Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen. A country located on the southwestern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, which was formed in 1990 as a result of the unification of the Democratic People’s Republic of Yemen and the Arab Republic of Yemen. It is bordered to the north by Saudi Arabia, to the east by Oman, to the south by the Gulf of Aden and to the west by the Red Sea.
From the 27 of January of 2011 thousands of protesters took to the streets to demand the resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. The protesters call for stability and fight against chaos. The protests have been uninterrupted since February 12. Sanaa is the capital city of Yemen according to itypemba.
Yemen is the poorest country in the Arab world. [1] In addition, the Saleh regime is exposed to the continuous actions of Al Qaeda, which has bases in this country, an attempted secession from the south and a Shiite rebellion in the north of the country that acts sporadically.
Etymology
Yemen, whose name in Arabic is pronounced AL-YAMAN, appears in history books under many names. The ancient geographers called it “Happy Arabia”. In the Old Testament, Yemen is referred to as The South and the Queen of Sheba, the Queen of the South, Queen Timna. The word AL-YAMAN is said to derive from the name of the ruler AYMAN IBN YA’RUB QAHTAN.
Ancient Arab legends, and even current Yemenis say that AL-YAMAN derives from the word AL-YUMN (which means blessings and prosperity). This meaning agrees with the name “Happy Arabia”.
Others say that the name AL-YAMAN derives from yumna (the right of the Kaaba…). The Arabs tend to orient themselves with respect to the right because this side is a symbol of fortune. However, some Yemenis continue to call the north “Al-SHAM” and the south “AL-YAMAN”. Today, the official name of the country is “Republic of Yemen”.
Geography
Yemen is located in the Middle East, in the south of the Arabian Peninsula, bounded by the Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea, western Oman and southern Saudi Arabia. Until relatively recently, its border to the north was not defined, because the Arabian desert prevents any human settlement there. It is considered one of the cradle areas of humanity.
Certain islands in the Red Sea, the Hanish Islands, the Kamaran Island and the volcanic islands of Perim and Jabal al-Tair belong to Yemen ; and in the Arabian Sea, the island of Socotra. With 527,970 km², Yemen, by extension, ranks 49th in the world (after France), its size being similar to Thailand, and somewhat larger than the state of California (USA) and Spain. Yemen is located 15 ° N 48 ° E.
The western sector of Yemen is predominantly mountainous, with altitudes that exceed 3,500 meters, while the eastern sector is basically plateaus, dominated by the desert. There are no permanent rivers and rainfall is very scarce. The temperatures, normally very high, are milder in the maritime areas and in the mountains.
The country can be geographically divided into four main regions: the western coastal plateau (Tihamah), the western mountains, the eastern mountains, and the Rub al-Jali, in the east, the largest sand desert in the world.
The Tihamah (“hot lands”) region is a very arid and flat coastal plateau. Despite the aridity, the presence of many lagoons makes it a very swampy region, with abundant malarial mosquitoes. There are also large areas of movable sand dunes, shaped like a crescent (known as “barhan”). The evaporation in Tihama is so great that the mountain currents never reach the sea, but they contribute to the existence of large reserves of groundwater, reserves that today are intensively exploited for agricultural use.
The Tihamah ends abruptly in the rugged western mountains. This region, now heavily overgrown to meet the demand for food, receives the highest rainfall in Arabia, rising rapidly from 100mm per year to 760mm in the city of Ta’izz and reaching 1,000mm in the city of Ibb. Agriculture here is very diverse, predominantly sorghum crops, but also cotton and also many fruit trees, mango being the most appreciated. Temperatures are warm during the day but drop dramatically at night. There are permanent currents in the mountains, but they never reach the sea due to the high evaporation in the Tihama.
The central mountains region is a large plateau located at an altitude of about 2,000 m. It is drier than the western mountains due to the shelter of the mountains, but it still receives enough rain in wet years to be cultivated. The variation of daytime temperatures is among the highest in the world: the normal range goes from 30 ° C in the day to 0 ° C at night. Water storage allows for irrigation and growth of wheat and barley. The capital of Yemen, Sana’a, is located in this region, at 2,350 m. Yemen’s highest point is here too, and it’s Jabal al Nabi Shu’ayb, at 3,760 meters.
The Rub al-Jali desert region in the east is much lower, generally below 1,000 m, and receives almost no rain. It is populated only by Bedouin owners of large herds of camels.
Climate
The climate in Yemen is varied and depends on the different altitudes of each region. There are no marked differences between the seasons. There are generally two seasons, summer and winter. During the summer the climate is hot with a high percentage of humidity in the coastal region. In this region the winter is moderate.
