Yemen is a country located in the Middle East. It has an area of 527,970 square kilometers and a population of approximately 28 million people. The ethnic composition of Yemen is largely Arab (90%), with minorities such as Afro-Arab (6%), South Asians (2%) and Europeans (2%) making up the remaining 8%. The majority of the population are adherents to Islam, with approximately 99% following this religion. Education is compulsory for children up to the age of 15 and the literacy rate is estimated to be around 70%. The official language is Arabic but there are also many other languages spoken throughout the country such as Somali, Hadrami, Mehri and various minority languages. The capital city Sana’a has an estimated population of over 2 million people making it one of the largest cities in Yemen. Check hyperrestaurant to learn more about Yemen in 2009.
Social conditions
Yemen is the poorest and least developed country in the Middle East. Visit AbbreviationFinder to see the definitions of YEM and acronym for Yemen. It is also a distinct tribal and clan society, where loyalty to one’s own group is very important. At the same time, the patriarchal traits are very clear and women’s rights are severely cropped. In 1994, Sharia was incorporated into Yemen’s constitution, which has further cut women’s rights in the country. Polygamy (polygamy) is allowed – for men – and child marriage is common. The differences in living conditions between city and countryside are large. Access to healthcare and clean water and is very poor in rural areas.
The public welfare system is poorly developed; In 2009, the healthcare sector accounted for 5.6 percent of Yemen’s GDP. There is a shortage of hospitals, doctors and healthcare professionals, and many suffer from malnutrition and/or poor health. Infant mortality is much higher than other countries in the region and at the same level as many of the poorest leathers in Africa. Common diseases are dysentery, malaria, whooping cough, measles, jaundice, cholera and tuberculosis. Check to see Yemen population.
In 1911, Imam Yahya Ad-Din led a nationalist uprising. The rebellion forced the Turks two years later to recognize the authority of the Imams in northern Yemen, in return for accepting continued formal Turkish supremacy.
After World War I, Yahya declared himself ruler over Yemen, leading to conflicts with the Saudi emir of Najd and with the British in Aden. After putting Hidjaz under his state, Ibn Saud carried out a swift offensive against Yahya, who, by the 1934 peace treaty, had to accept that he lost some territory in the northern part of the country. The English did not go so far as to declare war. Instead, they breathed in on the internal conflicts, supporting internal opposition groups against the imam killed in 1948.
His successor Ahmad in 1958 joined the country to the United Arab Republic, which also consisted of Egypt and Syria, but already in 1961 Yemen was again withdrawn. When he died the following year, he was succeeded by his son Muhammad Al-Badr, who, however, was overthrown by Nasser faith military people in September of that year. The crashed imam now, with open support from Saudi Arabia and England, launched a protracted civil war against the Republican government. He was also supported by Egypt and the conflict extended until 1970.
The resolution of the conflict became Solomonian. A coup d’état among Republicans themselves led moderate Al Iryani to power. In southern Yemen, the National Liberation Front was formed in 1963. It entered Aden in 1967, proclaimed the country as independent and initiated a revolution that called itself socialist.
The new Democratic People’s Republic of Yemen closed all the British bases in 1969, nationalizing the banks, foreign trade and shipping. At the same time, land reform was initiated. In his attempts to isolate “the Middle Cuba”, Saudi Arabia’s position was that Al Iryani was the lesser of two evils and decided to support him.
Despite political and ideological differences between the governments of northern and southern Yemen, in October 1972, Al Iryani signed an agreement with the Democratic People’s Republic (South Yemen) that envisaged a reunification of the two states.
This came across the Saudi strategy and in June 1974, Al Iryani was forced by Colonel Ibrahim al Hamadi to resign and Hamadi took over the government of Sana’a. The young officer initially had great sympathy with Saudi King Faisal, but they quickly came into conflict as Hamadi tried to centralize power and rise against the feudal chiefs in the north. After 3 unsuccessful attempted assaults, he and his brother, Colonel Lieutenant Abdallah Mohamed al Hamadi, were killed on October 11, 1977.
In North Yemen, a junta now assumed power. It consisted of Colonel Lieutenant Ahmed al-Gashmi, who led the junta, Prime Minister Abdelaziz Abdul Ghani and Major Abdul al-Abdel Aalim, all of whom declared that they would continue the policies of the previous government. This statement cost al-Gashmi life. He was killed by a car bomb in June 1978.
Foreign Policy
Northern Yemen and South Yemen conducted various foreign policy, with South Yemen particularly seeking support from the Soviet Union and the Eastern bloc; Northern Yemen had good relations with Saudi Arabia, and thus with the United States. In the late 1980s, South Yemen’s relations with both Saudi Arabia and the West also improved. The United Yemen came into being after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and continued the relations established by both states; regionally and globally.
Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990 put the recently united state in a difficult situation. Iraq was an important trading partner and aid provider, while Saudi Arabia was both a strong neighbor and Yemen’s largest financial backer, as well as an important labor market for Yemeni workers. From December 1990, Yemen chaired the Security Council and sought to mediate in the conflict, without bringing it forward. Yemen’s relations with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states were weakened by the war, and the expulsion of over half a million Yemeni workers from Saudi Arabia had significant negative consequences for Yemen’s economy.