Modern Yemen. A few words about the history of the country

Today I wanted to introduce you to a wonderful Arab country Yemen.

Yemen (Arabic al-Yaman) is a state located in the south of the Arabian Peninsula in Southwest Asia. It is part of the Middle East, bordered by Oman and Saudi Arabia. Washed by the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea.

Yemen history

Yemen is one of the oldest centers of civilization.

The oldest known states on the territory of Yemen were Kataban, Hadhramaut, Main, Sabaean and Himyarite kingdoms. In the IV century. all of Yemen was united by the Himyarites. At the end of the same century, the Himyarite kings adopted Judaism as their state religion. At the beginning of the VI century. Yemen fell under the influence of Ethiopia, which led to its temporary Christianization. At the end of the same century, Yemen was conquered by the Sassanian Iran.
628 - Islamic conquest.
1173 - Egyptian forces invaded.
1184-1229 - Yemen - vassal sultanate of the Egyptian Ayyubids.
1229-1454 - the unification of Yemen under the rule of the Rasulid dynasty.
1454-1517 - Yemen under the rule of the Tahirid dynasty.
1538-1635 - the first Ottoman conquest of Yemen.

North Yemen gained independence from the Ottoman Empire (under whose rule it again found itself in the 19th century) in 1918. In 1967, South Yemen gained independence, which had been a British protectorate since 1839. Three years later, the government of South Yemen (NDRY) adopted a pro-Soviet orientation. The next two decades passed in a bitter struggle between the two states. In 1990, the two warring parties united to form the Republic of Yemen.

On May 21, 1994, former leaders of the NDRY proclaimed an independent state in the South - the Democratic Republic of Yemen; by July 1994, the armed uprising of the southerners was suppressed by the North Yemeni army.

Yemen's political structure

The head of state is the president, elected (since 1999) by direct universal suffrage for 7 years. President Ali Abdullah Saleh, elected in 1999, ran in September 2006 for a second term and was re-elected.

Yemen is divided into 16 provinces. In turn, the provinces are divided into Kads, Kads on Nakhia.

Yemen has a multi-party system, in parliament (elected in 2003, 301 deputies) 5 parties are represented:

General People's Congress - Party of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, has a majority in parliament - 238 seats

Yemeni Reform Association (Islah) - the religious party of Sheikh Abdullah bin Hussein al-Ahmar, who has served as prime minister and speaker of parliament many times - 46 seats

Provinces of Yemen
21 provinces (muhafazah).

Geography of Yemen

North Yemen is covered in a hot, rocky desert where it hasn't rained for years. The mountains that separate this desert from the coastal plain receive heavy rains every winter. In valleys, on terraced mountain slopes, farmers grow cotton, fruits and vegetables. Other Yemenis live on fishing, while many are craft workers and sell their products in bazaars.

Yemen Economy

Benefits: Oil production is increasing. Extraction of salt. Development of copper, gold, lead and molybdenum deposits. Processing industry: oil refining, chemical industry, food processing, cement and leather production. Private sector growth.

Weaknesses: Political instability scares off foreign investors. Military destruction. Well-organized blacks reduce tax revenues. Dependence on subsistence farming. High population growth and related unemployment (30%). Lack of central control, weak integration and nepotism are hampering economic recovery.

In the 1980s, oil fields were discovered in Yemen and became a vital source of government revenue. The construction industry is also of great importance for the country's economy. However, not all Yemenis can find work in their homeland, and many leave to work in other countries, mainly in Saudi Arabia.

Population

The main population of the country is the Yemeni Arabs, the Mehri live in the northeast, the Socotorians live on the Socotra island.

In the near future, Yemen may become one of the largest Arab countries in terms of population. In mid-2005, Yemen's population was 20.7 million. It is estimated that every five minutes six babies are born in this country, respectively, more than 50 thousand children are born per month. According to UN data, this state has one of the highest fertility rates in the world, at 6.8 children per woman. Evidence of the constant growth of the population is the fact that children under 15 years old make up 46% of the total number of citizens. At this level, by 2025, the population in Yemen will approximately double and will be 39.6 million people, and by 2050 this figure will exceed 70 million. However, this is unlikely, since in last years fertility in Yemen is still significantly decreasing (from more than 52 births per 1000 inhabitants in the 1980s to about 40 today, according to the World Bank).

Yemen is currently one of the poorest Arab countries, with about 50% of its inhabitants living below the poverty line. This explains the high level of maternal mortality. As of 2003, 366 women died during childbirth for every 100,000 children. However, in 1990, for the same number of newborns, 1400 women in labor died during childbirth.

The lack of infrastructure and a sufficient number of hospitals leads to the fact that the majority of women give birth at home without any medical assistance.

YEMEN (Al-Yaman), Republic of Yemen (Al-Jumhuriyya al-Yamaniyya).

