Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in southern Arabia, the country includes the Socotra Archipelago and borders Saudi Arabia to the north, Oman to the northeast, the Arabian Sea to the east, the Gulf of Aden to the south, and the Red Sea to the west. It also shares maritime borders with Djibouti, Eritrea, and Somalia across the Horn of Africa. Covering 455,503 square kilometres (175,871 sq mi), with a coastline of approximately 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi), Yemen is the second-largest country on the Arabian Peninsula by area and the second-largest by population. Sanaa is its constitutional capital and largest city. Yemen's population is estimated at 34.7 million, predominantly Muslim Arabs.
Owing to its geographic location, Yemen has been at the crossroads of many civilisations for over 7,000 years. The Sabaeans formed a thriving commercial kingdom that influenced parts of modern Ethiopia and Eritrea. In AD 275, it was succeeded by the Himyarite Kingdom, which spanned much of Yemen's present-day territory and was heavily influenced by Judaism. Christianity arrived in the fourth century, followed by the rapid spread of Islam in the seventh century. From its conversion to Islam, Yemen became a centre of Islamic learning, and Yemenite troops played a crucial role in early Islamic conquests. For centuries, it was a primary producer of coffee, exported through the port of Mocha. Various dynasties emerged between the ninth and sixteenth centuries. During the 19th century, the country was divided between the Ottoman and British empires. After World War I, the Kingdom of Yemen was established, which in 1962 became the Yemen Arab Republic (North Yemen) following the North Yemen civil war. In 1967, the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (South Yemen) gained independence from the British Aden Protectorate, becoming the first and only communist state in the Middle East. In 1990, the two Yemeni states united to form the modern Republic of Yemen, with Ali Abdullah Saleh serving as the first president until his resignation in 2012 in the wake of the Arab Spring.
Since 2011, Yemen has been enduring a political crisis, marked by street protests against poverty, unemployment, corruption, and President Saleh's plan to amend Yemen's constitution. By 2015, the country became engulfed in an ongoing civil war with multiple entities vying for governance, including the Presidential Leadership Council of the internationally recognised government and the Houthi movement's Supreme Political Council. This conflict has led to a severe humanitarian crisis.
Yemen is one of the least developed countries in the world, facing significant obstacles to sustainable development, and is one of the poorest countries in the Middle East and North Africa. In 2019, the United Nations reported that Yemen had the highest number of people in need of humanitarian aid, amounting to about 24 million individuals, or nearly 75% of its population. It is a member of the Arab League, the United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement, and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
The term Yamnat was first mentioned in the Old South Arabian inscriptions on the title of Shammar Yahri'sh, a kings of Himyar. The term probably referred to the southwestern coastline of the Arabian Peninsula and the southern coastline between Aden and Hadhramaut.
One etymology derives Yemen from ymnt, meaning literally "the South", as Arabic derives cardinal directions based on orientation towards the east, hence the underlying linguistic root is ymn (𐩺𐩣𐩬 in the South Arabian alphabet) meaning "right". Other sources claim that Yemen is related to yamn or yumn, meaning "blessed", as the country is fertile, in contrast to the rest of Arabia.
With its long sea border between eastern and western civilisations, Yemen has long existed at a crossroads of cultures with a strategic location in terms of trade on the west of the Arabian Peninsula. Large settlements existed in the mountains of northern Yemen since 5000 BC. The four major kingdoms in South Arabia were Saba, Hadhramaut, Qataban, and Ma'in.
Sabaʾ (Arabic: سَـبَـأ) is thought to be biblical Sheba and was the most prominent federation. Sabaean rulers adopted a title generally thought to mean unifier, as the role of the Mukarrib was to bring the various tribes under their kingdom. Saba built the Great Dam of Marib around 940 BC.
By the third century BC, Qataban, Hadhramaut, and Ma'in became independent from Saba. Ma'in stretched to Dedan, with their capital at Baraqish. The Sabaeans regained their hegemony in South Arabia, by establishing control over Ma'in, after the collapse of Qataban in 50 BC.
Aelius Gallus led a military campaign against the Sabaeans. A Roman army of 10,000 men was defeated before reaching Marib. The Romans took six months to reach Marib and 60 days to return to Egypt.
The country fell into chaos, with Hamdan and Himyar claiming kingship, assuming the title King of Sheba and Dhu Raydan. Dhu Raydan allied themselves with Aksum against the Sabaeans. The chief of Bakil and king of Saba and Dhu Raydan, El Sharih Yahdhib, launched successful campaigns against the Himyarites and Aksum. Sanaa came into prominence during his reign, as he built the Ghumdan Palace as his place of residence.
The Himyarites annexed Sanaa from Hamdan around 100 AD. Hashdi tribesmen rebelled and regained Sanaa around 180. Shammar Yahri'sh had conquered Hadhramaut, Najran, and Tihamah by 275, thus unifying Yemen and consolidating Himyarite rule. The Himyarites rejected polytheism and adhered to monotheistic Rahmanism.
By 515, Himyar became increasingly divided along religious lines and civil turmoil led to an Aksumite intervention. The last Himyarite king Ma'adikarib Ya'fur was supported by Aksum against his Jewish rivals. Ma'adikarib was Christian and launched a campaign against the Persia-allied Lakhmids in southern Iraq, with Arabs allied to Byzantium supporting.
After the death of Ma'adikarib Ya'fur around 521, a Himyarite Jewish warlord called Dhu Nuwas rose to power. Emperor Justinian I wanted the Himyarites to attack Persia. The Romans were successful in religiously converting and culturally influencing Aksum.
Yazid bin Kabshat, a Kendite prince, rebelled against Abraha and his Arab Christian allies. A truce was reached when the Great Dam of Marib was damaged. After Abraha died around 570, the Sassanids annexed Yemen. Under their rule, Yemen, except for Aden and Sanaa, enjoyed significant autonomy. The annexation ended ancient South Arabian civilisation, with the country being fractured between clans, until the arrival of Islam.
Muhammad sent his cousin Ali to Sanaa and its surroundings around 630. At the time, Yemen was the most advanced region in Arabia. The Banu Hamdan confederation was among the first to accept Islam. Muhammad sent Muadh ibn Jabal, as well to Al-Janad, in present-day Taiz, and dispatched letters to various tribal leaders. Major tribes, including Himyar, sent delegations to Medina during the "year of delegations" around 630–631. Several Yemenis accepted Islam before 630, such as Ammar ibn Yasir, Al-Ala'a Al-Hadrami, Miqdad ibn Aswad, Abu Musa Ashaari, and Sharhabeel ibn Hasana. A man named 'Abhala ibn Ka'ab Al-Ansi expelled the remaining Persians and claimed he was a prophet of Rahman. He was assassinated by a Yemeni of Persian origin called Fayruz al-Daylami. Christians, who were mainly staying in Najran along with Jews, agreed to pay jizyah (Arabic: جِـزْيَـة), although some Jews converted to Islam, such as Wahb ibn Munabbih and Ka'ab al-Ahbar.
Yemen was stable during the Rashidun Caliphate. Yemeni tribes played a pivotal role in the Islamic expansion into Egypt, Iraq, Persia, the Levant, Anatolia, North Africa, Sicily, and Andalusia. Yemeni tribes who settled in Syria contributed significantly to the solidification of Umayyad rule, especially during the reign of Marwan I. Powerful Yemenite tribes such as Kinda were on his side during the Battle of Marj Rahit.