Yemen Overview

by countryaah · Published June 3, 2019 · Updated September 25, 2019

Country Profile

The Republic of Yemen is located at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula. “Yemen” in Arabic means “land of prosperity and happiness.” There are various temples all over the country everywhere; it is said to be the “country of palaces.” Yemen occupies an area of 555,000 square kilometers, and has a population of 2015 million, mostly Arabs. Islam is the state religion. The official language is Arabic. The currency is the rials. The capital is Sana’a (sana).

Yemen National Flag

Yemen’s flag, from the top down, is composed of three rectangles, red, white, and black. Red symbolizes the revolution, white symbolizes purity, and black symbolizes the dark years of the past.

History Summary

Yemen has 3,000 years of written history and is one of the cradles of ancient Arab civilization. The Sassanid dynasty was established in AD 575. The 16th century brought Portuguese, Ottoman, and British invasion and occupation. In 1918, Yemen was established as an independent kingdom. In 1934, British forces divided the Kingdom into North and South in recognition of its occupation of southern Yemen. In September 1962, the “Free Officers” organization launched a revolution to overthrow the dynasty in the northern Badr People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen. On May 22, 1990, the Democratic Yemen Arab Republic and the people of China announced the peaceful reunification of the Republic into the Republic of Yemen.

Economy and Culture Overview

Yemen, dominated by agriculture, is among the world’s least developed countries. The main agricultural products are cotton, coffee, sorghum, rice, corn, barley, beans, sesame, qhat, and tobacco. Yemen coffee has low caffeine content; highly caffeinated coffee is known as “super coffee.”

Yemenis produce exquisite carving of waist knives. Almost every adult male should have a waist knife binding more than three fingers wide, with “Koran” embroidered onto the belt. Based on the quality of the sword and the sheath size, you can see people’s status and earings.

Yemeni most unique custom is chewing “qhat.” Qhat was a wild shrub for many years. After picking directly, you absorb the juice by chewing.
There are Dams throughout the country of Yemen, and Aden’s Marib Dam is especially famous. Aden’s dams have more than 2000 years of history, ranging from the size of the reservoir to more than 50 whose exact design and construction techniques are superb and amazing.

Yemen has temples all over the country, among which the most prominent mosque, the capital of Samoa, would only have 45 square style of the rich national mosque, known as the “palace of the country.”

Sana’a city

Located in the San valley at an altitude of 2350 meters, with four seasons and evergreen vegetation, Sana’a is said to be the “Pearl of Arabia.” The city has a rich national mosque, tall and beautiful with 45 features, fully reflecting the architectural style of Islam. The Old City is constructed of all masonry, adobe-style architecture and traditional tower houses that are unique to the ancient city.