General information

Yemen is a state in Asia, in the southwestern part of the Arabian Peninsula. It borders in the north with Saudi Arabia, in the east - with Oman. In the west it is washed by the Red Sea (the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait separates Yemen from Africa), in the south - by the Gulf of Aden. Yemen owns the islands of Zubair and El-Khanish-el-Kabir in the Red Sea, the island of Perim in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the islands of Socotra and El-Ikhwan (Brothers) in the Arabian Sea, etc. The area is 528.1 thousand km 2. Population 21.9 million (2008). The capital is Sana'a. The official language is Arabic. The monetary unit is the Yemeni rial. Administrative divisions: 20 governorates; the capital of Sana'a has been allocated to a special administrative unit (table).

Yemen is a member of the UN (1947; People's Republic of South Yemen since 1967; Republic of Yemen since 1990), LAS (1945), Organization of the Islamic Conference (1969), IMF (1969).

A.I. Voropaev.

Political system

Yemen is a unitary state. The Constitution was adopted on 5/21/1990 (at separate sessions of the Legislative Council of the Yemen Arab Republic and the Supreme People's Council of the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen), in effect from 05/16/1991. The form of government is a presidential republic.

The head of state is the president, elected by the population for a 7-year term (with the right of one re-election). The candidate must be a Yemeni citizen over 40 years of age, have Yemeni parents and meet the electoral qualifications established by the Constitution. The President appoints the Vice President and the Prime Minister.

The highest legislative body - the House of Representatives (Majlis al-nuvwab), includes 301 deputies (elected by the population by direct general elections for 6 years). There is an Advisory Council (Majlis ash-shura) - 111 representatives appointed by the President; Together with the House of Representatives, he is empowered to make decisions on issues related to the country's development plans, the approval of important international treaties, etc.

Executive power belongs to the President and the Council of Ministers. The government is headed by the prime minister; he appoints ministers in consultation with the president. The government program must be approved by the House of Representatives. The prime minister and government as a whole are accountable to the president and the House of Representatives.

The basis of the legislation is Sharia law.

Yemen has a multi-party system. Leading political parties: General People's Congress, Yemeni Reform Rally (Islah), Yemeni Socialist Party.

Nature

Relief... The coastline of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden (with a total length of over 1900 km) is poorly indented. The shores are predominantly low, less often steep, in the Red Sea in places bordered by coral reefs. Socotra Islands are located in the Indian Ocean; in the Red Sea there are numerous islands of volcanic (Perim, Zubair, Zukar) and coral (Kamaran, etc.) origin.

Coastal lowland plains stretch along the coasts of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. The widest (50-70 km) gently sloping desert lowland of Tihama in the west of the country, crossed by numerous channels of temporary streams (wadis). The coastal lowlands are dominated by sand dunes and salt marshes; in some places there are swampy lagoons. The lowland of the Gulf of Aden is complicated by island volcanic massifs (Kharaz and others). Above the lowlands with steep ledges rise the arched-block Yemen mountains (in Yemen they are called Jebel, from the Arabic - "mountain") height up to 3660 m (Mount Al-Nabi-Shuayb is the highest point of the country). Basalt plateaus are widespread in the relief of the Yemen mountains, forming wide steps at an altitude of 2000-2500 m; many volcanoes. The slopes are artificially terraced. To the east, the mountains gradually decrease and turn into low-altitude table plateaus (Makhrat, Habshiya mountains, etc.). In the central part, these plateaus are crossed for 200 km by the deep canyon-shaped valley of Wadi Hadhramaut. Between the Jebel Mountains and a strip of plateau in a large inner depression lies the Ramlat-es-Sabatayn desert with cellular, dunes and ridge sands. Northeast Yemen occupies the edge of the vast sandy Rub al Khali desert.

Geological structure and minerals... Yemen is located in the southern part of the Precambrian Arabian Platform. Upper Proterozoic fold-metamorphic complexes and granites of the Arabian-Nubian belt of the platform basement surface in the eastern foothills of the Yemen Mountains. In the area of \u200b\u200blow-altitude plateaus, shallow-marine, predominantly carbonate deposits of the Jurassic, Cretaceous, and mainly Eocene are widespread. The Yemen mountains are mainly formed by the Oligocene-Miocene plateau basalts, as well as rhyolites; here, as well as in the southern regions of the country, Pliocene-Quaternary and modern basaltic volcanism is manifested [active volcanoes (for example, El Urais), cinder cones, and lava flows that form volcanic fields are common]. The coastal lowlands are home to Miocene evaporites (salt rocks) and Quaternary aeolian deposits (sands), which are also widely developed in deserts. Large island Socotra split from the Arabian Peninsula in the Miocene with the opening of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

Yemen has deposits of oil and natural combustible gas (near Marib and in the valley of the Masila River), cobalt-copper-nickel-platinum ores with gold and lead-zinc ores (in the Yemen mountains). Deposits of gypsum and rock salt (on the coasts of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden), cement raw materials, marble, sand and gravel are of industrial importance. There are known deposits of gemstones (agate, onyx, chalcedony, jasper).

Climate. Yemen has a tropical continental climate, most of the territory is dry and hot. Within Tihama, average January temperatures are 20-25 ° С, June temperatures are over 30 ° С. Precipitation is up to 100 mm per year, on the coast of the Gulf of Aden - about 40 mm per year. In the Rub al-Khali desert, precipitation is scarce (less than 20 mm per year), it does not rain every year. Dust and sand storms occur in summer. In the mountains in winter, temperatures drop to 4 ° C, in summer they reach 25 ° C. Precipitation in the mountains falls mainly on the western slopes in spring and summer (associated with the summer southwestern monsoon) and reaches 700-1000 mm per year in places.