Occasionally the summer is rainy due to the action of the monsoon from the Indian Ocean. These rains reduce the high summer temperature of the coastal region. In the highlands, summer is pleasant in summer and relatively cold in winter, particularly in the evenings and early hours of the day, then the days are usually sunny.
Demography
In Yemen, where just 1% of the area is irrigable, the economy remains very archaic. Within the agricultural sector it is convenient to mention the cereal crops (millet, sorghum, wheat) and coffee. Yemeni livestock is quite important, especially with regard to the sheep herd. The recent findings of Petroleum have made this country a producer state.
The subsoil contains notable reserves of natural gas. It also has industries related to the manufacture of plastic materials, such as the manufacture of pipes and accessories; There are also food, textile, wood, chemical, tobacco, and paper products industries.
Its main trading partners are Thailand, China, South Korea, Singapore, Japan, and Saudi Arabia.
It should be noted that Yemen is the poorest country of all the Arab countries, as it has a GDP per capita of $ 889 (2006).
Unlike other residents of the Arabian Peninsula who have historically been nomadic or semi-nomadic, Yemenis are, for the most part, sedentary. They live in small towns and villages scattered along the coast or in the mountains.
Residents: 20,727,063 (July 2005 est.), 20,024,867 (July 2004)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 46.5% (men 4,905,831; women 4,727,177) 15-64 years: 50.8% (men 5,364,711; women 5,172,811) 65 and over: 2, 7% (male 274,166; female 282,367) (2005 est,)
Population growth rate: 3.45% (2005 est,)
Birth rate: 43.07 births / 1,000 population (2005 est.)
Death rate: 8.53 deaths / 1,000 population (2005 est,)
Net migration rate: 0 migrants / 1,000 residents (2005 est,)
Distribution by sex: at birth: 1.05 men / women under 15 years of age: 1.04 men / women 15-64 years: 1.04 men / women 65 and over: 0.97 men / women total population: 1.04 men / women (2005 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 70.28 deaths / 1,000 live births (2000 est,)
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 61.75 years Men: 59.89 years Women: 63.71 years (2005 est.)
Fertility rate: 6.67 children born / woman (2005 est.)
Ethnic groups: Predominance of Arabs; although there is also Afro-Arab. European
Religions: Muslims, including Shaf’i (Sunni) and Zaydi (Shi’a), small groups of Jews, Christians and Hindus.
Languages: Arabic
Literacy: definition: people 15 years of age or older who can read and write total population: 50.2% men: 70.5% women: 30% (2003 est.)
Culture
Yemen Culture is the result of the influence of many Middle Eastern civilizations, such as the ancient Sheba civilization.
Gastronomy
The Gastronomy of Yemen is one of the cuisines of the Middle East that is characterized by the diversity of ingredients and the use of spicy spices. Yemen was formerly known as ‘South Yemen’ and ‘North Yemen’ and in 1990 they merged into the so-called Republic of Yemen.
Ingredients Zhug is a well-known hot sauce in Yemeni cuisine made with various spices, such as: cardamom, caraway, coriander, etc. This sauce is usually eaten on flat bread (a staple food in Yemen). Another staple food is hilbeh, which is often served in the south, while its northern variant is called hulba.
Chicken and lamb are often found as ingredients in dishes very frequently, often more than beef, which is more expensive. Fish is also generally served in coastal areas. Cheese, butter, and other dairy products are less common in the Yemeni diet. Buttermilk, however, is highly prized and easily found. The use of oil in cooking is used in main dishes, and semn (سمن) (clarified butter) in pastry recipes.
Dishes Yemen’s national dish is saltah (سلطة) which has slight regional variations throughout the territory. The base of the dish has its origin in a Turkish meat stew called maraq (مرق), it is accompanied by a fenugreek paste, sahawiq (سهاويق) or sahowqa (a mixture of chillies, tomatoes, garlic and various minced herbs in a sauce.) rice, potato, scrambled egg, and various vegetables. It is usually eaten with flat bread.
Other well-known dishes are: Aseed, Fahsa, Thareed, Samak Mofa, Lahm Mandi, Fattah, Shafut, Bint AlSahn, Jachnun.
Drinks Tea is a traditional drink among Yemenis, who usually drink it after chewing qat. The most common varieties are milk tea, black tea (with cloves, cardamom or mint). Coffee varieties such as Qishr, Qahwa, and infusions such as Karkadé are also drunk.
Although coffee and tea are consumed throughout Yemen, coffee is preferred in Sana’a, while tea is preferred in Aden and Hadramaut. Tea is taken at breakfast, after lunch (often accompanied by sweets and pastries) and during dinner. Cloves, cardamom and mint are usually added.
