Yemen#Regions and climate

{{See also|Aden Protectorate|Sultanate of Lahej}}

File:Yem5.jpg

The British were looking for a coal depot to service their steamers en route to India. It took 700 tons of coal for a round-trip from Suez to Bombay. East India Company officials decided on Aden. The British Empire tried to reach an agreement with the Zaydi imam of Sana'a, permitting them a foothold in Mocha, and when unable to secure their position, they extracted a similar agreement from the Sultan of Lahej, enabling them to consolidate a position in Aden.{{cite book|author=Caesar E. Farah|year=2002|title=The Sultan's Yemen: 19th-Century Challenges to Ottoman Rule|url=https://archive.org/details/sultansyementhce00fara|url-access=limited|page=[https://archive.org/details/sultansyementhce00fara/page/n142 120]|publisher=I. B. Tauris|isbn=1-86064-767-7}} The British managed to occupy Aden and evicted the Sultan of Lahej from Aden and forced him to accept their "protection". In November 1839, 5,000 tribesmen tried to retake the town but were repulsed and 200 were killed.

With emigrants from India, East Africa, and Southeast Asia, Aden grew into a world city. In 1850, only 980 Arabs were registered as original inhabitants of the city.{{cite book|author=R. J. Gavin|year=1975|title=Aden Under British Rule, 1839–1967|url=https://archive.org/details/adenunderbritish0000gavi|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/adenunderbritish0000gavi/page/60 60]|publisher=C. Hurst & Co. Publishers|isbn=0-903983-14-1}} The English presence in Aden put them at odds with the Ottomans. The Turks asserted to the British that they held sovereignty over the whole of Arabia, including Yemen as the successor of Mohammed and the Chief of the Universal Caliphate.{{cite book|author=Caesar E. Farah|year=2002|title=The Sultan's Yemen: 19th-Century Challenges to Ottoman Rule|url=https://archive.org/details/sultansyementhce00fara|url-access=limited|page=[https://archive.org/details/sultansyementhce00fara/page/n154 132]|publisher=I. B. Tauris|isbn=1-86064-767-7}}

File:Mukhtar Pasha.jpg Grand Vizier and Wāli of Yemen Ahmed Muhtar Pasha]]

The Ottomans were concerned about the British expansion from the British-ruled subcontinent to the Red Sea and Arabia. They returned to the Tihamah in 1849 after an absence of two centuries.{{cite book |author=Caesar E. Farah|year=2002|title= The Sultan's Yemen: 19th-Century Challenges to Ottoman Rule|url=https://archive.org/details/sultansyementhce00fara|url-access=limited|publisher= I. B. Tauris|page= [https://archive.org/details/sultansyementhce00fara/page/n142 120]|isbn=1-86064-767-7}} Rivalries and disturbances continued among the Zaydi imams, between them and their deputies, with the ulema, with the heads of tribes, as well as with those who belonged to other sects. Some citizens of Sana'a were desperate to return law and order to Yemen and asked the Ottoman Pasha in Tihamah to pacify the country.{{cite book|author1=Reeva S. Simon |author2=Michael Menachem Laskier |author3=Sara Reguer |year=2013|title=The Jews of the Middle East and North Africa in Modern Times|page=390|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-50759-2}} The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 strengthened the Ottoman decision to remain in Yemen.{{cite book |author=B. Z. Eraqi Klorman|year=1993|title=The Jews of Yemen in the Nineteenth Century: A Portrait of a Messianic Community|page=11|publisher=BRILL |isbn=9004096841}} By 1873, the Ottomans succeeded in conquering the northern highlands. Sana'a became the administrative capital of Yemen Vilayet.

The Ottomans learned from their previous experience and worked on the disempowerment of local lords in the highland regions. They even attempted to secularize the Yemeni society, while Yemenite Jews came to perceive themselves in Yemeni nationalist terms.{{cite book|author=Ari Ariel|year=2013|title=Jewish-Muslim Relations and Migration from Yemen to Palestine in the Late Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries|page=37|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-9004265370}} The Ottomans appeased the tribes by forgiving their rebellious chiefs and appointing them to administrative posts. They introduced a series of reforms to enhance the country's economic welfare. However, corruption was widespread in the Ottoman administration in Yemen. This was because only the worst of the officials were appointed because those who could avoid serving in Yemen did so.{{cite book |author=Doğan Gürpınar|year=2013|title=Ottoman/Turkish Visions of the Nation, 1860–1950|page=71|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=978-1-137-33421-3}} The Ottomans had reasserted control over the highlands for a temporary duration. The so-called Tanzimat reforms were considered heretic by the Zaydi tribes. In 1876, the Hashid and Bakil tribes rebelled against the Ottomans; the Turks had to appease them with gifts to end the uprising.{{cite book|author=Caesar E. Farah|year=2002|title= The Sultan's Yemen: 19th-Century Challenges to Ottoman Rule|url=https://archive.org/details/sultansyementhce00fara|url-access=limited|publisher= I. B. Tauris |page=[https://archive.org/details/sultansyementhce00fara/page/n118 96]|isbn=1-86064-767-7}}

The tribal chiefs were difficult to appease and an endless cycle of violence curbed Ottoman efforts to pacify the land. Ahmed Izzet Pasha proposed that the Ottoman army evacuate the highlands and confine itself to Tihamah, and not unnecessarily burden itself with continuing military operation against the Zaydi tribes. Imam Yahya Hamidaddin led a rebellion against the Turks in 1904; the rebels disrupted the Ottoman ability to govern.{{cite book|author=B. Z. Eraqi Klorman|year=1993|title=The Jews of Yemen in the Nineteenth Century: A Portrait of a Messianic Community|page=12|publisher=BRILL|isbn=9004096841}} The revolts between 1904 and 1911 were especially damaging to the Ottomans, costing them as many as 10,000 soldiers and as much as 500,000 pounds per year.{{cite book|author= Eugene L. Rogan|year=2002|title=Frontiers of the State in the Late Ottoman Empire: Transjordan, 1850–1921|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=0-521-89223-6}} The Ottomans signed a treaty with imam Yahya Hamidaddin in 1911. Under the treaty, Imam Yahya was recognized as an autonomous leader of the Zaydi northern highlands. The Ottomans continued to rule Shafi'i areas in the mid-south until their departure in 1918.

{{Main|Kingdom of Yemen}}

File:Dar al hajar.jpg's house near Sana'a]]

Imam Yahya hamid ed-Din al-Mutawakkil was ruling the northern highlands independently from 1911, from which he began a conquest of the Yemen lands. In 1925 Yahya captured al-Hudaydah from the Idrisids.{{cite book|author=Bernard Reich|title=Political Leaders of the Contemporary Middle East and North Africa: A Biographical Dictionary |year=1990|page=509|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=0-313-26213-6}} In 1927, Yahya's forces were about {{convert|50|km|mi|abbr=on|sigfig=1}} away from Aden, Taiz, and Ibb, and were bombed by the British for five days; the imam had to pull back.{{cite book |author=Paul Dresch |title=A History of Modern Yemen |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2000 |isbn=0-521-79482-X |page=34}} Small Bedouin forces, mainly from the Madh'hij confederation of Marib, attacked Shabwah but were bombed by the British and had to retreat.

The Italian Empire was the first to recognize Yahya as the king of Yemen in 1926. This created a great deal of anxiety for the British, who interpreted it as recognition of Imam Yahya's claim to sovereignty over Greater Yemen, which included the Aden protectorate and Asir.{{cite book|author=Massimiliano Fiore|year=2010|title=Anglo-Italian Relations in the Middle East, 1922–1940|url=https://archive.org/details/angloitalianrela00fior|url-access=limited|page=[https://archive.org/details/angloitalianrela00fior/page/n37 21]|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd|isbn=978-0-7546-9747-3}} The Idrisis turned to Ibn Saud seeking his protection from Yahya. However, in 1932, the Idrisis broke their accord with Ibn Saud and went back to Yahya seeking help against Ibn Saud, who had begun liquidating their authority and expressed his desire to annex those territories into his own Saudi domain.{{cite book|author=Madawi al-Rasheed|year=2002|title=A History of Saudi Arabia|page=101|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=0-521-64412-7|author-link=Madawi al-Rasheed}}{{cite book|author=Bernard Reich|date=1990|title=Political Leaders of the Contemporary Middle East and North Africa: A Biographical Dictionary|page=509|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-313-26213-5}} Yahya demanded the return of all Idrisi dominion.

Negotiations between Yahya and Ibn Saud proved fruitless. After the 1934 Saudi-Yemeni war, Ibn Saud announced a ceasefire in May 1934.{{cite book |author=Madawi al-Rasheed |title=A History of Saudi Arabia |date=April 2010 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-76128-4 |page=97}} Imam Yahya agreed to release Saudi hostages and the surrender of the Idrisis to Saudi custody. Imam Yahya ceded the three provinces of Najran, Asir, and Jazan for 20 years.{{cite book |author1=Raymond A. Hinnebusch |author2=Anoushiravan Ehteshami |title=The Foreign Policies of Middle East States |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781588260208 |url-access=registration |year=2002 |page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781588260208/page/262 262] |publisher=Lynne Rienner Publishers |isbn=1-58826-020-8}} and signed another treaty with the British government in 1934. The imam recognized the British sovereignty over Aden protectorate for 40 years.{{cite book|author=Glen Balfour-Paul|title=The End of Empire in the Middle East: Britain's Relinquishment of Power in Her Last Three Arab Dependencies|page=60|year=1994 |publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=0-521-46636-9}} Out of fear for Hudaydah, Yahya did submit to these demands.

File:Queen Elizabeth in Aden 1954.jpg holding a sword, prepared to knight subjects in Aden as part of a 1954 visit. Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh is at right.]]

Starting in 1890, hundreds of Yemeni people from Hajz, Al-Baetha, and Taiz migrated to Aden to work at ports, and as labourers. This helped the population of Aden once again become predominantly Arab after, having been declared a free zone, it had become mostly foreigners. During World War II, Aden had increasing economic growth and became the second-busiest port in the world after New York City.Kiren Aziz Chaudhry The Price of Wealth: Economies and Institutions in the Middle East p. 117 After the rise of labour unions, a rift was apparent between the sectors of workers and the first signs of resistance to the occupation started in 1943. Muhammad Ali Luqman founded the first Arabic club and school in Aden, and was the first to start working towards a union.Ulrike Freitag Indian Ocean Migrants and State Formation in Hadhramaut: Reform

The Colony of Aden was divided into an eastern colony and a western colony. Those were further divided into 23 sultanates and emirates, and several independent tribes that had no relationships with the sultanates. The deal between the sultanates and Britain detailed protection and complete control of foreign relations by the British. The Sultanate of Lahej was the only one in which the sultan was referred to as His Highness.Don Peretz The Middle East Today p. 490 The Federation of South Arabia was created by the British to counter Arab nationalism by giving more freedom to the rulers of the nations.The Middle East Today By Don Peretz p. 491

The North Yemen Civil War inspired many in the south to rise against the British rule. The National Liberation Front (NLF) of Yemen was formed with the leadership of Qahtan Muhammad Al-Shaabi. The NLF hoped to destroy all the sultanates and eventually unite with the Yemen Arab Republic. Most of the support for the NLF came from Radfan and Yafa, so the British launched Operation Nutcracker, which completely burned Radfan in January 1964.Human Rights Human Wrongs By M. S. Gill p. 48

{{Main|Yemen Arab Republic|South Yemen}}

File:Egyptian army in sanaa 1962.jpg in North Yemen, 1962]]

Arab nationalism had an influence in some circles who opposed the lack of modernization efforts in the Mutawakkilite monarchy. This became apparent when Imam Ahmad bin Yahya died in 1962. He was succeeded by his son, but army officers attempted to seize power, sparking the North Yemen Civil War.{{cite book |author=F. Gregory Gause |title=Saudi-Yemeni Relations: Domestic Structures and Foreign Influence |year=1990 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-231-07044-7 |page=60 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0yUzV-g2X2QC |access-date=22 February 2013}}Burrowes, Robert, Wenner, Manfred W.. "Yemen". Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 Apr. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/place/Yemen. Accessed 3 April 2025 The Hamidaddin royalists were supported by Saudi Arabia, Britain, and Jordan (mostly with weapons and financial aid, but also with small military forces), whilst the military rebels were backed by Egypt. Egypt provided the rebels with weapons and financial assistance, but also sent a large military force to participate in the fighting. Israel covertly supplied weapons to the royalists to keep the Egyptian military busy in Yemen and make Nasser less likely to initiate a conflict in the Sinai. After six years of civil war, the military rebels formed the Yemen Arab Republic.{{cite book |last=Dresch |first=Paul |title=A History of Modern Yemen |year=2000 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-79482-4 |page=115 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7jxR2q-F3o4C&pg=PA115 |access-date=22 February 2013}}

File:Aden7-1967.jpg's counter-insurgency campaign in the British-controlled territories of South Arabia, 1967]]

The revolution in the north coincided with the Aden Emergency, which hastened the end of British rule in the south.The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Yemeni Civil War". Encyclopedia Britannica, 18 Jan. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/event/Yemeni-Civil-War. Accessed 3 April 2025 On 30 November 1967, the state of South Yemen was formed, comprising Aden and the former Protectorate of South Arabia. This socialist state was later officially known as the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen and a programme of nationalisation was begun.Schmitthoff, Clive Macmillan, Clive M. Schmitthoff's select essays on international trade law p. 390

File:The Freedom Statue.jpg in Democratic Yemen by waving red flags next to the Freedom Statue|left]]

Relations between the two Yemeni states fluctuated between peaceful and hostile. The South was supported by the Eastern bloc. The North, however, was not able to get the same connections. In 1972, the two states fought a war. The war was resolved with a ceasefire and negotiations brokered by the Arab League, where it was declared that unification would eventually occur. In 1978, Ali Abdullah Saleh was named as president of the Yemen Arab Republic.{{cite web |title=Yemen profile (timeline) |date=26 October 2013 |publisher=BBC |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-14704951 |access-date=14 December 2013 |quote=1978 – Ali Abdullah Saleh named as president of YAR. |archive-date=15 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180115164559/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-14704951 |url-status=live }}

After the war, the North complained about the South's help from foreign countries. This included Saudi Arabia.{{cite book|last=Dresch|first=Paul|title=A History of Modern Yemen|year=2000|publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=120–124}}

In 1979, fresh fighting between the two states resumed and efforts were renewed to bring about unification. Thousands were killed in 1986 in the South Yemen Civil War. President Ali Nasser Muhammad fled to the north and was later sentenced to death for treason. A new government formed.