Inland waters... Yemen's rivers dry up most of the year. There are permanent small streams only in the mountainous part of the country, but they also do not carry water to the sea. The most significant is the Masila River (Hadramaut). The annually renewable resources of surface waters are extremely limited (4 km 3), the specific water supply is low (206 m 3 per person per year). For the needs of agriculture, groundwater reserves are widely used, concentrated mainly in the wadi valleys. The annual water consumption is 6.6 km 3, of which 95% is spent on the needs of agriculture, 4% - on municipal water supply, 1% is consumed by industrial enterprises.

Soils, flora and fauna... The flora of Yemen is distinguished by a great variety of species in comparison with other regions of the Arabian Peninsula: 1650 species of higher plants grow, 52 species are endangered. The windward slopes of the mountains are covered with dry sparse forests, consisting of sycamore, juniper, milkweed, etc. (in general, forests occupy no more than 1% of Yemen's territory). Socotra Island has groves of incense tree and endemic dragon tree. Deserted savannas of acacias and tamariks on red-brown soils are widespread within the arid central plateaus. The vast sandy deserts are practically devoid of vegetation.

The coastal lowlands are dominated by sparse desert vegetation with the participation of halophytes and grasses; mangroves are found in some parts of the coast. The landscapes of Yemen are quite intensively developed in places: in the mountains, on artificially terraced slopes, gardens and fields are laid out; oases with date palms are widespread in the valleys. Overgrazing of livestock and uncontrolled logging of fuel wood led to desertification of the landscapes of Yemen, intensification of erosion processes.

The fauna of Yemen belongs to the East African subregion of the Ethiopian zoogeographic region. About 70 species of mammals live (5 of them are endangered). Of the ungulates, the Dorcas gazelle, the Arabian common gazelle, the wild donkey, and hyrax are characteristic; among the predators - jackal, wolf, Afghan and red foxes, etc. Occasionally in the foothills you can find the South Arabian leopard, which is on the verge of extinction; baboons live in the mountains. Rodents are abundant. There are over 100 species of reptiles, the most numerous is the snake family. Locust foci are found in the eastern regions. The avifauna (385 bird species) includes over 15 endemic species (for example, the Yemen Accentor, Yemen Thrush); on the coasts there are resting and wintering places for many rare birds of the Northern Hemisphere. The fauna of the coastal waters of Yemen is rich in valuable commercial fish species (tuna, mackerel, horse mackerel), as well as rare species of marine mammals (dugong, several species of dolphins). Pearls are mined in the Red Sea; ecosystems of coral reefs and underwater meadows are diverse.

Yemen has 59 protected areas not classified under any IUCN (2006) category, including the Zukar Island Marine National Park and the Ras Isa Marine Park. The islands of Socotra, possessing high biological diversity, have the status of a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.

Lit .: Countries and peoples. Overseas Asia. General review. Southwest Asia. M., 1979; Important bird areas in the Middle East / Ed. M. I. Evans. Camb. 1994; Yemen first national report to the convention on biological diversity. , 2004.

N.N. Alekseeva.

Population

Arabs-Yemenis make up 91.5% of the population of Yemen (including Socotrians - 0.5%, Makhra - 0.4%), Omani Arabs - 0.8%, Bahraini - 0.1%; other Arab groups are Sudanese (1.8%), Egyptians (0.4%), Lebanese (0.2%), Palestinians (0.1%), Iraqis (0.1%). Immigrants from East Africa (Somali - 4%, Amhara, Tiger), Indopakistanis (1.1%), etc. also live in the country.

Natural population growth (3.1% in 2007) is due to the high birth rate (42.7 per 1000 inhabitants), which is more than 5 times higher than the death rate (8.1 per 1000 inhabitants). The fertility rate is 6.5 children per woman; infant mortality is high (57.9 per 1000 live births). Yemen's population is very young: the average age is 16.7 years. In the age structure, there is a high proportion of children (under 15 years old) - 46.3%, people of working age (15-64 years old) - 51.1%; over 65 years old - 2.6%. Average life expectancy is 62.5 years (men - 60.6, women - 64.5 years). There are 103.4 men per 100 women. Migration balance is close to zero; the mid-2000s were characterized by short-term labor migrations. In the mid-1980s, an estimated 1.8 million to 3 million Yemenis were working abroad (mainly in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries). By the mid-1990s, 0.8-1.5 million people (mainly labor migrants from Saudi Arabia) returned to the country after the 1990-91 Kuwait crisis.

The average population density is 41.4 people / km 2. Most densely populated western part country. 26% of the population lives in cities (2005). Largest cities (thousand people, 2008): Sana'a (1876.7), Taiz (522.6), Hodeidah (448.0), Aden (649.9), El Mukalla (198.7).

