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. 2003 He founded the Zaidi imamate in 897. Yahya established his influence in Saada and Najran. He also tried to capture Sanaa from the Yufirids in 901 but failed miserably.
The Sulayhid dynasty was founded in the northern highlands around 1040; at the time, Yemen was ruled by different local dynasties. In 1060, Ali ibn Muhammad Al-Sulayhi conquered Zabid and killed its ruler Al-Najah, founder of the Najahid dynasty.J. D. Fage, Roland Anthony Oliver The Cambridge History of Africa, Volume 3 p. 119 Cambridge University Press,1977 Hadhramaut fell into Sulayhid hands after their capture of Aden in 1162.
By 1063, Ali had subjugated Greater Yemen.Farhad Daftary Ismailis in Medieval Muslim Societies: A Historical Introduction to an Islamic Community p. 92 I. B. Tauris, 2005 He then marched toward the Hejaz and occupied Makkah.Farhad Daftary The Isma'ilis: Their History and Doctrines p. 199 Cambridge University Press, 2007 Ali was married to Asma bint Shihab, who governed Yemen with her husband.Fatima Mernissi The Forgotten Queens of Islam p. 14 U of Minnesota Press, 1997