{{Main|Yemeni unification|Yemeni Civil War (1994)}}

File:Divided Yemen.svg (in orange) and South Yemen (in blue) before 1990. Land gained after unification is in grey.]]

In 1990, the two governments reached a full agreement on the joint governing of Yemen, and the countries were merged on 22 May 1990, with Saleh as president. The president of South Yemen, Ali Salim al-Beidh, became vice president. A unified parliament was formed and a unity constitution was agreed upon. In the 1993 parliamentary election, the first held after unification, the General People's Congress won 122 of 301 seats.{{cite book |title=Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume I |editor1-last=Nohlen |editor1-first=Dieter |editor2-last=Grotz |editor2-first=Florian |editor3-last=Hartmann |editor3-first=Christof |year=2001 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-924958-9 |pages=309–310 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BVFBXa69tWMC&pg=PA309 |access-date=7 April 2011 |archive-date=15 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230215135117/https://books.google.com/books?id=BVFBXa69tWMC&pg=PA309 |url-status=live }}{{rp|309}}

After the invasion of Kuwait crisis in 1990, Yemen's president opposed military intervention from non-Arab states.{{cite web |title=Persian Gulf War, Desert Storm – War with Iraqi |url= http://www.laughtergenealogy.com/bin/histprof/misc/desertstorm.html|access-date=22 February 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040122111532/http://www.laughtergenealogy.com/bin/histprof/misc/desertstorm.html |archive-date=22 January 2004 |publisher=Laughtergenealogy.com}} As a member of the United Nations Security Council for 1990 and 1991, Yemen abstained on a number of UNSC resolutions concerning Iraq and Kuwait{{cite web |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/Yemen.pdf |title=Country Profile: Yemen |publisher=Library of Congress – Federal Research Division |date=August 2008 |access-date=7 April 2010 |archive-date=15 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110515010519/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/Yemen.pdf |url-status=live }} and voted against the "...use of force resolution." The vote outraged the U.S.,{{cite web|title=Fighting al-Qaeda: The Role of Yemen's President Saleh |url=http://www.realclearworld.com/printpage/?url=http://www.realclearworld.com/articles/2010/01/08/fighting_al-qaeda_the_role_of_yemens_president_saleh_97472.html |archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20100209233322/http://www.realclearworld.com/printpage/?url=http://www.realclearworld.com/articles/2010/01/08/fighting_al-qaeda_the_role_of_yemens_president_saleh_97472.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=9 February 2010 |work=Realclearworld.com |date=17 December 2009 |access-date=22 February 2013 }} and Saudi Arabia expelled 800,000 Yemenis in 1990 and 1991 to punish Yemen for its opposition to the intervention.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/apr/01/yemen-guantanamo-al-qaida |title=Yemen's point of no return |author=Ginny Hill |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |date=1 April 2009 |access-date=22 February 2013 |archive-date=7 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170907213633/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/apr/01/yemen-guantanamo-al-qaida |url-status=live }}

File:Saleh and Beidh 1989.jpg, with the Secretary-General of the Yemeni Socialist Party, Ali Salem Al-Beidh, signing the unity agreement on 30 November 1989.]]

In the absence of strong state institutions, elite politics in Yemen constituted a de facto form of collaborative governance, where competing tribal, regional, religious, and political interests agreed to hold themselves in check through tacit acceptance of the balance it produced.{{cite web|url=https://www.chathamhouse.org/publications/papers/view/194239|author1=Ginny Hill|author2=Peter Salisbury|author3=Léonie Northedge|author4=Jane Kinninmont|title=Yemen: Corruption, Capital Flight and Global Drivers of Conflict|date=2013|website=Chatham House|access-date=17 October 2014|archive-date=30 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150330050836/http://www.chathamhouse.org/publications/papers/view/194239|url-status=live}} The informal political settlement was held together by a power-sharing deal among three men: President Saleh, who controlled the state; major general Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, who controlled the largest share of the Yemeni Armed Forces; and Abdullah ibn Husayn al-Ahmar, figurehead of the Islamist al-Islah party and Saudi Arabia's chosen broker of transnational patronage payments to various political players,{{cite web|title=The Islah Party |url=http://www.islamopediaonline.org/country-profile/yemen/political-landscape/islah-party|date=13 December 2012|website=Islamopedia Online|access-date=19 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150407021704/http://www.islamopediaonline.org/country-profile/yemen/political-landscape/islah-party|archive-date=7 April 2015|url-status=dead}} including tribal sheikhs.{{cite book |author=Peter W. Wilson|title=Saudi Arabia:The Coming Storm|date=1994|page=129|publisher=M.E. Sharpe|isbn=978-0-7656-3347-7}}{{cite web |url=https://www.chathamhouse.org/publications/papers/view/194239 |author1=Ginny Hill |author2=Peter Salisbury |author3=Léonie Northedge |author4=Jane Kinninmont |title=Yemen: Corruption, Capital Flight and Global Drivers of Conflict |date=2013 |website=Chatham House |access-date=17 October 2014 |archive-date=30 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150330050836/http://www.chathamhouse.org/publications/papers/view/194239 |url-status=live }}{{cite book |author=John R. Bradley |title=After the Arab Spring: How Islamists Hijacked The Middle East Revolts |date=2012 |page=113 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=978-0-230-39366-0}}{{cite magazine |url=http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/67892/bernard-haykel/saudi-arabias-yemen-dilemma |author=Bernard Haykel |author-link=Bernard Haykel |title=Saudi Arabia's Yemen Dilemma:How to Manage an Unruly Client State |date=14 June 2011 |website=Foreign Affairs |access-date=24 October 2014 |archive-date=28 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728020636/http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/67892/bernard-haykel/saudi-arabias-yemen-dilemma |url-status=live }} The Saudi payments have been intended to facilitate the tribes' autonomy from the Yemeni government and to give the Saudi government a mechanism with which to weigh in on Yemen's political decision-making.{{cite book |author=Sarah Phillips |date=2008 |title=Yemen's Democracy Experiment in Regional Perspective |url=https://archive.org/details/yemensdemocracye00phil |url-access=limited |page=[https://archive.org/details/yemensdemocracye00phil/page/n107 99] |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-0-230-61648-6}}

Following food riots in major towns in 1992, a new coalition government made up of the ruling parties from both the former Yemeni states was formed in 1993. However, Vice President al-Beidh withdrew to Aden in August 1993 and said he would not return to the government until his grievances were addressed. These included northern violence against his Yemeni Socialist Party, as well as the economic marginalization of the south.{{cite web |url=http://www.yca-sandwell.org.uk/history_7.htm |title=Civil war |publisher=Yemeni Community Association in Sandwell |work=Yca-sandwell.org.uk |access-date=23 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130616022328/http://www.yca-sandwell.org.uk/history_7.htm |archive-date=16 June 2013 |url-status=dead}} Negotiations to end the political deadlock dragged on into 1994. The government of Prime Minister Haydar Abu Bakr Al-Attas became ineffective due to political infighting.{{cite book |author=U.S. Department of State |title=Background Notes: Mideast, March 2011 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bLRoWtwJnZQC&pg=PT262 |publisher=InfoStrategist.com |isbn=978-1-59243-126-7 }}

An accord between northern and southern leaders was signed in Amman, Jordan on 20 February 1994, but this could not stop the civil war.{{Citation |title=News |date=1 March 2010 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/8542905.stm |work=Policemen killed in south Yemen in clash with rebels |place=UK |publisher=BBC |access-date=9 May 2022 |archive-date=7 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220207121120/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/8542905.stm |url-status=live }} During these tensions, both the northern and southern armies (which had never integrated) gathered on their respective frontiers.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/mobile/middle_east/country_profiles/1706450.stm |title=Yemen timeline |publisher=BBC |date=28 November 2012 |access-date=23 February 2013}}

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| caption2 = In 2012, The Guardian reported that "Sana'a risks becoming the first capital in the world to run out of a viable water supply as Yemen's streams and natural aquifers run dry".{{cite web |title=Time running out for solution to Yemen's water crisis |url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2012/aug/27/solution-yemen-water-crisis |publisher=The Guardian, IRIN, quoting Jerry Farrell, country director of Save the Children in Yemen, and Ghassan Madieh, a water specialist for UNICEF in Yemen |date=26 August 2012}}

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File:President Ali Abdullah Saleh-cropped.jpg]]

Ali Abdullah Saleh became Yemen's first directly elected president in the 1999 presidential election, winning 96% of the vote.{{rp|310}} The only other candidate, Najeeb Qahtan Al-Sha'abi, was the son of Qahtan Muhammad al-Sha'abi, a former president of South Yemen. Though a member of Saleh's General People's Congress (GPC) party, Najeeb ran as an independent.{{cite web |title=In eleventh-hour reversal, President Saleh announces candidacy |url=http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=27058 |publisher=IRIN |date=25 June 2006 |access-date=14 December 2010 |archive-date=5 January 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080105080112/http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=27058 |url-status=live }}

In October 2000, 17 U.S. personnel died after an al-Qaeda suicide attack on the U.S. naval vessel USS Cole in Aden. After the September 11 attacks on the United States, President Saleh assured U.S. President George W. Bush that Yemen was a partner in his War on Terror. In 2001, violence surrounded a referendum, which apparently supported extending Saleh's rule and powers.

The Houthi insurgency in Yemen began in June 2004 when dissident cleric Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi, head of the Zaidi Shia sect, launched an uprising against the Yemeni government. The Yemeni government alleged that the Houthis were seeking to overthrow it and to implement Shī'ite religious law. The rebels countered that they were "defending their community against discrimination" and government aggression.{{cite news |title=Deadly blast strikes Yemen mosque |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7379929.stm |work=BBC News |date=2 May 2008 |access-date=23 May 2008 |archive-date=1 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201160808/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7379929.stm |url-status=live }} In 2005, at least 36 people were killed in clashes across the country between police and protesters over rising fuel prices. In the 2006 presidential election, Saleh won with 77% of the vote. His main rival, Faisal bin Shamlan, received 22%.{{cite web |url=http://www.presidentsaleh.gov.ye/shownews.php?lng=en&_newsctgry=2 |title=President Ali Abdullah Saleh Web Site |work=Presidentsaleh.gov.ye |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101219213256/http://presidentsaleh.gov.ye/shownews.php?lng=en&_newsctgry=2 |archive-date=19 December 2010 |access-date=18 November 2010 |url-status=dead}}{{cite news |title=Saleh re-elected president of Yemen |url=http://english.aljazeera.net/archive/2006/09/200841013335763406.html |work=Al Jazeera |author= |date=23 September 2006 |access-date=14 December 2010 |archive-date=20 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110220084749/http://english.aljazeera.net/archive/2006/09/200841013335763406.html |url-status=live }} Saleh was sworn in for another term on 27 September.{{cite news |title=Yemeni president takes constitutional oath for his new term |url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-09/27/content_5146302.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107102318/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-09/27/content_5146302.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=7 November 2012 |publisher=Xinhua |work=News.xinhaunet.com |date=27 September 2006 |access-date=14 December 2010}}

A suicide bomber killed eight Spanish tourists and two Yemenis in the Marib Governorate in July 2007. A series of bomb attacks occurred on police, official, diplomatic, foreign business, and tourism targets in 2008. Car bombings outside the U.S. embassy in Sana'a killed 18 people, including six of the assailants in September 2008. In 2008, an opposition rally in Sana'a demanding electoral reform was met with police gunfire.{{Cite news |date=17 September 2008 |title=Car bombs at U.S. embassy in Yemen kill 16 |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/news-yemen-usa-blast-col-idCAREE77062120080917 |access-date=9 May 2022 |archive-date=9 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220509111722/https://www.reuters.com/article/news-yemen-usa-blast-col-idCAREE77062120080917 |url-status=live }}

{{Main|Houthi takeover in Yemen|Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen|Yemeni civil war (2014–present)|Famine in Yemen|}}

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The 2011 Yemeni revolution followed other Arab Spring mass protests in early 2011. The uprising was initially against unemployment, economic conditions, and corruption, as well as against the government's proposals to modify the constitution of Yemen so that Saleh's son could inherit the presidency.

In March 2011, police snipers opened fire on a pro-democracy camp in Sana'a, killing more than 50 people. In May, dozens were killed in clashes between troops and tribal fighters in Sana'a. By this point, Saleh began to lose international support. In October 2011, Yemeni human rights activist Tawakul Karman won the Nobel Peace Prize, and the UN Security Council condemned the violence and called for a transfer of power. On 23 November 2011, Saleh flew to Riyadh, in neighbouring Saudi Arabia, to sign the Gulf Co-operation Council plan for political transition, which he had previously spurned. Upon signing the document, he agreed to legally transfer the office and powers of the presidency to his deputy, Vice President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi.{{cite news |title=Yemen's Ali Abdullah Saleh resigns – but it changes little {{!}} Brian Whitaker |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/nov/24/yemen-ali-abdullah-saleh-resigns |work=the Guardian |date=24 November 2011 |language=en}}

Hadi took office for a two-year term upon winning the uncontested presidential elections in February 2012.{{cite journal |last=Lewis |first=Alexandra |title=Changing Seasons: The Arab Spring's Position Within the Political Evolution of the Yemeni State |journal=Post-war Reconstruction and Development Unit Working Paper Series |date=May 2012 |series=3 |url=http://www.york.ac.uk/media/politics/prdu/documents/publications/PRDU%20Working%20Paper%203%20May%5B1%5D.pdf}}{{dead link|date=December 2013}} A unity government—including a prime minister from the opposition—was formed. Al-Hadi would oversee the drafting of a new constitution, followed by parliamentary and presidential elections in 2014. Saleh returned in February 2012. In the face of objections from thousands of street protesters, parliament granted him full immunity from prosecution. Saleh's son, General Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh, continues to exercise a strong hold on sections of the military and security forces.