Economically active population 5.97 million (2006); there are no precise data on the structure of employment. It is estimated that about 1/2 of the employed are employed in agriculture, about 1/4 in industry and construction, and the rest in trade (over 1/10) and other service sectors. Unemployment rate 35% (2003). Over 45% of the population lives below the poverty line (2003).

A.I. Voropaev.

Religion

The state religion of Yemen in accordance with the Constitution is Islam. There are no official data on religious statistics. According to unofficial data, about 99% of Yemen's population are Muslims: about 50% are Shiites-Zaidis (especially numerous in the mountainous part of the country - Jebel, the governorates of Saad, Sana'a); about 49% are Shafi'i Sunnis (numerous in the governorates of Hodeidah, Taiz, the coastal part of the country). Shiites-Imamites are represented by a small Iranian population, there are Ismaili communities. About 1% of Yemen's population combined are adherents of Judaism and Hinduism.

Historical sketch

Yemen in antiquity. Yemen covers the territory of the southwestern and southern parts of the Arabian Peninsula. The Arabic name "Yemen" (Al-Yaman, literally - the right side) probably dates back to antiquity, when it meant for the inhabitants of North Arabia the country located from them on the right hand (if you face the sunrise, while Syria called ash-Sham - the left side). In ancient times, almost the entire territory of the Arabian Peninsula was attributed to Yemen - from the Gulf of Aqaba in the west to the lower reaches of the Euphrates River in the east. Ancient geographers called this area Happy Arabia; their idea of \u200b\u200bthe legendary riches of the “land of incense” located in the south and southwest of Arabia was obviously associated with the second meaning of the word “yaman” - happy. The inhabitants of ancient South Arabia themselves called Yemen (more precisely Yamanat) the area on the coast of Hadhramaut, where, apparently, there were plantations of tropical trees that gave myrrh. With the emergence of Islam (7th century) and the emergence of the Muslim religious center in Mecca, it was believed that the northern border of Yemen runs from the Red Sea to the Persian Gulf, south of Mecca.

The initial settlement of the territory of Yemen belongs to the era of the Olduvai culture, the most famous is the multi-layered cave of Al-Guza (about 1.5 million years ago). The monuments of this circle reflect the existence of the South Arabian route of human settlement from East Africa to Asia. About 1 million years ago, a culture of the Ashel type developed here (the stratified site of Mashhad III, etc.). Known materials and the Middle Paleolithic. Sites of the Upper Paleolithic, according to thermoluminescent dating, can be attributed to the time no later than 32 thousand years ago. Paleolithic cultures have characteristics and development trends characteristic of the cultures of both Africa and the Middle East; this becomes more and more distinct as it develops from early to late eras.

In the 8th millennium BC, 2 Neolithic cultural complexes were formed: East Arabian (close to phase B of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic of Jericho and other monuments of the Near East) and South Arabian (apparently formed on a local cultural substrate). The upper boundary of the Early Neolithic dates back to the 6th-5th millennia and is associated with the disappearance of the East Arabian complex and the beginning of the transformation of the South Arabian into the “desert Neolithic” (in the west it is known up to Eastern Sahara). This tradition persisted for a long time until the "post-Neolithic" (synchronous with the Bronze Age) and the beginning of the South Arabian early urban civilization, apparently becoming the basis of the "Protobedouin" way of pastoralists-nomads and semi-nomads. The spread of elements of the Bronze Age culture belongs to the 3rd millennium; long-term settlements appear, cattle breeding and agriculture begin to be widely practiced (the Sabir culture on the coastal plain of South Yemen). The culture of the Neolithic and Bronze Age of the coastal areas of the Gulf of Aden is represented by the remains of settlements of fishermen, gatherers of molluscs and hunters (Al-Nabwa IV, Tell-Giheyu, the early layers of the Anna settlement, etc.).

The mountains of Yemen are the most moisture-rich part of the Arabian Peninsula. They have been engaged in agriculture since ancient times. Already in the Neolithic era, wadi Zana, which was distinguished by favorable climatic conditions, was densely populated: on the mountain slopes there were terraces where sorghum, durum wheat, garden and vegetable crops, and the date palm were cultivated. Animal husbandry was developed. During the Bronze Age, settlements multiplied, especially along the roads connecting the desert to the Red Sea coast. In a very hot summer, Yemen's water supply depended mainly on the volume of water supplied from the Yemeni highlands. Over the centuries, Yemeni farmers have created and improved complex hydraulic systems. The most ancient of them (a sluice 2 km long below the exit of wadi Zana to the plain) dates back to the 2nd half of the 3rd millennium BC.

The rapid development of agriculture contributed to the emergence of state formations on the territory of Yemen (in the eastern regions of Marib, Harib, on the central plateau, in Hadhramaut and the Aden region). The most ancient of them were the Sabaean (see Saba) and Minea (see Main) kingdoms, which arose in the 9-8 centuries. These states had a lot in common with Sumer and Akkad. Their society was at the stage of decomposition of the tribal system, there were elements of the slave-owning system, which, however, did not become the leading one; the main producer in ancient Yemen was the communal peasant. By the 5th century on the territory of Yemen, in addition to the Sabaean and Minean kingdoms, a number of other states were formed, including Kataban and Hadhramaut.

The flourishing and enrichment of state formations on the territory of Yemen was also facilitated by the fact that trade routes passed through this region, connecting India and South Arabia with the Mediterranean basin, and the region itself was the largest center for the production of incense. The wealth of Yemen attracted the attention of the powers of the Middle East and the ancient states of the Northern Mediterranean. In the 6th century, the Babylonian king Nabonidus attempted to capture the "path of incense". Later Alexander the Great, the Seleucids and the Ptolemies tried to do the same, but to no avail.

At the end of the 1st millennium BC, the ancient centers of the South Arabian civilization fell into decay. One of the reasons for this was the transfer in the 2nd century BC of the main ways of trade in incense from land to sea. The process of "drying up" of Arabia, which was most reflected in the agricultural centers of the south of the country, also had a significant impact. Silting of irrigation systems also played an important role, as a result of which the ecological situation in South Arabia was close to catastrophic.

At the beginning of the 1st millennium AD, the Sabean civilization was revived. The decline of agriculture in her southern regions was largely compensated by the economic growth of the highlands, to which the leading role in all areas, including political, passed. The restoration and strengthening of the Sabean cultural and political system took place on a fundamentally different basis than in the previous period. New forms of political organization adapted to the conditions of the highlands, and the rugged terrain created obstacles to the centralization of power. The development of the system of temple centers of the most revered deities (Almakakh, Aquama, Hirvana and Birana) played a large role in the reintegration of the Middle Sabaean kingdom. The activities of the temples contributed to the establishment of supra-communal ties, covering almost the entire territory of the kingdom.

In the Middle Period, state organization in the Himyarite South was noticeably stronger than in the Sabean North. The South was reunited in the 1st century BC under the rule of the Himyarite kings (before that, the Himyarite territory was part of the Kataban kingdom). The general crisis that gripped the Middle East in the 2-3 century AD also affected the south of the Arabian Peninsula - the Himyarite kingdom collapsed. Then (in the 4th century) it was revived again as the united state of Yemen. However, civil wars, the invasion of the troops of the Aksumite kingdom (330s), the destruction of irrigation facilities and a new decline in agriculture did not allow Yemen to achieve its former power. Even before our era, Judaism began to spread to Yemen, and during the period of Aksumite domination, Christianity. Christianity and Judaism were most widespread during the period of the 2nd Himyarite kingdom (378-525).

In the 1st quarter of the 6th century, Yemen became the object of the confrontation between Byzantium and Sassanian Iran, who sought to seize the trade routes leading to South Asia and on Far East... The actual conductor of Byzantine policy was Aksum, acting under the pretext of protecting Yemeni Christians. The struggle of the Himyarite ruler Zu Nuwas (517-525) against Byzantine influence and Christianization served as a pretext for a new Aksumite invasion of Yemen, carried out in 525 with the support of Byzantium. The Himyarite state, which had gone through a period of fragmentation, disappeared. However, the Axumite dominion did not last long; in 575 the Aksumite army was defeated by the Sassanids, who were supported by influential groups of the Yemeni nobility. Formally, the territory of Yemen remained within the borders of Sassanian Iran until the Islamization of Arabia.

Yemen in the 7-15th centuries. At the beginning of the 7th century, the political and cultural situation in Yemen, as well as throughout Western Asia and North Africa, changed dramatically. A new force came to the fore - the Muslim state that had developed in Arabia (the Caliphate). In the early 630s, the triumphal procession of Islam began across the Arabian Peninsula. In 631 Muslims entered into an agreement with the Christian inhabitants of Najran, the most important trade center in the north of Yemen. This was followed by the adoption of Islam by the Sassanian governor of Sana'a and a number of tribes in North Yemen. The Yemenis, who were familiar with Christian-Jewish monotheism, as well as Arabian Hanifism, generally quickly adopted the tenets of the new religious teaching. Subsequently, the Yemeni tribes (Kalbits) formed the core of the Muslim troops who conquered vast areas in the Middle East, North Africa and Europe (see the article Arab conquests). During the following centuries, when the Caliphate was ruled by the Umayyads and Abbasids, Yemen was considered a distant periphery, which interested the Caliphs only as a supplier of warriors. As a result, during the Middle Ages, emigration from Yemen to the new possessions of the Caliphate increased. Until now, many Arab tribes of North Africa trace their ancestry to immigrants from Yemen.

With the beginning of the decline of the Caliphate (early 9th century), the governors in Yemen gradually gained independence and began to show disobedience to the central government. In 819, the Abbasid governor of Yemen, Muhammad bin Abdallah bin Ziyad, declared part of Yemen an independent state with the capital in Zabid. His example was followed by another Abbasid governor in Yemen - Abdallah bin Yafur, who also founded the emir dynasty in the 9th century, which chose Shibam as its capital, and then Sana. Several large Yemeni tribes achieved de facto independence. The struggle of the Yemeni dynasties against the Caliphate often acquired a religious character, exacerbated by the split between the Sunni and Shiite branches of Islam. At the beginning of the 10th century, the Shiite Zaidis managed to capture Sana'a and hold the northern regions of the country under their rule until the 16th century. The religious authority of the Zeidis as "holy imams" - the descendants of the Prophet Muhammad - was recognized outside their domains.