AQAP claimed responsibility for a February 2012 suicide attack on the presidential palace that killed 26 Republican Guards on the day that President Hadi was sworn in. AQAP was also behind a suicide bombing that killed 96 soldiers in Sana'a three months later. In September 2012, a car bomb attack in Sana'a killed 11 people, a day after a local al-Qaeda leader Said al-Shihri was reported killed in the south.

By 2012, there was a "small contingent of U.S. special-operations troops"—in addition to CIA and "unofficially acknowledged" U.S. military presence—in response to increasing terror attacks by AQAP on Yemeni citizens.{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2123810,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120906231921/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2123810,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=6 September 2012 |title=The End of Al-Qaeda? |first=Bobby |last=Ghosh |magazine=Time |location=New York |date=17 September 2012 |access-date=24 September 2012}} Many analysts have pointed out the former Yemeni government role in cultivating terrorist activity in the country.{{cite news |title=Whose Side Is Yemen On? |date=29 August 2012 |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/08/29/whose_side_is_yemen_on?page=0,1 |work=Foreign Policy |location=Washington, D.C. |access-date=22 February 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130530044140/http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/08/29/whose_side_is_yemen_on?page=0,1 |archive-date=30 May 2013}} Following the election of President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, the Yemeni military was able to push Ansar al-Sharia back and recapture the Shabwah Governorate.

File:Yemeni Civil War.svg:

{{legend|#f98787|Controlled by the Government of Yemen (under the Presidential Leadership Council since April 2022) and allies}}

{{legend|#cae7c4|Controlled by Houthis-led Supreme Political Council}}

{{legend|#e3d975|Controlled by the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council}}

{{legend|#ffffff|Controlled by Al-Qaeda (AQAP) and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant-affiliated Ansar al-Sharia}}

{{legend|#f7c875|Controlled by Hadrami Elite Forces.}}

{{legend|#757de3|Controlled by Tareq Saleh's National Resistance Forces}}]]

The central government in Sana'a remained weak, staving off challenges from southern separatists and Houthis as well as AQAP. The Houthi insurgency intensified after Hadi took power, escalating in September 2014 as anti-government forces led by Abdul-Malik al-Houthi swept into the capital and forced Hadi to agree to a "unity" government.{{cite news|url=https://www.voanews.com/a/fighting-continues-in-yemen-before-un-peace-deal/2457211.html|agency=Voice of America|title=Yemeni Parties, Houthi Rebels Form Unity Government|date=21 September 2014|access-date=22 January 2015|archive-date=9 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150109021322/http://www.voanews.com/content/fighting-continues-in-yemen-before-un-peace-deal/2457211.html|url-status=live}} The Houthis then refused to participate in the government,{{cite news|agency=The Huffington Post|title=Yemen Swears In New Government Amid Crisis |date=9 November 2014 |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/09/yemen-government-crisis_n_6128974.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150123053739/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/09/yemen-government-crisis_n_6128974.html|archive-date=23 January 2015 |access-date=22 January 2015|url-status=dead}} although they continued to apply pressure on Hadi and his ministers, even shelling the president's private residence and placing him under house arrest,{{cite news |url=http://www.newsday.com/news/nation/yemen-president-abed-rabbo-mansour-hadi-s-home-shelled-by-shiite-rebels-palace-taken-over-1.9826611|agency=Newsday|title=Shiite rebels shell Yemen president's home, take over palace|date=20 January 2015|access-date=22 January 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150123052802/http://www.newsday.com/news/nation/yemen-president-abed-rabbo-mansour-hadi-s-home-shelled-by-shiite-rebels-palace-taken-over-1.9826611|archive-date=23 January 2015}} until the government's mass resignation in January 2015.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2015/01/20/whats-happening-in-yemens-potential-coup/|agency=The Washington Post|title=Here is what's happening in Yemen|date=22 January 2015|access-date=22 January 2015|archive-date=22 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150122151313/http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2015/01/20/whats-happening-in-yemens-potential-coup/|url-status=live}} The following month, the Houthis dissolved parliament and declared that a Revolutionary Committee under Mohammed Ali al-Houthi was the interim authority in Yemen. Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, a cousin of the acting president, called the takeover a "glorious revolution". However, the "constitutional declaration" of 6 February 2015 was widely rejected by opposition politicians and foreign governments, including the United Nations.

Hadi managed to flee from Sana'a to Aden, his hometown and stronghold in the south, on 21 February 2015. He promptly gave a televised speech rescinding his resignation, condemning the coup, and calling for recognition as the constitutional president of Yemen.{{cite news |url=https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2015/02/22/hadi-once-quiet-leader-of-yemen-strikes-newly-defiant-pose |title=Hadi, a once-quiet leader of a fractious Yemen, strikes defiant pose by reclaiming presidency |work=U.S. News & World Report |first=Brian |last=Rohan |date=22 February 2015 |access-date=22 February 2015 |archive-date=22 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150222225056/http://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2015/02/22/hadi-once-quiet-leader-of-yemen-strikes-newly-defiant-pose |url-status=live }} The following month, Hadi declared Aden Yemen's "temporary" capital.{{cite news|url=http://www.dw.de/yemens-president-hadi-declares-new-temporary-capital/a-18332197|agency=Deutsche Welle|title=Yemen's President Hadi declares new 'temporary capital'|date=21 March 2015|access-date=21 March 2015|archive-date=5 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150605210805/http://www.dw.de/yemens-president-hadi-declares-new-temporary-capital/a-18332197|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/03/07/President-Hadi-says-Aden-is-Yemen-s-capital-.html|agency=Al Arabiya|title=President Hadi says Aden is Yemen's 'capital'|date=7 March 2015|access-date=11 March 2015|archive-date=9 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150309113248/http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/03/07/President-Hadi-says-Aden-is-Yemen-s-capital-.html|url-status=live}} The Houthis, however, rebuffed an initiative by the Gulf Cooperation Council and continued to move south toward Aden. All U.S. personnel were evacuated, and President Hadi was forced to flee the country to Saudi Arabia. On 26 March 2015, Saudi Arabia announced Operation Decisive Storm and began airstrikes and announced its intentions to lead a military coalition against the Houthis, who they claimed were being aided by Iran and began a force buildup along the Yemeni border. The coalition included the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan, Morocco, Sudan, Egypt, and Pakistan. The United States announced that it was assisting with intelligence, targeting, and logistics. After Hadi troops took control of Aden from Houthis, jihadist groups became active in the city, and some terrorist incidents were linked to them such as Missionaries of Charity attack in Aden on 4 March 2016. In February 2018, Aden was seized by the UAE-backed separatist Southern Transitional Council.{{cite magazine|url=http://time.com/5124508/yemen-separatists-storm-government/|title=Yemen's Prime Minister Is Preparing to Flee as Separatists Reach Gates of the Presidential Palace|date=30 January 2018|magazine=Time|access-date=25 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180202160535/http://time.com/5124508/yemen-separatists-storm-government/|archive-date=2 February 2018|url-status=dead}}

Yemen has been suffering from a famine since 2016 as a result of the civil war. More than 50,000 children in Yemen died from starvation in 2017.{{cite web|author=Patrick Wintour|date=16 November 2017|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/16/lift-yemen-blockade-to-save-children-un-agencies-tell-saudis|title=Saudis must lift Yemen blockade or "untold" thousands will die, UN agencies warn|work=The Guardian|access-date=10 June 2018|archive-date=23 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171223122733/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/16/lift-yemen-blockade-to-save-children-un-agencies-tell-saudis|url-status=live}}{{cite news|agency=Associated Press|work=Chicago Tribune|date=16 November 2017|url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-save-the-children-yemen-20171116-story.html|title=50,000 children in Yemen have died of starvation and disease so far this year, monitoring group says|access-date=10 June 2018|archive-date=1 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181101121003/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-save-the-children-yemen-20171116-story.html|url-status=live}} Numerous commentators have condemned the Saudi-led coalition's military campaign, including its blockade of Yemen, as genocide.{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/yemen-air-strike-bomb-kills-140-saudi-arabia-usa-white-house-a7352386.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/yemen-air-strike-bomb-kills-140-saudi-arabia-usa-white-house-a7352386.html |archive-date=7 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |newspaper=The Independent |title=Saudi-led coalition in Yemen accused of "genocide" after airstrike on funeral hall kills 140 |date=9 October 2016|first=Benjamin |last=Kentish |access-date=6 August 2020}}{{cbignore}}{{cite web |title=US complicity in the Saudi-led genocide in Yemen spans Obama, Trump administrations |url=https://theconversation.com/us-complicity-in-the-saudi-led-genocide-in-yemen-spans-obama-trump-administrations-106896 |last=Bachman |first=Jeff |date=26 November 2018 |website=The Conversation |access-date=13 January 2020 |quote=As a scholar of genocide and human rights, I believe the destruction brought about by these attacks combined with the blockade amounts to genocide. |archive-date=13 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200113152455/https://theconversation.com/us-complicity-in-the-saudi-led-genocide-in-yemen-spans-obama-trump-administrations-106896 |url-status=live }}{{Cite report|type=Essay|last=Taves|first=Harold|date=23 February 2019 |title=Genocide in Yemen-Is the West Complicit?|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331306103 |quote=Is there a genocide in Yemen? Based on the definition of genocide: The deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular ethnic group or nation. The answer is an unequivocal YES.}} The famine is being compounded by an outbreak of cholera that has affected more than one million people.{{cite web|url=https://news.un.org/en/story/2017/12/640331-suspected-cholera-cases-yemen-surpass-one-million-reports-un-health-agency|title=Suspected cholera cases in Yemen surpass one million, reports UN health agency|publisher=UN|date=22 December 2017|access-date=10 June 2018|archive-date=4 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180404201120/https://news.un.org/en/story/2017/12/640331-suspected-cholera-cases-yemen-surpass-one-million-reports-un-health-agency|url-status=live}} The Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen and blockade of Yemen have contributed to the famine and cholera epidemic.{{cite news|last=Kristof|first=Nicholas|date=31 August 2017|title=The Photos the U.S. and Saudi Arabia Don't Want You to See|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/08/31/opinion/columnists/yemen-famine-cholera.html|access-date=10 June 2018|archive-date=17 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190517015710/https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/08/31/opinion/columnists/yemen-famine-cholera.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news|work=Reuters|date=11 October 2017|url=https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/yemen-saudi-blockade/|title=Saudi de facto blockade starves Yemen of food and medicine|access-date=10 June 2018|archive-date=11 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011101505/http://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/yemen-saudi-blockade/|url-status=live}} The UN estimated that by the end of 2021, the war in Yemen would have caused over 377,000 deaths, and roughly 70% of deaths were children under age 5.{{cite news |title=Yemen war will have killed 377,000 by year's end: UN |url=https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20211123-yemen-war-will-have-killed-377-000-by-year-s-end-un |work=France 24 |date=23 November 2021 |access-date=30 May 2022 |archive-date=9 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211209140921/https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20211123-yemen-war-will-have-killed-377-000-by-year-s-end-un |url-status=live }}{{cite news |title=Yemen war deaths will reach 377,000 by end of the year: UN |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/11/23/un-yemen-recovery-possible-in-one-generation-if-war-stops-now |work=Al Jazeera |date=23 November 2021 |access-date=30 May 2022 |archive-date=1 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220201125144/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/11/23/un-yemen-recovery-possible-in-one-generation-if-war-stops-now |url-status=live }}

On 4 December 2017, deposed strongman and former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, accused of treason, was assassinated by Houthis whilst attempting to flee clashes near rebel-held Sana'a between Houthi and pro-Saleh forces.{{cite news |title=Ali Abdullah Saleh, Yemen's former leader, killed in Sanaa |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-42225574 |work=BBC News |date=4 December 2017 |access-date=6 October 2022 |archive-date=8 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190408044810/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-42225574 |url-status=live }} After losing the support of the Saudi-led coalition, Yemen's President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi resigned, and the Presidential Leadership Council took power in April 2022.{{cite news |title=Yemen's President Hadi has effectively been sacked by Saudi Arabia |url=https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20220420-yemens-president-hadi-has-effectively-been-sacked-by-saudi-arabia/ |work=Middle East Monitor |date=20 April 2022 |access-date=6 October 2022 |archive-date=9 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221009072559/https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20220420-yemens-president-hadi-has-effectively-been-sacked-by-saudi-arabia/ |url-status=live }}

Following the outbreak of the Gaza war, the Houthis began to fire missiles at Israel and attack ships off Yemen's coast in the Red Sea, which they say is in solidarity with the Palestinians and aiming to facilitate entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.{{Cite news |date=20 October 2023 |title=US warship intercepts missiles fired from Yemen 'potentially towards Israel' |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-67166863 |access-date=13 January 2024 |archive-date=31 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231031090010/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-67166863 |url-status=live }}{{cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2023/12/12/who-are-the-houthis-the-group-attacking-ships-in-the-red-sea|title=Who are the Houthis, the group attacking ships in the Red Sea?|date=12 December 2023|newspaper=The Economist|quote=Since the bombardment of Gaza began, the Houthis, a Yemeni rebel group, have launched a series of attacks on cargo ships. The insurgents, who are backed by Iran, say they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians. They have threatened to attack any ship bound for or leaving Israel without delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza.|access-date=13 January 2024|archive-date=12 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240112235054/https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2023/12/12/who-are-the-houthis-the-group-attacking-ships-in-the-red-sea|url-status=live}}

In June 2024, the UAE-backed STC were putting pressure to lease the Aden International Port to Abu Dhabi Ports. The move was opposed by the Parliament and the public. A joint statement by 24 members of Shura Council expressed categorical rejection of the lease agreement. Economists said the Emirates was attempting to control the Aden Port and limit its activities, in order to keep its own ports active. Governor of Aden, Tariq Salam also said the lease attempt aims to devalue the Aden Port and take its international maritime status.{{Cite web|url=https://www.yemenmonitor.com/en/Details/ArtMID/908/ArticleID/115123 |title = UAE's Return to Aden Port Sparks Anger among Yemeni Officials| date=21 June 2024 }}{{Cite web|url=https://emiratesleaks.com/uaes-bid-to-acquire-aden-port-faces-backlash-from-public-and-parliament/?lang=en |title = UAE's Bid to Acquire Aden Port Faces Backlash from Public and Parliament| date=24 June 2024 }}{{Cite web|url=https://www.saba.ye/en/news3342178.htm |title = Aden Governor warns of UAE occupation's efforts to destroy Aden port |date = 22 June 2024 }} Aden International Port had ended its agreement to manage two container terminals with Dubai Ports World in 2012, due to economic decline and failure to fulfill commitments.{{Cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/legal/government/yemens-aden-port-to-cancel-dp-world-deal-official-idUSL5E8JQ2ZX/ |title = Yemen's Aden port to cancel DP World deal -official| website=Reuters | date=26 August 2012 }}

{{Main|Geography of Yemen}}File:Haraz Mountains, Yemen (12633745063).jpg in the Haraz-Sarat Mountains]]

Yemen covers {{convert|455,000|km2|sqmi|0|abbr=on}} and is located at the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula.{{cite book |author=Robert D. Burrowes |title=Historical Dictionary of Yemen |pages=5–340 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2010 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tjXRfqBv_0UC |isbn=978-0-8108-5528-1}} 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 Oman to the east.