The Zeidi Imamate did not become a common Yemeni state. His leadership was contested by a number of other principalities. In 1174, Yemen was captured by Ayyubid troops. In 1229, one of the Ayyubid governors, Mansur Nur ad-Din, proclaimed himself an independent ruler of Yemen and recognized the formal religious suzerainty of the Baghdad caliph. The Rasulid dynasty he founded had to wage a long war with the Zeydite imams and recalcitrant tribes. As a result, the Rasulids were overthrown as a result of an uprising raised by the governor of Aden. The latter founded in 1454 a new vast Sunni state in South and Central Yemen - the Tahirid sultanate with its capital in Zabid, which included the most developed agricultural regions with the cities of Taiz, Sanaa, Aden and Moha. Opponents of the Tahirids - Yemeni Ismailis and Zaidis - by the beginning of the 16th century were able to capture most of the Sultanate and occupy a dominant position in the north and center of Jebel (by 1534, Zaidi troops occupied the whole of Jebel). The foothills in the 1510s were divided between the Mamluk governors and the Zaidi imam Yahya Sharaf ad-Din. The last rulers of the Tahirid dynasty kept only South Yemen under their control and opposed the attempts of the Europeans (mainly the Portuguese) to seize the strategically important port of Aden.

Yemen in the 16-19 centuries... In 1504, a bitter struggle for domination in the Red Sea began between Portugal and the Mamluk Sultanate, supported by the Venetians. In 1516, the Ottoman Empire intervened in their conflict. In 1538, the Ottoman fleet approached Aden and the janissaries, solemnly greeted by its inhabitants, overthrew the Tahirids. Having fortified in Aden, the Ottoman governors tried to defeat the Portuguese fleet and simultaneously began land operations against the Yemeni tribes and the forces of the Zeidi imam. In 1547, the Janissary corps occupied Sana, the entire Tihama and a significant part of the mountainous regions of the country.

The Portuguese fleet suffered significant losses from the Ottomans, but managed to defend its positions in Indian trade, and the Zaydite imam Yahya Sharaf al-Din and his heir Mutahhar more than once launched a counteroffensive and even for some time won back Sana, Aden and Taif from the Turks. The events of the first half of the 16th century had grave consequences for Yemen. Continuous wars devastated the country, as a result of which Yemen was thrown back in its development for several centuries. As a result of the opening of the sea route around Africa, transit trade through Arabia between Europe and India almost ceased. Aden is partially depopulated.

Turkish rule in Yemen did not last long. The predatory policy of the Ottoman pashas already at the end of the 16th century caused an uprising of the Yemeni tribes. It was led by the Zaidi imams Qasem al-Mansur (circa 1592-1620) and his successor Muhammad al-Muayyad I (1620-44). Zeidite troops inflicted crushing defeats on the Turks at El-Kufl (1613) and Sana (1638). The remnants of the defeated Turkish troops fled by sea to Egypt, and the Zaidi imams became the autocratic rulers of Tihama, Jebel, South Yemen, including Aden, as well as Asir and significant parts of Hadhramaut. Relative calm was established in the country, new opportunities opened up for the development of the economy, trade and culture. Having resisted the attempts of the European powers to impose their dictate on Yemen, the imams established trade relations with them. In Moh, trading posts of French, Dutch, and English merchants were opened. Of particular importance was the export of Yemeni coffee, which from the late 16th - early 17th centuries took a prominent place among the goods of international trade.

The period of political and economic stabilization in Yemen lasted less than half a century. The Imamate remained an unstable union of economically disunited mountain and lowland tribes. With the expulsion of the Turks, their interest in the union declined, and centrifugal tendencies intensified in Yemen. The tribes were unhappy with the imams' attempts to establish a system of regular taxation. During the reign of Imam Muhammad al-Mahdi (1686-1718), large tribes of Hamdan, Beni Khursheish, Beni Haris revolted against the central government, and under his successors, both the southern (Yafa, Aulaki, Dala) and northern (Taiz , Khujaria) outskirts. As a result, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the imams had real power only in Sana'a and its district; the rest of Yemen was virtually independent.

In the early 19th century, Yemen became the target of devastating raids by units of the Wahhabi Saudi Emirate. Attempts by Imam Ali al-Mansur (circa 1776-1806) to resist them failed - the tribal militias went over to the side of the enemy; the imam himself was deposed by his own guards. In Yemen, a period of strife and strife has begun again. Tribes and feudal cliques nominated their own imams who fought with each other for leadership. Foreign interference has caused significant economic and political damage to Yemen. In 1819, the leadership of the British East India Company sent a squadron from India to the shores of Yemen; a treaty was imposed on the imam, according to which the British received the right to place a garrison in Moh, and various privileges were granted to British subjects. In January 1839, under the pretext of punishing local tribes accused of robbing an Indian ship, the British amphibious assault took Aden by storm and established a colonial regime in it.