Several Red Sea islands, including the Hanish Islands, Kamaran, and Perim, as well as Socotra in the Arabian Sea, belong to Yemen; the largest of these is Socotra. Many of the islands are volcanic; Jabal al-Tair Island had volcanic eruptions in 1883 and 2007. Although mainland Yemen is in the southern Arabian Peninsula and thus part of Asia, and its Hanish Islands and Perim in the Red Sea are associated with Asia, the archipelago of Socotra, which lies east of the horn of Somalia and is much closer to Africa than to Asia, is geographically and biogeographically associated with Africa.{{cite web|url=https://www.worldwildlife.org/ecoregions/at1318|work=WorldWildlife.org|publisher=World Wildlife Fund|title=Islands east of the Horn of Africa and south of Yemen|access-date=4 February 2019|archive-date=5 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190205044118/https://www.worldwildlife.org/ecoregions/at1318|url-status=live}}

File:Koppen-Geiger Map YEM present.svg map{{cite journal |author1=Peel, M. C. |author2=Finlayson, B. L. |author3=McMahon, T. A. |year=2007 |title=Updated world map of the Köppen–Geiger climate classification |journal=Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. |volume=11 |issue=5 |pages=1633–1644 |doi=10.5194/hess-11-1633-2007 |bibcode=2007HESS...11.1633P |issn=1027-5606 |doi-access=free |url=http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/11/1633/2007/hess-11-1633-2007.html |access-date=22 May 2020 |archive-date=10 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170210144308/http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/11/1633/2007/hess-11-1633-2007.html |url-status=live }} (direct: [http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/11/1633/2007/hess-11-1633-2007.pdf Final Revised Paper] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120203170339/http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/11/1633/2007/hess-11-1633-2007.pdf |date=3 February 2012 }}) is based on temperature, precipitation and their seasonality.

]]

Yemen can be divided geographically into four main regions: the coastal plains in the west, the western highlands, the eastern highlands, and the Rub' al Khali in the east. The Tihamah ("hot lands" or "hot earth") form a very arid and flat coastal plain along Yemen's entire Red Sea coastline. Despite the aridity, the presence of many lagoons makes this region very marshy and a suitable breeding ground for malaria-borne mosquitos. Extensive crescent-shaped sand dunes are present. The evaporation in the Tihamah is so great that streams from the highlands never reach the sea, but they do contribute to extensive groundwater reserves. Today, these are heavily exploited for agricultural use.

File:Water_Stress,_Top_Countries_(2020).svg

Near the village of Madar about {{convert|50|km|mi|-1|abbr=on}} north of Sana'a, dinosaur footprints were found, indicating that the area was once a muddy flat. The Tihamah ends abruptly at the escarpment of the western highlands. This area, now heavily terraced to meet the demand for food, receives the highest rainfall in Arabia, rapidly increasing from {{convert|100|mm|in|1|abbr=on}} per year to about {{convert|760|mm|in|1|abbr=on}} in Taiz and over {{convert|1000|mm|in|1|abbr=on}} in Ibb. Temperatures are warm in the day but fall dramatically at night.

The central highlands are an extensive high plateau over {{convert|2000|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} in elevation. This area is drier than the western highlands because of rain-shadow influences, but still receives sufficient rain in wet years for extensive cropping. Water storage allows for irrigation and the growing of wheat and barley. Sana'a is in this region. The highest point in Yemen and Arabia is Jabal An-Nabi Shu'ayb, at about {{convert|3666|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}.{{sfnp|McLaughlin|2008|p=3}} Yemen's portion of the Rub al Khali desert in the east is much lower, generally below {{convert|1000|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}, and receives almost no rain. It is populated only by Bedouin herders of camels.

{{Excerpt|Geography of Yemen|Climate change}}{{clear}}

{{multiple image

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| image1 = Dragon's Blood Trees, Socotra Island (12455632274) (cropped).jpg

| caption1 = Dragon Blood Trees at the edge of a gorge in Socotra Island

| image2 = South Arabian - A Lion and a Leopard Attacking Animals - Walters 2171.jpg

| caption2 = A South Arabian relief from the fifth century BC, in Walters Art Museum. On the left side of this relief, a lion attacks a gazelle, while a rabbit tries to jump away from the gazelle's forelegs. On the right, a leopard jumps down from rocks onto the back of an ibex; a small rodent flees the hoofs of the ibex. Birds in the branches of acacia trees observe the two scenes.

}}

{{Main|Wildlife of Yemen}}Yemen contains six terrestrial ecoregions: Arabian Peninsula coastal fog desert, Socotra Island xeric shrublands, Southwestern Arabian foothills savanna, Southwestern Arabian montane woodlands, Arabian Desert, and Red Sea Nubo-Sindian tropical desert and semi-desert.{{cite journal|last1=Dinerstein|first1=Eric|last2=Olson|first2=David|last3=Joshi|first3=Anup|last4=Vynne|first4=Carly|last5=Burgess|first5=Neil D.|last6=Wikramanayake|first6=Eric|last7=Hahn|first7=Nathan|last8=Palminteri|first8=Suzanne|last9=Hedao|first9=Prashant|last10=Noss|first10=Reed|last11=Hansen|first11=Matt|last12=Locke|first12=Harvey|last13=Ellis|first13=Erle C|last14=Jones|first14=Benjamin|last15=Barber|first15=Charles Victor|last16=Hayes|first16=Randy|last17=Kormos|first17=Cyril|last18=Martin|first18=Vance|last19=Crist|first19=Eileen|last20=Sechrest|first20=Wes|last21=Price|first21=Lori|last22=Baillie|first22=Jonathan E. M.|last23=Weeden|first23=Don|last24=Suckling|first24=Kierán|last25=Davis|first25=Crystal|last26=Sizer|first26=Nigel|last27=Moore|first27=Rebecca|last28=Thau|first28=David|last29=Birch|first29=Tanya|last30=Potapov|first30=Peter|last31=Turubanova|first31=Svetlana|last32=Tyukavina|first32=Alexandra|last33=de Souza|first33=Nadia|last34=Pintea|first34=Lilian|last35=Brito|first35=José C.|last36=Llewellyn|first36=Othman A.|last37=Miller|first37=Anthony G.|last38=Patzelt|first38=Annette|last39=Ghazanfar|first39=Shahina A.|last40=Timberlake|first40=Jonathan|last41=Klöser|first41=Heinz|last42=Shennan-Farpón|first42=Yara|last43=Kindt|first43=Roeland|last44=Lillesø|first44=Jens-Peter Barnekow|last45=van Breugel|first45=Paulo|last46=Graudal|first46=Lars|last47=Voge|first47=Maianna|last48=Al-Shammari|first48=Khalaf F.|last49=Saleem|first49=Muhammad|display-authors=1|title=An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm|journal=BioScience|volume=67|issue=6|year=2017|pages=534–545|issn=0006-3568|doi=10.1093/biosci/bix014|pmid=28608869|pmc=5451287|doi-access=free}} The flora is a mixture of the tropical African, Sudanian plant geographical region and the Saharo-Arabian region. The Sudanian element—characterized by relatively high rainfall—dominates the western mountains and parts of the highland plains. The Saharo-Arabian element dominates in the coastal plains, eastern mountain, and the eastern and northern desert plains.

A high percentage of Yemen plants belong to tropical African plants of Sudanian regions. Among the Sudanian element species, the following may be mentioned: Ficus spp., Acacia mellifera, Grewia villosa, Commiphora spp., Rosa abyssinica, Cadaba farinosa and others.Abdul Wali A. al-Khulaidi, Flora of Yemen, Sustainable Environmental Management Program (YEM/97/100), Republic of Yemen, June 2000, p. 7 Among the Saharo-Arabian species, these may be mentioned: Panicum turgidum, Aerva javanica, Zygophyllum simplex, Fagonia indica, Salsola spp., Acacia tortilis, A. hamulos, A. ehrenbergiana, Phoenix dactylifera, Hyphaene thebaica, Capparis decidua, Salvadora persica, Balanites aegyptiaca, and many others. Many of the Saharo-Arabian species are endemic to the extensive sandy coastal plain (the Tihamah).{{cite journal |last=Hepper |first=F.N. |title=Were There Forests in the Yemen? |journal=Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies |volume=9 |issue=1979 |pages=65–71 |jstor=41223217 |date=July 1978 }}

Among the fauna, the Arabian leopard, which would inhabit the mountains, is considered rare here.{{cite journal |last1=Spalton |first1=J. A. |last2=Al Hikmani |first2=H. M. |year=2006 |title=The Leopard in the Arabian Peninsula – Distribution and Subspecies Status |journal=Cat News |issue=Special Issue 1 |pages=4–8 |url=http://www.yemenileopard.org/files/cms/reports/Cat_News_Special_Issue_1_-_Arabian_leopard.pdf |access-date=18 April 2019 |archive-date=16 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201216011835/http://www.yemenileopard.org/files/cms/reports/Cat_News_Special_Issue_1_-_Arabian_leopard.pdf |url-status=live }}

{{Clear}}

{{Main|Culture of Yemen}}

File:National Museum of Yemen.jpg in Sana'a]]

File:Yemeni House 1.jpg]]

File:Sa'dah 05.jpg, northwestern Yemen]]

{{Main|Media of Yemen}}

Radio broadcasting in Yemen began in the 1940s.{{cite web|url=http://www.al-bab.com/yemen/media/med.htm#Broadcasting |title=The media in Yemen, short introduction to media in Yemen including broadcasting. Last revised on 21 February 2006 |publisher=Al-bab.com |access-date=15 February 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140327001747/http://al-bab.com/yemen/media/med.htm |archive-date=27 March 2014}} After unification in 1990, the government reformed its corporations and founded some additional radio stations that broadcast locally. However, it drew back after 1994, due to destroyed infrastructure resulting from the 1994 civil war.

Television is the most significant media platform. Given the low literacy rate in the country, television is the main source of news. There are six free-to-air channels currently headquartered in Yemen, of which four are state-owned.{{cite web |title=Arab Media Outlook 2011–2015 |url=http://www.arabmediaforum.ae/userfiles/EnglishAMO.pdf |page=217 |year=2012 |access-date=13 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029193429/http://www.arabmediaforum.ae/userfiles/EnglishAMO.pdf |archive-date=29 October 2013 |url-status=dead }} The Yemeni film industry is in its early stages; only eight Yemeni films have been released {{As of|2023|lc=y}}.

Yemeni theatre dates to the early 20th century. Both amateur and professional (government-sponsored) theatre troupes perform in the country's major urban centres. Many significant poets and authors, like Ali Ahmed Ba Kathir, Muhammad al-Sharafi, and Wajdi al-Ahdal, have written dramatic works; poems, novels, and short stories by Yemeni authors like Mohammad Abdul-Wali and Abdulaziz Al-Maqaleh have also been adapted for the stage.

There have been Yemeni productions of plays by Arab authors such as Tawfiq al-Hakim and Saadallah Wannous and by Western authors, including Shakespeare, Pirandello, Brecht, and Tennessee Williams. Historically speaking, Aden is the cradle of Yemeni theatre; in recent decades Sana'a has hosted numerous theatre festivals, often in conjunction with World Theatre Day.

Football is the most popular sport. The Yemen Football Association is a member of FIFA and AFC. The Yemeni national football team participates internationally. The country also hosts many football clubs. They compete in the national and international leagues.

Yemen's mountains provide many opportunities for outdoor sports, such as biking, rock climbing, trekking, hiking, and other more challenging sports, including mountain climbing. Mountain climbing and hiking tours to the Sarawat Mountains, including peaks of {{convert|3000|m|ft|abbr=on}} and above, particularly that of An-Nabi Shu'ayb,{{sfnp|McLaughlin|2008|p=3}} are seasonally organized by local and international alpine agencies. The coastal areas and Socotra provide many opportunities for water sports, such as surfing, bodyboarding, sailing, swimming, and scuba diving. Socotra is home to some of the best surfing destinations in the world.

Camel jumping is a traditional sport that is becoming increasingly popular among the Zaraniq tribe on the west coast. Camels are placed side to side and victory goes to the competitor who leaps, from a running start, over the most camels. Tribesmen (women may not compete) tuck their robes around their waists for freedom of movement while running and leaping.{{cite web |url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/The-Sport-of-Camel-Jumping.html |title=The Sport of Camel Jumping |publisher=Smithsonianmag.com |date=September 2010 |access-date=7 February 2015 |archive-date=25 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120625091835/http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/The-Sport-of-Camel-Jumping.html |url-status=dead }}

Yemen's biggest sports event was hosting the 20th Arabian Gulf Cup in Aden and Abyan in 2010. Yemen was defeated in the first three matches of the tournament.{{cite web|url=http://www.yemen-today.com/go/special_reports/8199.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110510042005/http://www.yemen-today.com/go/special_reports/8199.html|archive-date=10 May 2011 |title=Yemenis open up about the Gulf Cup |publisher=Yemen Today |date=7 January 2011 |access-date=8 February 2011}}

{{excerpt|Architecture of Yemen#Overview}}

{{Main|List of World Heritage sites in Yemen}}

File:Bab-ul-Yemen, Sana'a (2286002741).jpg and Bab al-Yemen decorated by patterns made in brick and white gypsum]]

Among its natural and cultural attractions are four World Heritage sites.{{cite web |work=UNESCO World Heritage Centre |title=List of World Heritage in Danger: The 54 properties which the World Heritage Committee has decided to include on the List of World Heritage in danger in accordance with Article 11 (4) of the Convention |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/danger/ |year=2015 |access-date=30 April 2017}}{{cite web |last=Bokova |first=Irina |title=UNESCO Director-General calls on all parties to protect Yemen's cultural heritage |publisher=UNESCO World Heritage Centre |quote=In addition to causing terrible human suffering, these attacks are destroying Yemen's unique cultural heritage, which is the repository of people's identity, history and memory and an exceptional testimony to the achievements of the Islamic Civilization. |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/news/1278/ |date=12 May 2015 |access-date=30 April 2017}} The Old Walled City of Shibam in Wadi Hadhramaut, inscribed by UNESCO in 1982, two years after Yemen joined the World Heritage Committee, is nicknamed "Manhattan of the Desert" because of its skyscrapers. Surrounded by a fortified wall made of mud and straw, the 16th-century city is one of the oldest examples of urban planning based on the principle of vertical construction.{{Cite web|last=UNESCO World Heritage Centre|title=Old Walled City of Shibam|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/192/|access-date=2022-12-04|website=UNESCO World Heritage Centre|language=en}}

The Old City of Sana'a, at an altitude of more than {{convert|7000|ft|m|order=flip}}, has been inhabited for over two and a half millennia and was inscribed in 1986. Sana'a became a major Islamic center in the seventh century, and the 103 mosques, 14 hammams (traditional bathhouses), and more than 6,000 houses that survive all date from before the 11th century.{{Cite web|last=UNESCO World Heritage Centre|title=Old City of Sana'a|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/385/|access-date=2022-12-04|website=UNESCO World Heritage Centre|language=en}}

Close to the Red Sea coast, the historic town of Zabid, inscribed in 1993, was Yemen's capital from the 13th to the 15th century and is an archaeological and historical site. It played an important role for many centuries because of its university, which was a centre of learning for the whole Arab and Islamic world.{{Cite web|last=UNESCO World Heritage Centre|title=Historic Town of Zabid|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/611/|access-date=2022-12-04|website=UNESCO World Heritage Centre|language=en}}

The latest addition to Yemen's list of World Heritage Sites is the Socotra Archipelago. Mentioned by Marco Polo in the 13th century, this remote and isolated archipelago consists of four islands and two rocky islets delineating the southern limit of the Gulf of Aden. The site has a rich biodiversity. Nowhere else in the world do 37% of Socotra's 825 plants, 90% of its reptiles and 95% of its snails occur. It is home to 192 bird species, 253 species of coral, 730 species of coastal fish, and 300 species of crab and lobster,{{Cite web|last=UNESCO World Heritage Centre|title=Socotra Archipelago|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1263/|access-date=2022-12-04|website=UNESCO World Heritage Centre|language=en}} as well as the Dragon's Blood Tree (Dracaena cinnabari).{{Cite web|date=2022-11-12|title=Saving the dragon's blood: how an island refused to let a legendary tree die out|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/12/saving-dragons-blood-island-refused-let-tree-die-out-socotra-yemen|access-date=2022-12-04|website=the Guardian|language=en}} The cultural heritage of Socotra includes the unique Soqotri language.

{{Main|Politics of Yemen}}

{{multiple image

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| caption_align = center

| image1 = Rashad al-Alimi - 2023 (cropped).jpg

| width1 = 152

| caption1 = Rashad al-Alimi
President
since 7 April 2022

| image2 = Ahmad Awad bin Mubarak of Yemen in 2023 - (53018827612) (cropped).jpg

| width2 = 170

| caption2 = Ahmad Awad bin Mubarak
Prime Minister
5 February 2024 – 3 May 2025, succeeded by Salem Saleh bin Braik

}}

Yemen is a republic with a bicameral legislature. Under the 1991 constitution, an elected president, an elected 301-seat Assembly of Representatives, and an appointed 111-member Shura Council share power. The president is the head of state, and the prime minister is the head of government. In Sana'a, a Supreme Political Council (not recognized internationally) forms a government for Houthi-controlled territory of Yemen.

The 1991 constitution provides that the president be elected by popular vote from at least two candidates endorsed by at least 15 members of the Parliament. The prime minister, in turn, is appointed by the president and must be approved by two-thirds of the Parliament. The presidential term of office is seven years, and the parliamentary term of elected office is six years. Suffrage is universal for people aged 18 and older, but only Muslims may hold elected office.{{cite web |url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2005/51614.htm |title=Yemen |work=State.gov |date=8 November 2005 |access-date=17 October 2010 |archive-date=16 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230216152644/https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2005/51614.htm |url-status=live }}

President Ali Abdullah Saleh became the first elected president in reunified Yemen in 1999 (though he had been president of unified Yemen since 1990 and president of North Yemen since 1978). He was re-elected to office in September 2006. Saleh's victory was marked by an election that international observers judged was "partly free", though the election was accompanied by violence, violations of press freedoms, and allegations of fraud.{{cite web |url=http://www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2007/yemen |title=Freedom in the World – Yemen (2007) |publisher=Freedomhouse.org |year=2007 |access-date=17 October 2010 |archive-date=11 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160311113508/https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2007/yemen |url-status=dead }}

Parliamentary elections were held in April 2003, and the General People's Congress maintained an absolute majority. Saleh remained almost uncontested in his seat of power until 2011, when local frustration at his refusal to hold another round of elections, as combined with the consequences of the 2011 Arab Spring, resulted in mass protests. In 2012, he was forced to resign from power, though he remained an important factor in Yemeni politics, allying with the Houthis during their takeover in the mid-2010s.{{cite news|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/05/cloneofcloneofcloneofstrikes-yemen-saada-breach--150510143647004.html|title=Yemen's Saleh declares alliance with Houthis|agency=Al Jazeera|date=10 May 2015|access-date=5 January 2016|archive-date=28 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150528014027/http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/05/cloneofcloneofcloneofstrikes-yemen-saada-breach--150510143647004.html|url-status=live}}

The constitution calls for an independent judiciary. The former northern and southern legal codes have been unified. The legal system includes separate commercial courts and a Supreme Court based in Sana'a. Sharia is the main source of laws, with many court cases being debated according to the religious basis of law and many judges being religious scholars as well as legal authorities. The Prison Authority Organization Act, Republican decree no. 48 (1981), and Prison Act regulations, provide the legal framework for management of the country's prison system.{{cite book|last1=Mangan|first1=Fiona|title=Prisons in Yemen|date=March 2015|publisher=United States Institute of Peace|location=Washington, DC|page=9|url=https://purl.fdlp.gov/GPO/gpo58370|access-date=21 June 2015}}

{{Main|Foreign relations of Yemen}}

Yemen is a member of the United Nations, the Arab League, and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and also participates in the nonaligned movement. Yemen has acceded to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

File:019 Rally (39025071401).jpg, New York City, 2017]]

Since the end of the 1994 civil war, tangible progress has been made on the diplomatic front in restoring normal relations with Yemen's neighbors. In the summer of 2000, Yemen and Saudi Arabia signed an International Border Treaty settling a 50-year-old dispute over the location of the border between the two countries.{{cite web |url=http://www.theestimate.com/public/063000.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010415211150/http://theestimate.com/public/063000.html |archive-date=15 April 2001 |title=The Yemeni-Saudi Border Treaty |work=Theestimate.com |date=June 2000 |access-date=22 February 2013}} Yemen's northern border had been undefined; the Arabian Desert prevented any human habitation there. The Saudi – Yemen barrier was constructed by Saudi Arabia against an influx of illegal immigrants and against the smuggling of drugs and weapons.{{cite web |date=20 January 2008 |title=Saudi authorities erect barriers on Yemeni border |url=http://www.yobserver.com/front-page/10013538.html |access-date=26 February 2022 |website= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080120230115/http://www.yobserver.com/front-page/10013538.html |archive-date=20 January 2008 |url-status=usurped}} The Independent headed an article with "Saudi Arabia, one of the most vocal critics in the Arab world of Israel's "security fence" in the West Bank, is quietly emulating the Israeli example by erecting a barrier along its porous border with Yemen."{{cite news|url=https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/IslamicNewsUpdates/conversations/topics/4148|archive-url=https://archive.today/20131013122024/http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/IslamicNewsUpdates/conversations/topics/4148|url-status=dead|archive-date=13 October 2013| title = Saudi Arabia enrages Yemen with fence| access-date = 23 March 2007| last = Bradley| first = John| work = The Independent| location = London| date = 11 February 2004}}{{unreliable source?|date=December 2013}}

In March 2020, the Trump administration and key U.S. allies, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, cut off tens of millions of dollars for health care programs and other aid to the United Nations' appeal for Yemen. As a result of funding cuts, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs stated that the UN agencies were forced to either close or reduce more than 75 per cent of its programs that year alone, affecting more than 8 million people. Saudi Arabia had been leading a Western-backed military coalition, including the United Arab Emirates as a key member, which intervened in Yemen in 2015, in a bid to restore the government ousted from power by the Houthi movement. The United Nations described the situation in Yemen, where the war killed tens of thousands of people and left millions on the brink of famine, as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.{{cite web|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2020/09/15/middleeast/yemen-funding-crisis-intl/index.html|title=The hardest part is when we lose a child|access-date=15 September 2020|website=CNN|date=15 September 2020|archive-date=5 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231205103106/https://edition.cnn.com/2020/09/15/middleeast/yemen-funding-crisis-intl/index.html|url-status=live}}

In January 2024, President Joe Biden announced that the United States, Britain and allies Australia, Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands had launched a military assault on Houthi militant targets in Yemen.{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2024/01/11/1223238786/us-strikes-houthis-yemen|title=U.S. and U.K. strike Houthi targets in Yemen|access-date=11 January 2024|website=NPR|date=11 January 2024|archive-date=1 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240301074611/https://www.npr.org/2024/01/11/1223238786/us-strikes-houthis-yemen|url-status=live}}

{{No sources|section|date=April 2025}}File:Soldiers - Flickr - Al Jazeera English.jpg in 2011]]

The armed forces of Yemen include the Yemen Army (includes Republican Guard), Navy (includes Marines), Yemeni Air Force (Al Quwwat al Jawwiya al Yamaniya; includes Air Defense Force). A major reorganization of the armed forces continues. The unified air forces and air defenses are now under one command. The navy has concentration in Aden. Total armed forces manning numbers about 401,000 active personnel, including moreover especially conscripts.

The number of military personnel is relatively high; in sum, Yemen has the second largest military force on the Arabian Peninsula after Saudi Arabia. In 2012, total active troops were estimated as follows: army, 390,000; navy, 7,000; and air force, 5,000. In September 2007, the government announced the reinstatement of compulsory military service. Yemen's defense budget, which in 2006 represented approximately 40 percent of the total government budget, is expected to remain high for the near term, as the military draft takes effect and internal security threats continue to escalate. By 2012, Yemen had 401,000 active personnel.