During the 1820s and 1930s, the Egyptian Pasha, Muhammad Ali, who defeated the Wahhabi state, during several expeditions subdued the whole of Tihama and the Taiz region. The Imam of Sana'a was forced to recognize the formal suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire, but in fact the actual power of the Egyptian Pasha, who pursued his own policy. However, in 1840, after being defeated in Syria, Muhammad Ali evacuated his troops from Yemen, after which the country again became the scene of bloody strife.

After the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, the Ottoman Empire was able to establish direct links with its Arabian possessions. This gave her the opportunity to intensify the aggressive policy throughout the Arabian Peninsula. In 1872, a large expeditionary force was sent to Yemen, which took Sana'a almost without resistance and established itself in North Yemen. The population, tired of continuous wars and robberies, indifferently took the fall of the Imamate. However, attempts by the Turks to extend their power over the principalities of South Yemen met with opposition from Great Britain.

In North Yemen, the Turks created a centralized administration, systematically collected taxes, and organized the development of salt deposits in the Es-Salifa region. The Ottoman authorities of Yemen sought to use the tribal and religious elite of the country, primarily the Zaidi imams, in their imperial interests. In 1890, the popular Zaidi preacher from Sana'a Mohammed ibn Yahya Hamid al-Din, the founder of the dynasty of future rulers of independent Yemen, was elected as the new imam. His sermons were perceived in North Yemen as opposition to the official spiritual doctrine of the Ottoman Empire. They laid the foundation for the rallying of the tribal leaders and the Zaydite theologians - the ulema. In 1891 a large anti-Turkish uprising took place in Yemen, which engulfed all the Zaidi regions; the rebellious tribes approached Sana'a, the Ottoman authorities, at the cost of great efforts, were able to push them back to the mountainous regions.

Yemen in the 1st half of the 20th century... In 1904, an insurrectionary movement of tribes began again in Yemen, led by his son Yahya ibn Muhammad, who was elected by the Zaidi imam after the death of Muhammad ibn Yahya. In 1904 and 1905 the Turks suffered a series of defeats and were forced to leave Sana. After that, an armistice was concluded, according to which only Tihama and several points in Jebel remained under Turkish rule. However, soon Imam Yahya, as well as the Imam of the Idrisid Sufi movement, Muhammad Ali al-Idrisi (who controlled the area of \u200b\u200bEl-Mihlaf al-Soleimani) resumed hostilities against Turkey.

In the late 1900s, relations between Yahya and the Idrisids began to worsen, as Yahya was distrustful of the European powers, and M.A. al-Idrisi attached primary importance to allied relations with them, especially financial and military support for Italy.

In 1911, the anti-Turkish movement in Yemen split: Idrisid troops during the Italo-Turkish war of 1911-12 occupied Maidi, Harad and other cities of Tihama with the support of the Italian fleet. Imam Yahya managed to take control of the main Zaidi areas and concluded a peace treaty with the Ottoman government in Doan (1911), according to which the Zaidi Jebel received broad autonomy. Although under the Doan Treaty, Yahya did not have the right to conduct an independent foreign policy, in fact he maintained close ties with the British governor of Aden and the princes of South Yemen. Armed clashes broke out between the Zeidi and Idrisidi militias. The situation in Yemen became even more aggravated after the start of World War I due to the forced mobilization of tribal representatives into the Turkish army.

In July 1915, Turkish and Yemeni troops invaded the British protectorates and laid siege to Aden. In response, the British fleet launched a blockade of the Yemeni coast. This caused difficulties in supplying the population and the Turkish army. MA al-Idrisi concluded an agreement with Great Britain and by the end of 1916, with the help of the British, had subdued the entire northern Asir to his influence. Imam Yahya chose not to provide assistance to either his Turkish overlords or the British. The fighting in Yemen continued until November 1918. After the capitulation of the Ottoman Empire and the conclusion of the Mudros Truce of 1918, Turkish rule in Yemen was liquidated, and Turkish troops left the country.

In the post-war years, a sharp struggle for power between Yahya and MA al-Idrisi developed in Yemen. At the same time, many tribal leaders were hostile to the claims of both imams and wanted to remain independent rulers. By the mid-1920s, the position of the Zaidi imamate had strengthened and the power of Imam Yahya spread to most of the former Turkish Yemen, except for parts of Tihama north of Hodeidah. At the same time, after the death of M.A. al-Idrisi, the separatism of tribal clans increased in the Idrisid imamate. This allowed Imam Yahya to complete the collection of the north Yemeni lands under his rule by 1925. In 1926, Yahya also assumed the title of king (Arabic - malik), and his imamate began to be called the Kingdom of Yemen. The state of the Yemeni kings-imams had a theocratic character: the upper rung of the social ladder after the king and his family members was occupied by the sayyids, at the lower level were theologians and judges (qadis). The new Yemeni regime continued its course towards the conservation of archaic tribal ties.