{{Main|Human rights in Yemen}}

Corruption in Yemen is such that it ranked 176 out of 180 countries in the 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index.{{cite journal |last=Lewis |first=Alexandra |title=Violence in Yemen: Thinking About Violence in Fragile States Beyond the Confines of Conflict and Terrorism |journal=Stability: International Journal of Security and Development |date=14 May 2013 |volume=2 |issue=1 |page=13 }} The government and its security forces have been responsible for torture, inhumane treatment, and extrajudicial executions. There are arbitrary arrests of citizens, especially in the south, as well as arbitrary searches of homes. Prolonged pretrial detention is a serious problem, and judicial corruption, inefficiency, and executive interference undermine due process. Freedom of speech, the press, and religion are all restricted.{{cite web |url=http://www.derechos.org/human-rights/mena/yemen/ |title=Human Rights in Yemen |publisher=Derechos – Human Rights |date=January 2001 |access-date=13 December 2013 |archive-date=9 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140809083441/http://www.derechos.org/human-rights/mena/yemen/ |url-status=live }} Journalists critical of the government are often harassed and threatened by the police. Homosexuality is illegal, punishable by death.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/02/24/here-are-the-10-countries-where-homosexuality-may-be-punished-by-death/ |title=Here are the 10 countries where homosexuality may be punished by death |date=24 February 2014 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=3 September 2017 |archive-date=29 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140629212705/http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/02/24/here-are-the-10-countries-where-homosexuality-may-be-punished-by-death/ |url-status=live }}

Yemen is ranked last of 135 countries in the 2012 Global Gender Gap Report.{{cite web |url=http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GenderGap_Report_2012.pdf |title=The Global Gender Gap Report 2012 |publisher=World Economic Forum |year=2012 |access-date=13 December 2013 |archive-date=8 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130908170755/http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GenderGap_Report_2012.pdf |url-status=live }} Human Rights Watch reported on discrimination and violence against women as well as on the abolition of the minimum marriage age of 15 for women. The onset of puberty (interpreted by some to be as low as the age of nine) was set as a requirement for marriage instead.{{cite web |url=https://www.hrw.org/wr2k1/mideast/yemen.html |title=World Report 2001 on Yemen |publisher=Human Rights Watch |year=2001 |access-date=13 December 2013 |archive-date=15 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100615214816/http://www.hrw.org/wr2k1/mideast/yemen.html |url-status=live }} Publicity about the case of ten-year-old Yemeni divorcee Nujood Ali brought the child marriage issue to the forefront worldwide.{{cite news |last=Daragahi |first=Borzou |title=Yemeni bride, 10, says I won't |work=Los Angeles Times |date=11 June 2008 |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-jun-11-fg-childbride11-story.html |access-date=16 February 2010 |archive-date=18 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100218062844/http://articles.latimes.com/2008/jun/11/world/fg-childbride11 |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last=Walt |first=Vivienne |title=A 10-Year-Old Divorcée Takes Paris |work=Time/CNN |date=3 February 2009 |url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1876652,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090205112432/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1876652,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=5 February 2009 |access-date=16 February 2010}}{{cite news|last=Madabish |first=Arafat |title=Sanaa's first woman lawyer |work=Asharq Alawsat English edition |date=28 March 2009 |url=http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?id=16210 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130407181022/http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?id=16210 |url-status=dead |archive-date=7 April 2013 |access-date=16 February 2010 }}

In 2017, the UN Human Rights Council voted to create a team of experts to investigate suspected breaches of humanitarian law and human rights in Yemen.{{cite web|last=Refugees|first=United Nations High Commissioner for|title=Refworld {{!}} UN: Breakthrough resolution establishes expert group to investigate violations in Yemen|url=https://www.refworld.org/docid/59d1f0de4.html|access-date=1 December 2021|website=Refworld|language=en|archive-date=14 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230914124153/https://www.refworld.org/docid/59d1f0de4.html|url-status=live}} In December 2021, The Guardian revealed, Saudi Arabia used "incentives and threats" as part of a pressure campaign to end a UN inquiry into human rights infringements in Yemen.{{cite web|date=1 December 2021|title=Saudis used "incentives and threats" to shut down UN investigation in Yemen|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/01/saudi-arabia-yemen-un-human-rights-investigation-incentives-and-therats|access-date=1 December 2021|website=the Guardian|language=en}} In June 2020, a human rights group revealed the scale of torture and deaths in Yemen's unofficial detention centres. UAE and Saudi forces were responsible for some of the most shocking treatment of prisoners, including being hung upside down for hours and sexual torture such as the burning of genitals.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/30/scale-of-torture-and-deaths-in-yemens-unofficial-prisons-revealed|title=Scale of torture and deaths in Yemen's unofficial prisons revealed|access-date=30 June 2020|website=The Guardian|date=30 June 2020}}

According to 2020 United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) estimates, 6.1 million girls and women were in need of gender-based violence services. The UNFPA also reported a rise in gender-based violence cases amid COVID-19 pandemic, increase in rate of child marriages, most acutely among internally displaced persons (IDPs). One in five girls aged 10 to 19 were married in IDP camps, compared to 1 in 8 in host communities.{{Cite journal |title=2020 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Yemen |url=https://www.state.gov/reports/2020-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/yemen/ |journal=Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor |access-date=9 May 2022 |archive-date=5 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220405042942/https://www.state.gov/reports/2020-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/yemen/ |url-status=live }}

The United States Department of State 2013 Trafficking in Persons report classified Yemen as a Tier 3 country,{{cite web |title=Trafficking in Persons Report: Country Narratives T – Z and Special Case |url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/documents/organization/210742.pdf |publisher=U.S. Department of State |year=2013 |access-date=19 August 2013 |archive-date=26 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190526201501/https://2009-2017.state.gov/documents/organization/210742.pdf |url-status=live }} meaning that its government does not fully comply with the minimum standards against human trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so.{{cite web |title=Tiers: Placement, Guide, and Penalties for Tier 3 Countries |url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/2011/164221.htm |publisher=U.S. Department of State |year=2011 |access-date=19 August 2013 |archive-date=10 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200510073501/https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/2011/164221.htm |url-status=live }} Yemen officially abolished slavery in Yemen in 1962,{{cite news |author=Mohaiemen, N. |newspaper=The Daily Star |title=Slaves in Saudi |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/2004/07/27/d40727150297.htm |date=27 July 2004 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040811225821/http://www.thedailystar.net/2004/07/27/d40727150297.htm |archive-date=11 August 2004}} but it is still being practiced.{{cite news |publisher=Al Arabiya |title=Slaves in impoverished Yemen dream of freedom |url=http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2010/07/21/114451.html |date=21 July 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112103701/http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2010/07/21/114451.html |archive-date=12 January 2012}} On 22 June 2020, Human Rights Watch wrote an open letter to the UN Secretary-General on "Children and Armed Conflict" report to improve the protection of children in Yemen and in Myanmar.{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/06/23/open-letter-un-secretary-general-children-and-armed-conflict|title=Open Letter to the UN Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict|access-date=22 June 2020|website=HRW|archive-date=23 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200723002845/https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/06/23/open-letter-un-secretary-general-children-and-armed-conflict|url-status=live}} Amnesty said, United Nations Security Council must urgently fix its monitoring and reporting mechanism for children affected by armed conflict.{{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/06/un-children-in-war-must-never-be-a-political-bargaining-chip/|title=UN: Children in war must never be a political bargaining chip|access-date=23 June 2020|website=Amnesty|date=23 June 2020|archive-date=23 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200623121205/https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/06/un-children-in-war-must-never-be-a-political-bargaining-chip/|url-status=live}} On 14 September 2020, Human Rights Watch demanded an end to the interference caused by Houthi rebels and other authorities in Yemen aid operations, as millions of lives dependent on the aid operations were being put at risk.{{cite journal|url=https://www.hrw.org/report/2020/09/14/deadly-consequences/obstruction-aid-yemen-during-covid-19|title=Deadly Consequences Obstruction of Aid in Yemen During Covid-19|access-date=14 September 2020|website=Human Rights Watch|date=14 September 2020|archive-date=22 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922100417/https://www.hrw.org/report/2020/09/14/deadly-consequences/obstruction-aid-yemen-during-covid-19|url-status=live}}

{{Main|Governorates of Yemen|Federalization of Yemen}}File:Yemen, administrative divisions - Nmbrs - colored.svgYemen is divided into twenty-one governorates (muhafazat) plus one municipality called "Amanat Al-Asemah" (the latter containing the constitutional capital, Sana'a).Ministry of Public Health & Population, Yemen. An additional governorate (Soqatra Governorate) was created in December 2013 comprising Socotra Island, previously part of Hadramaut Governorate.{{cite web |url=https://presidenthadi-gov-ye.info/en/archives/law-establishing-province-of-socotra-archipelago-issued/ |title=Law establishing province of Socotra Archipelago issued |publisher=Presidenthadi-gov-ye.info |date=18 December 2013 |access-date=15 February 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222005055/https://presidenthadi-gov-ye.info/en/archives/law-establishing-province-of-socotra-archipelago-issued/ |archive-date=22 February 2014}} The governorates are subdivided into 333 districts (muderiah), which are subdivided into 2,210 sub-districts, and then into 38,284 villages (as of 2001).

File:Regions of Yemen map.svg

In 2014, a constitutional panel decided to divide the country into six regions—four in the north, two in the south, and capital Sana'a outside of any region—creating a federalist model of governance.{{cite web |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/02/yemen-become-six-region-federation-2014210124731726931.html |title=Yemen to Become Six-Region Federation |publisher=Al-Jazeera |date=10 February 2014 |access-date=10 February 2014 |archive-date=27 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180527090110/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/02/yemen-become-six-region-federation-2014210124731726931.html |url-status=live }} This federal proposal was a contributing factor toward the Houthis' subsequent coup d'état against the government.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/yemens-shiite-rebels-reject-federal-plan/2015/01/03/3b095132-9387-11e4-a900-9960214d4cd7_story.html|agency=The Washington Post|title=Yemen's Shiite rebels reject plan for federal system|first=Ahmed|last=Al-Haj|date=3 January 2015|access-date=21 March 2015|archive-date=3 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211203075543/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/yemens-shiite-rebels-reject-federal-plan/2015/01/03/3b095132-9387-11e4-a900-9960214d4cd7_story.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/22/yemeni-government-quits-houthi-rebellion|agency=The Guardian|title=Yemeni government quits in protest at Houthi rebellion|date=22 January 2015|access-date=21 March 2015}}{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-30941514|agency=BBC News|title=Yemen crisis: A coup in all but name|first=Danya|last=Greenfield|date=22 January 2015|access-date=21 March 2015|archive-date=31 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230131101317/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-30941514|url-status=live}}

{{div col|colwidth=10em}}

1. Saada
2. Al Jawf
3. Hadhramaut
4. Al Mahrah
5. Hajjah
6. 'Amran
7. Al Mahwit
8. Sanaa Municipality
9. Sana'a Governorate
10. Ma'rib
11. Al Hudaydah
12. Raymah
13. Dhamar
14. Ibb
15. Dhale
16. Al Bayda
17. Shabwah
18. Taiz
19. Lahij
20. Abyan
21. Aden
22. Socotra

{{div col end}}{{Clear}}

{{Main|Economy of Yemen}}

{{Further|Telecommunications in Yemen|Transportation in Yemen|Internet usage in Yemen}}

File:GDP per capita development of Yemen.svg

Since its unification in 1990, Yemen has been one of the poorest countries in the Middle East.{{Cite magazine |last=Tharoor |first=Ishaan |date=2010-11-01 |title=A Brief History of Yemen: Rich Past, Impoverished Present |url=https://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2028740,00.html |access-date=2024-02-25 |magazine=Time |language=en-US |issn=0040-781X |archive-date=25 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240225231732/https://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2028740,00.html |url-status=live }} {{As of|2013}} Yemen had a GDP (PPP) of US$61.63 billion, with an income per capita of $2,500. Services are the largest economic sector (61.4% of GDP), followed by the industrial sector (30.9%), and agriculture (7.7%). Of these, petroleum production represents around 25% of GDP and 63% of the government's revenue. After the start of the civil war in 2014, its GDP dropped rapidly by over 50%,{{Cite web |title=Basic Data Selection - amaWebClient |url=https://unstats.un.org/unsd/snaama/Basic |access-date=2024-02-25 |website=unstats.un.org |archive-date=20 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220920212835/https://unstats.un.org/unsd/snaama/Basic |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=Yemen Overview |url=https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/yemen/overview |access-date=2024-02-25 |website=World Bank |language=en |archive-date=26 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240426131826/https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/yemen/overview |url-status=live }} thanks to the blockade led by Saudi Arabia and an effective embargo on oil exports imposed by the Houthis.{{Cite web |title=The Houthis' embargo on Yemen's oil exports |url=https://www.mei.edu/publications/houthis-embargo-yemens-oil-exports |access-date=2024-02-25 |website=Middle East Institute |language=en |archive-date=25 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240225231730/https://www.mei.edu/publications/houthis-embargo-yemens-oil-exports |url-status=live }}

File:Coffee Plantation 1.jpg

Principal agricultural commodities produced include grain, vegetables, fruits, pulses, qat, coffee, cotton, dairy products, fish, livestock (sheep, goats, cattle, camels), and poultry. Most Yemenis are employed in agriculture. However, the role of agricultural sector is limited by the relatively low share of the sector in GDP and the large share of net food-buying households (97%).Breisinger, C., Diao, X., Collion, M. H., & Rondot, P. (2011). Impacts of the triple global crisis on growth and poverty: The case of Yemen. Development Policy Review, 29(2), 155–184 Sorghum is the most common crop. Cotton and many fruit trees are also grown, with mangoes being the most valuable.

A big problem in Yemen is the cultivation of Khat (or qat), a psychoactive plant that releases a stimulant when chewed, and accounts for up to 40 percent of the water drawn from the Sana'a Basin each year, and that figure is rising. Some agricultural practices are drying the Sana'a Basin and displaced vital crops, which has resulted in increasing food prices. Rising food prices, in turn, pushed an additional six percent of the country into poverty in 2008 alone,{{cite magazine|url=http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/139596/adam-heffez/how-yemen-chewed-itself-dry?cid=soc-facebook-in-snapshots-how_yemen_chewed_itself_dry-122713|title=Water Problem due to cultivation of Qat|magazine=Foreign Affairs|author=Adam Heffez|date=23 July 2013|access-date=27 December 2013|archive-date=28 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131228055334/http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/139596/adam-heffez/how-yemen-chewed-itself-dry?cid=soc-facebook-in-snapshots-how_yemen_chewed_itself_dry-122713|url-status=live}} and led to food riots starting in 2008 in poorer cities.{{Cite web |title=Conflict in Yemen: From Ethnic Fighting to Food Riots |url=https://necsi.edu/conflict-in-yemen-from-ethnic-fighting-to-food-riots |access-date=2024-02-25 |website=New England Complex Systems Institute |language=en-US |archive-date=25 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240225231731/https://necsi.edu/conflict-in-yemen-from-ethnic-fighting-to-food-riots |url-status=live }} Efforts are being made by the government and Dawoodi Bohra community at northern governorates to replace qat with coffee plantations.{{cite web |url=http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2012/1027/Entrepreneur-tries-to-get-Yemenis-buzzing-about-coffee-not-qat |title=Entrepreneur tries to get Yemenis buzzing about coffee, not qat |publisher=CSMonitor.com |date=27 October 2012 |access-date=23 December 2015 |archive-date=6 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160106014133/http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2012/1027/Entrepreneur-tries-to-get-Yemenis-buzzing-about-coffee-not-qat |url-status=live }}

The industrial sector is centred on crude oil production and petroleum refining, food processing, handicrafts, small-scale production of cotton textiles and leather goods, aluminum products, commercial ship repair, cement, and natural gas production. In 2013, Yemen had an industrial production growth rate of 4.8%. It also has large proven reserves of natural gas.{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/652831/Yemen |title=Yemen |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Britannica |date=23 April 2013 |access-date=22 February 2013 |archive-date=25 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210425103336/https://www.britannica.com/place/Yemen |url-status=live }} Yemen's first liquified natural gas plant began production in October 2009.

In 2013, exports totaled $6.694 billion. The main export commodities are crude oil, coffee, dried and salted fish, liquefied natural gas. These products were mainly sent to China (41%), Thailand (19.2%), India (11.4%), and South Korea (4.4%). Imports totaled $10.97 billion. The main imported commodities are machinery and equipment, foodstuffs, livestock, and chemicals. These products were mainly imported from the EU (48.8%), UAE (9.8%), Switzerland (8.8%), China (7.4%), and India (5.8%).

File:Yemen 06.jpg]]

{{As of|2013}}, the government's budget consisted of $7.769 billion in revenues and $12.31 billion in expenditures. Taxes and other revenues constituted roughly 17.7% of the GDP, with a budget deficit of 10.3%. The public debt was 47.1% of GDP. Yemen had reserves of foreign exchange and gold of around $5.538 billion in 2013. Its inflation rate over the same period based on consumer prices was 11.8%. The external debt totaled $7.806 billion. Yemen is missing some international support because, as of 2024, it is one of three countries which have not ratified the Paris Agreement to limit climate change.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2024-10-03 |title=Climate Change: A New Battlefield in Yemen's Ongoing Conflict |url=https://arabcenterdc.org/resource/climate-change-a-new-battlefield-in-yemens-ongoing-conflict/ |access-date=2024-10-29 |website=Arab Center Washington DC |language=en-US}}

{{Main|Water supply and sanitation in Yemen}}

A key challenge is severe water scarcity, especially in the Highlands, prompting The Times, in 2009, to write "Yemen could become first nation to run out of water."{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/environment/article/yemen-could-become-first-nation-to-run-out-of-water-6jvzddjrl0v|title=Yemen could become first nation to run out of water|last=Evans|first=Judith|date=21 October 2009|work=The Times|access-date=11 March 2017|archive-url=https://archive.today/20170311100235/http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/yemen-could-become-first-nation-to-run-out-of-water-6jvzddjrl0v|archive-date=11 March 2017|url-status=live}} A second key challenge is a high level of poverty, making it difficult to recover the costs of service provision. Access to water supply sanitation is low. Yemen is both the poorest country and the most water-scarce country in the Arab world. Third, the capacity of sector institutions to plan, build, operate and maintain infrastructure remains limited. Last but not least the security situation makes it even more difficult to improve or even maintain existing levels of service.

The average Yemeni has access to only 140 cubic meters of water per year (101 gallons per day) for all uses, while the Middle Eastern average is 1,000 m³/yr, and the internationally defined threshold for water stress is 1,700 cubic meters per year.{{cite web|url = http://www.grida.no/climate/ipcc_tar/wg2/180.htm|title = Climate Change 2001: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability|access-date = 25 June 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150626113733/http://www.grida.no/climate/ipcc_tar/wg2/180.htm|archive-date = 26 June 2015|df = dmy-all}} Groundwater is the main source of water in the country, but the water tables have dropped severely leaving Yemen without a viable source of water. For example, in Sana'a, the water table was {{convert|30|m|ft|abbr=off}} below surface in the 1970s but had dropped to {{convert|1200|m|ft|abbr=off}} below the surface by 2012. The groundwater has not been regulated by Yemen's governments.{{cite news|title = YEMEN: Time running out for solution to water crisis|url = http://www.irinnews.org/report/96093/yemen-time-running-out-for-solution-to-water-crisis|access-date = 17 April 2015|agency = IRIN|date = 13 August 2012|archive-date = 18 April 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150418044740/http://www.irinnews.org/report/96093/yemen-time-running-out-for-solution-to-water-crisis|url-status = live}}

Even before the revolution, Yemen's water situation had been described as increasingly dire by experts who worried that Yemen would be the first country to run out of water.{{cite news|last1 = Mahr|first1 = Krista|title = What If Yemen Is the First Country to Run Out of Water?|url = https://science.time.com/2010/12/14/what-if-yemen-is-first-country-to-run-out-of-water/|access-date = 17 April 2015|agency = TIME Magazine|date = 14 December 2010|archive-date = 18 April 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150418033807/http://science.time.com/2010/12/14/what-if-yemen-is-first-country-to-run-out-of-water/|url-status = live}} In part due to the 2015 Yemeni civil war, the infrastructure required to build better access to water has been delayed in construction. It is estimated that as many as 80% of the population struggles to access water to drink and bathe. Bombing has forced many Yemenis to leave their homes for other areas, leaving wells in the new areas under increasing demands.{{cite news|last1 = al-Mujahed|first1 = Ali|last2 = Naylor|first2 = Hugh|title = In Yemen's grinding war, if the bombs don't get you, the water shortages will|url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/in-yemens-grinding-war-if-the-bombs-dont-get-you-the-water-shortages-will/2015/07/22/a0f60118-299e-11e5-960f-22c4ba982ed4_story.html|access-date = 20 September 2015|newspaper = Washington Post|date = 23 July 2015|archive-date = 18 October 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151018121953/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/in-yemens-grinding-war-if-the-bombs-dont-get-you-the-water-shortages-will/2015/07/22/a0f60118-299e-11e5-960f-22c4ba982ed4_story.html|url-status = live}}

Together with partners, UNICEF has advanced its efforts and provided access to safe and sustained drinking water to 8.8 million people (5.3 million children). It scaled up its emergency WASH assistance in Yemen to ensure sustainable WASH services through capacity building of local WASH authorities, solarisation of water systems and rainwater harvesting.{{cite web |title=Water, Sanitation and Hygiene |url=https://www.unicef.org/yemen/water-sanitation-and-hygiene |access-date=25 April 2022 |website=www.unicef.org |language=en |archive-date=27 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211127151032/https://www.unicef.org/yemen/water-sanitation-and-hygiene |url-status=live }}

{{Main|Demographics of Yemen}}

{{further|List of cities in Yemen}}

File:Human population density Yemen.png

Yemen's population is {{#expr:{{replace|{{UN Population|Yemen}}|,||}}/1e6 round 0}} million by {{UN Population|Year}} estimates,{{UN Population|ref}} with 46% of the population being under 15 years old and 2.7% above 65 years. In 1950, it was 4.3 million.{{cite web |title=The General Census of Population 2004 |url=http://www.sabanews.net/en/news85385.htm |publisher=Sabanews |date=29 December 2004 |orig-year=Updated 13 December 2013 |access-date=13 December 2013 |archive-date=6 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131206105130/http://www.sabanews.net/en/news85385.htm |url-status=live }}{{cite news |url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article3952775.ece |title=The population explosion on Europe's doorstep |work=Times (London) |location=London |date=18 May 2008 |access-date=22 February 2013 |url-access=subscription |archive-date=24 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110624112144/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article3952775.ece |url-status=dead }} By 2050, the population is estimated to increase to about 60 million.{{cite web |url=http://irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79232 |title=Yemen: Government planning to curb population growth |publisher=IRIN Middle East |date=14 July 2008 |access-date=22 February 2013 |archive-date=28 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928034809/http://irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79232 |url-status=dead }} {{link note|note=for Arabic, read it here: [http://arabic.irinnews.org/reportarabic.aspx?sid=866].}} Yemen has a high total fertility rate, at 4.45 children per woman.{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2127rank.html |title=Country Comparison: Total fertility rate |publisher=CIA World Factbook |work=Central Intelligence Agency |author= |access-date=23 February 2013 |archive-date=28 October 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091028133713/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2127rank.html |url-status=dead }} Sana'a's population has increased rapidly, from roughly 55,000 in 1978{{cite magazine |url=http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/200601/sana.a.rising.htm |title=Sana'a Rising |author=Eric Hansen |magazine=Saudi Aramco World |date=January 2006 |access-date=13 December 2013 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131127165256/http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/200601/sana.a.rising.htm |archive-date=27 November 2013 |url-status=dead}} to nearly 1 million in the early 21st century.{{cite web | url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Sanaa | title=Sanaa {{pipe}} History, Population, & Facts {{pipe}} Britannica | date=17 June 2023 | access-date=27 September 2022 | archive-date=27 February 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230227191038/https://www.britannica.com/place/Sanaa | url-status=live }}

{{main|Yemenis}}

File:Yemen ethno 2002.jpg and Shia/Sunni regions. Shia Muslims predominant in the green area of Yemen's West, with the rest of Yemen being Sunni Muslims]]

When the states of North and South Yemen were established, most resident minority groups departed.{{cite web |title=U.S. Relations With Yemen |url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/35836.htm |author= |publisher=U.S. Department of State |date=28 August 2013 |access-date=21 May 2019 |archive-date=4 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190604193812/https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/35836.htm |url-status=live }} Yemen is a largely tribal society.{{cite news |author1=Flamand, Annasofie |author2=Macleod, Hugh |url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/world-news/the-children-of-yemen-s-tribal-war-1.990167 |title=The children of Yemen's tribal war |work=The Herald Scotland |location=Glasgow |date=5 December 2009 |access-date=22 February 2013 |archive-date=25 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101125213614/http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/world-news/the-children-of-yemen-s-tribal-war-1.990167 |url-status=live }} There are also hereditary caste groups in urban areas such as Al-Akhdam.{{cite journal |last=Lehmann |first=Hermann |title=Distribution of the sickle cell trait |journal=Eugenics Review |year=1954 |volume=46 |issue=2 |pages=101–121 |pmc=2973326 |pmid=21260667}} There are also Yemenis of Persian origin. According to Muqaddasi, Persians formed the majority of Aden's population in the 10th century.{{cite book|title=The Persian Gulf in History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ncfIAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA7|author=Lawrence G. Potter|date=2009|page=7| publisher=Springer |isbn=978-0-230-61845-9}}{{cite book|title=Security and Territoriality in the Persian Gulf: A Maritime Political Geography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EUL8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA64|author= Pirouz Mojtahed-Zadeh|date=2013|page=64| publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-81717-5}}

Yemenite Jews once formed a sizable minority with a distinct culture from other Jewish communities in the world.{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/Yemen.html |title=Yemen |author= |encyclopedia=Jewish Virtual Library |date=22 May 2012 |access-date=22 February 2013}} Most emigrated to Israel in the mid-20th century, following the Jewish exodus from Arab and Muslim countries and Operation Magic Carpet. An estimated 100,000 people of Indian origin are concentrated in the southern part of the country, around Aden, Mukalla, Shihr, Lahaj, Mokha and Hodeidah.{{cite web |title=Indian Diaspora in Yemen |url=http://www.eoisanaa.org/NRI.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110312120804/http://www.eoisanaa.org/NRI.html |archive-date=12 March 2011 |publisher=Indian Embassy in Sanaa |access-date=24 February 2013}}

Most of the prominent Indonesians, Malaysians, and Singaporeans of Arab descent are Hadhrami people with origins in southern Yemen in the Hadhramaut coastal region.{{cite news |url=http://www.managementtoday.co.uk/news/648273/ |title=The world's successful diasporas |author= |work=Management Today |location=London |date=3 April 2007 |access-date=13 December 2013}} Today there are almost 10,000 Hadramis in Singapore.{{cite web|url=http://www.al-bab.com/bys/articles/talib95.htm |title=Hadramis in Singapore |author=Ameen Ali Talib |work=Al-bab.com |date=November 1995 |access-date=13 December 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131212053809/http://www.al-bab.com/bys/articles/talib95.htm |archive-date=12 December 2013}} The Hadramis migrated to Southeast Asia, East Africa and the Indian subcontinent.{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.britannica.com/bps/additionalcontent/18/27769248/AFRICAN-CONNECTIONS-IN-YEMENI-MUSIC |title=African connections in Yemeni music |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Britannica |access-date=22 February 2013}} {{dead link|date=February 2013}}

The Maqil were a collection of Arab Bedouin tribes of Yemeni origin who migrated westwards via Egypt. Several groups of Yemeni Arabs turned south to Mauritania, and by the end of the 17th century, they dominated the entire country. They can also be found throughout Morocco and in Algeria as well as in other North African countries.{{cite web |url=http://countrystudies.us/mauritania/8.htm |title=Mauritania – Arab invasions |work=Library of Congress Country Studies |access-date=13 December 2013}} {{PD-notice}}

Yemen is the birthplace of the Arabs and the language; Qahtanite Arabs — the original Arabs — originated in Yemen. According to Arab tradition, Ishmael son of Abraham married a woman from the Jurhum tribe.{{cite web|url=https://www.alim.org/history/prophet-stories/7/5/ |title=Story of the Prophet Ismail (Ishmael) – Ishmael's Wives {{pipe}} Islamic History |publisher=Alim.org |date= |accessdate=29 September 2022}}

Yemen is the only country in the Arabian Peninsula that is signatory to two international accords dating back to 1951 and 1967 governing the protection of refugees.{{cite web|url=http://www.yourmiddleeast.com/news/red-sea-drownings-of-yemenbound-migrants-hit-new-high_27334|author=Jonathan Fowler|title=Red Sea drownings of Yemen-bound migrants hit new high|date=18 October 2014|website=Your Middle East|access-date=19 October 2014|archive-date=18 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141018175000/http://www.yourmiddleeast.com/news/red-sea-drownings-of-yemenbound-migrants-hit-new-high_27334|url-status=dead}} Yemen hosted a population of refugees and asylum seekers numbering approximately 124,600 in 2007. Refugees and asylum seekers were predominantly from Somalia (110,600), Iraq (11,000), Ethiopia (2,000),{{cite web|title=World Refugee Survey 2008 |url=http://www.refugees.org/resources/refugee-warehousing/archived-world-refugee-surveys/2008-world-refugee-survey.html |publisher=U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants |date=19 June 2008 |access-date=13 December 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-date=19 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141019224639/http://www.refugees.org/resources/refugee-warehousing/archived-world-refugee-surveys/2008-world-refugee-survey.html}} and Syria.{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-crisis-yemen-idUSBRE98P0FC20130926 |title=Poor and desperate, Syrian refugees beg on Yemen's streets |work=Reuters |date=26 September 2013 |access-date=13 December 2013}} Additionally, more than 334,000 Yemenis have been internally displaced by conflict. The Yemeni diaspora is largely concentrated in neighbouring Saudi Arabia, where between 800,000 and 1 million Yemenis reside,{{cite news |author=Black, Ian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/apr/02/saudi-arabia-expels-yemeni-workers |title=Saudi Arabia expels thousands of Yemeni workers |work=The Guardian |location=London |date=2 April 2013 |access-date=13 October 2013}} and the United Kingdom, home to between 70,000 and 80,000 Yemenis.{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/history/uk_1.shtml |title=History of Islam in the UK |publisher=BBC |date=7 September 2009 |access-date=21 March 2010}}

Modern Standard Arabic is the official language, while Yemeni Arabic is used as the vernacular. In al Mahrah Governorate in the far east and the island of Socotra, several non-Arabic languages are spoken.{{cite book |author=Woodard, Roger D. |title=The Ancient Languages of Asia and the Americas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UQpAuNIP4oIC&pg=PA228 |access-date=23 June 2013 |date=10 April 2008 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-68494-1 |page=228}}{{cite web |url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_family.asp?subid=2144-16 |title=Ethnologue entry for South Arabian languages |publisher=Ethnologue.com |access-date=21 March 2010}} Yemeni Sign Language is used by the deaf community.

Yemen is part of the homeland of the South Semitic languages. Mehri is the largest South Semitic language spoken in the nation, with more than 70,000 speakers. The ethnic group is called Mahra. Soqotri is another South Semitic language, with speakers on the island of Socotra isolated from the pressures of Arabic on the Yemeni mainland. According to the 1990 census, the number of speakers was 57,000.{{cite web|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/country/YE/languages |title=Yemen – Languages |publisher=Ethnologue |date=19 February 1999 |access-date=23 December 2015}} Yemen was home of the Old South Arabian languages. The Razihi language appears to be the only remaining Old South Arabian language.

English is the most important foreign language, being widely taught and spoken mostly in the south, a former British protectorate.{{cite web|url=https://stats.wikimedia.org/archive/squid_reports/2013-09/SquidReportPageViewsPerCountryBreakdownHuge.htm|title=Wikimedia Traffic Analysis Report – Wikipedia Page Views Per Country – Breakdown|website=stats.wikimedia.org}}

{{Bar box

| title=Religion in Yemen{{cite web |title=Yemen Ethno Religious summary |url=http://gulf2000.columbia.edu/images/maps/Yemen_Ethno_Religious_summary_lg.png |website=www.gulf2000.columbia.edu}}

| titlebar=#ddd

| float=right

| bars=

{{Bar percent|Sunni Islam|green|56.36}}

{{Bar percent|Zaydi Islam|lime|42.1}}

{{Bar percent|Others|red|1.54}}

}}

Islam is the state religion. Religion in Yemen consists primarily of two Islamic religious groups. According to a UNHCR report, the Shia "Zaydis make up about 45 percent of the population, Sunnis 53 percent and there are also tiny minorities of other Shia groups—the Ismaili and Twelver communities."{{cite web|title=Yemen: The conflict in Saada Governorate – analysis|url=http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/topic,45a5199f2,45a5f8b22,488f180d1e,0.html|publisher=UNHCR|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121120171316/http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/topic,45a5199f2,45a5f8b22,488f180d1e,0.html|archive-date=20 November 2012}} Sunnis are primarily Shafi'i but also include significant groups of Malikis and Hanbalis. Shias are primarily Zaydi and also have significant minorities of Ismaili and Twelver{{cite web |title=Yemen: The conflict in Saada Governorate – analysis |url=http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/topic,45a5199f2,45a5f8b22,488f180d1e,0.html |publisher=UN High Commissioner for Refugees |date=24 July 2008 |access-date=2 January 2014}}{{cite news |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071022055452/http://www.yementimes.com/article.shtml?i=768&p=community&a=2 |url=http://www.yementimes.com/article.shtml?i=768&p=community&a=2 |archive-date=22 October 2007 |title=The Twelve-Imam Shiite Sect |work=Yemen Times |date=22 October 2007 |author=Al-Zaidi, Hassan}} Shias.

The Sunnis are predominantly in the south and southeast which traditionally have less population. The Zaidis/Shias are predominantly in the north and northwest where the vast majority of the Yemeni population traditionally lives whilst the Ismailis are in the main centres such as Sana'a and Ma'rib. There are mixed communities in the larger cities.{{cite web|url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/documents/organization/208632.pdf|title=Yemen 2012 International Religious Freedom Report|publisher=United States Secretary of State|access-date=2 February 2017}}{{cite web |url=http://www.medea.be/en/countries/yemen/yemen/ |title=Yemen |publisher={{Not a typo|Institut}} MEDEA |access-date=14 December 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131206102826/http://www.medea.be/en/countries/yemen/yemen/ |archive-date=6 December 2013}} According to WIN/Gallup International polls, Yemen has the highest share of the population identifying as religious among Arab countries, and one of the highest in the world.{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/maps-and-graphics/most-religious-countries-in-the-world/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/maps-and-graphics/most-religious-countries-in-the-world/ |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Mapped: The world's most (and least) religious countries|last=Smith|first=Oliver |publisher=Digital Travel Editor |website=The Telegraph|date=15 April 2017|access-date=21 February 2020}}{{cbignore}}

About .05 percent of Yemenis are non-Muslim—adhering to Christianity, Judaism, or Hinduism or having no religious affiliation. Yemen is number five on Open Doors' 2022 World Watch List, an annual ranking of the 50 countries where Christians face the most extreme persecution.{{cite web|url=https://www.opendoorsuk.org/persecution/world-watch-list/yemen/?ref=wwmap |title=Serving Persecuted Christians Worldwide – Yemen – Open Doors UK & Ireland |publisher=Opendoorsuk.org |date= |accessdate=24 June 2022}} Estimates of the number of Christians in Yemen range from 25,000{{cite web|last=Department Of State. The Office of Electronic Information|first=Bureau of Public Affairs|date=19 September 2008|title=Yemen|url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2008/108496.htm|access-date=26 February 2022|website=2001-2009.state.gov|language=en}} to 41,000.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15239529|title=Guide: Christians in the Middle East |work=BBC News|date=11 October 2011 }} A 2015 study estimates 400 Christians from a Muslim background reside in the country.{{cite journal|last1=Johnstone|first1=Patrick|last2=Miller|first2=Duane Alexander|title=Believers in Christ from a Muslim Background: A Global Census|journal=IJRR|date=2015|volume=11|page=17 |url=https://www.academia.edu/16338087|access-date=28 October 2015}} There are approximately 50 or fewer Jews left in Yemen. Some 200 Yemeni Jews were brought to Israel by the Jewish Agency {{Circa|2016}}.{{cite news|last1=Ben Zion|first1=Ilan|title=17 Yemenite Jews secretly airlifted to Israel in end to 'historic mission'|url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/17-yemenite-jews-secretly-airlifted-to-israel/|access-date=21 March 2016|work=Times of Israel|date=21 March 2016}} According to a 2020 estimate, as few as 26 Jews remain in Yemen.{{cite web|url=https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/israel-middle-east/articles/yemen-jews-sephardim|title=A Final Push to Free Yemen's Remaining Jews|date=6 November 2020|website=Tablet Magazine}} However, in 2022 it was estimated that only one Yemeni Jew remained according to a United Nations report about the treatment of religious minorities in conflict zones. Despite this, there are reportedly several crypto-Jews that still remain in the country.{{cite web|url=https://aish.com/history-of-the-jews-of-yemen/|title=History of the Jews of Yemen|date=10 May 2022}}

{{Main|Education in Yemen}}

File:UIS Literacy Rate Yemen population plus15 1995-2015.png Institute of Statistics]]

The adult literacy rate in 2010 was 64%.{{cite web|title=National adult literacy rates (15+), youth literacy rates (15–24) and elderly literacy rates (65+)|url=http://stats.uis.unesco.org/unesco/TableViewer/tableView.aspx?ReportId=210|publisher=UNESCO Institute for Statistics|access-date=13 December 2013}} The government has committed to reduce illiteracy to less than 10% by 2025.{{cite web|url=http://www.ibe.unesco.org/National_Reports/ICE_2008/yemen_NR08.pdf|title=Republic of Yemen, Ministry of Education Report 2008. "The Development of Education in the Republic of Yemen."|page=3|year=2008|access-date=13 December 2013}} Although the government provides for universal, compulsory, free education for children ages six through 15, the U.S. Department of State reports that compulsory attendance is not enforced. The government developed the National Basic Education Development Strategy in 2003 that aimed at providing education to 95% of children between the ages of six and 14 years and also at decreasing the gap between males and females in urban and rural areas.{{cite web |url=http://www.ibe.unesco.org/National_Reports/ICE_2008/yemen_NR08.pdf |title=Republic of Yemen, Ministry of Education Report 2008." The Development of Education in the Republic of Yemen." |page=5 |year=2008 |access-date=13 December 2013}}

A seven-year project to improve gender equity and the quality and efficiency of secondary education, focusing on girls in rural areas, was approved by the World Bank in March 2008. Following this, Yemen has increased its education spending from 5% of GDP in 1995 to 10% in 2005.

According to the Webometrics Ranking of World Universities, the top-ranking universities in the country are the Yemeni University of Science & Technology (6532nd worldwide), Al Ahgaff University (8930th) and Sanaa University (11043rd).{{cite web|title=Yemen |url=http://www.webometrics.info/en/aw/Yemen |publisher=Ranking Web of Universities |access-date=26 February 2013}} Yemen was ranked 131st in the Global Innovation Index in 2021, down from 129th in 2019.{{cite web |title=Global Innovation Index 2021 |url=https://www.wipo.int/global_innovation_index/en/2021/|work=World Intellectual Property Organization|publisher=United Nations|access-date=5 March 2022 |language=en}}{{cite web|title=Global Innovation Index 2019|url=https://www.wipo.int/global_innovation_index/en/2019/index.html|access-date=2 September 2021|website=www.wipo.int|language=en}}{{cite web|title=RTD – Item|url=https://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/rtd/items/691898|access-date=2 September 2021|website=ec.europa.eu}}{{cite web|date=28 October 2013|title=Global Innovation Index|url=https://knowledge.insead.edu/entrepreneurship-innovation/global-innovation-index-2930|access-date=2 September 2021|website=INSEAD Knowledge|language=en|archive-date=2 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210902101622/https://knowledge.insead.edu/entrepreneurship-innovation/global-innovation-index-2930|url-status=dead}}

{{Main|Health in Yemen}}

{{See also|Famine in Yemen|2016–17 Yemen cholera outbreak}}

File:Yemeni doctor.jpg

Despite the significant progress the government has made to expand and improve its health care system over the past decade, the system remains severely underdeveloped. Total expenditures on health care in 2002 constituted 3.7 percent of GDP. In that same year, the per capita expenditure for health care was very low, as compared with other Middle Eastern countries—US$58 according to United Nations statistics and US$23 according to the World Health Organization.

According to the World Bank, the number of doctors rose by an average of more than 7 percent between 1995 and 2000, but as of 2004, there were still only three doctors per 10,000 persons. In 2003, Yemen had only 0.6 hospital beds available per 1,000 persons.{{cite web|title=About this Collection {{pipe}} Country Studies {{pipe}} Digital Collections {{pipe}} Library of Congress|url=https://www.loc.gov/collections/country-studies/about-this-collection/|access-date=26 February 2022|website=Library of Congress}} Health care services are particularly scarce in rural areas. Only 25 percent of rural areas are covered by health services, as compared with 80 percent of urban areas. Emergency services, such as ambulance service and blood banks, are non-existent.

• List of Yemen-related topics
• Outline of Yemen
• Index of Yemen-related articles{{clear}}

Language notes

{{notelist}}

General notes

{{reflist|group=n}}

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book |last1=Bloom |first1=Jonathan M. |last2=Blair |first2=Sheila |title=The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art & Architecture |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=un4WcfEASZwC |year=2009 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-530991-1}}

{{Library resources box}}

• [https://www.ifs.du.edu/ifs/frm_CountryProfile.aspx?Country=YE Key Development Forecasts for Yemen] from International Futures

• [https://yemen-nic.info National Information Center] – Official Yemen Information Portal
• [https://presidentalalimi.net/en Presidential Leadership Council] – official website of the president of Yemen
• [https://pmo-ye.net/ Prime Minister] – official website of the prime minister of Yemen
• [https://shoora.gov.ye Shura Council] – official website of the Yemeni Shura Council
• [https://yemenparliament.gov.ye/ House of Representatives] – official website of the Yemeni House of Representatives
• [https://cso-ye.org/en/ Statistics] – official website of Central Statistical Organization

• [https://yemen-nic.info/yemen/history/ "History"] – Yemeni History at National Information Center

• [https://www.yementourism.com/explore-yemen Explore Yemen] – Yemen's official tourism portal

• {{Wikiatlas}}
• {{Osmrelation-inline|305092}}

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