Despite international recognition (treaties of friendship and trade, concluded in 1926 with Italy and in 1928 with the USSR), Yemen was still weak and could not withstand stronger neighbors. At the end of the 1920s, disputed areas remained outside the united Yemeni state: the British protectorates of South Yemen, as well as Al-Mihlaf al-Sulaimani, Asir and Najran, which fell under the rule of the Wahhabi state - the Kingdom of Hejaz, the Sultanate of Nejd and the annexed regions (from 1932 Kingdom of Saudi Arabia). In the 1920s, the British carried out a political and economic blockade of North Yemen, from 1928 they launched military operations against the Kingdom of Yemen with the use of aviation, and in the 1930s they focused on inciting Yemeni-Saudi conflicts. The strengthening of British rule in South Yemen was facilitated by the conclusion of the Anglo-Yemeni treaty (February 1934), according to which Great Britain recognized the independence of the Kingdom of Yemen, and Yahya - the preservation of the British presence in the south of the country. In an effort to strengthen their position in South Arabia, the British in 1937 changed the system of government of Aden: it was declared a "colony of the crown" and began to be ruled not by the Anglo-Indian authorities, but by a governor appointed from London. The small sultanates were united into two protectorates - East and West Aden.

Saudi leader Abd al-Aziz Ibn Saud also managed to seize disputed territories from the Kingdom of Yemen. In the late 1920s, he took under his "protection" the collapsed Idrisid Imamate and in 1930 annexed it to his domain. The Yemeni-Saudi border conflict escalated sharply in 1932-34, and in March 1934 the Saudi government declared war on Yemen. Saudi forces invaded Najran and Tihama and inflicted a series of serious defeats on the Yemenis. 5/20/1934 the parties concluded a peace treaty in the city of Taif; Yemen renounced claims to El-Mihlaf el-Sulaimani, Asir and part of Tihama, and the region of Najran was divided between Yemen and the Saudi kingdom. In February 1936, the treaty was supplemented by an agreement on the precise delimitation of territories.

Yemen's few achievements in the early years of its independent existence were wiped out by the global economic crisis of 1929-33. Silver prices plummeted, on which Yemen's monetary system was based. Exports of Yemeni agricultural products fell significantly, especially coffee, the plantations of which were sharply reduced. There was virtually no industry in the country. Italy took advantage of the economic weakening of Yemen and the unsuccessful war with Saudi Arabia, in 1937 it entered into a new agreement on economic cooperation with Yemen and received a number of islands off the Yemeni coast in exchange for arms supplies.

During World War II, Yemen adhered to a policy of neutrality. The British actively used their naval base in Aden to conduct hostilities against Italy in the Red Sea basin. In February 1943, Imam Yahya broke off diplomatic relations with Italy and interned Italian and German subjects. War-related disruptions in the supply of goods and food have led to increased tensions in Yemen. A political opposition has declared itself, which arose back in the 1930s, mainly in the urban Sunni (Shafi'i) environment, removed by the Zaidis from government. In 1944, in Aden, the émigré opposition created the Free Yemeni movement. However, the royal regime did not make concessions to either the opposition, or Great Britain and the United States, which repeatedly made attempts to win Yemen to their side during the war.

North Yemen in 1945-90... After World War II, relations between Yemen and Great Britain remained tense. In 1946, clashes broke out between Yemeni tribes and the troops of the Aden protectorates, commanded by British officers. In the same year, the US-Yemeni Treaty of Friendship, Trade and Navigation was signed and diplomatic relations were established with the United States (a US mission was opened in Taiz). Striving after the war to expand contacts with Arab countries, Yemen took part in the creation of the Arab League, and in 1947 was admitted to the UN.

In the post-war years, the movement of "free Yemenis" entered the political scene of Yemen. In the fall of 1947, the opposition reached an agreement with the influential al-Wazir family to jointly fight against the imam. With the support of a number of feudal families, tribal sheikhs, ulema and representatives of the military circles, a conspiracy was drawn up. 02/17/1948 Yahya was killed by the conspirators, after which the council of the ulema of Sana'a proclaimed Abdallah al-Wazir the new imam and ruler of Yemen. Deprived of his power, Crown Prince Ahmed ibn Yahya seized the treasury and fled to northern Yemen, where he declared himself imam and called on the population to jihad against the usurper. On 03/14/1948 Abdallah's forces were defeated, the tribes loyal to Ahmed captured Sana. The next day, Ahmed was proclaimed by the ulema as the new imam and given the title "mutawakkil ala-Allah" (trusting in Allah). North Yemen became known as the Yemeni Mutawakkili Kingdom.

Although most of the coup organizers and opposition supporters were executed or imprisoned, the imamate's regime was volatile in the 1950s. A struggle for power broke out among the members of the ruling dynasty. After the suppression of an attempted military coup in the spring of 1955, Imam Ahmed concentrated key posts (deputy prime minister, foreign minister and commander-in-chief of the armed forces) in the hands of his son Muhammad al-Badr, who was proclaimed crown prince, to strengthen his power. Throughout the 1950s, Yemen underwent reforms designed to modernize the country: the first secular schools were opened, hospitals were built, and several small industrial enterprises were created. The creation of joint-stock companies in the field of construction, energy, trade, transportation, etc. began. There was a departure from the policy of self-isolation, which promoted the development of foreign trade and weakened Yemen's dependence on the port of Aden, which was under the control of the British colonial authorities.

The transformations of Imam Ahmed caused discontent in traditional circles, mainly sheikhs of the Zaydite tribes, who considered it a deviation from theocratic principles of government. Yemen's central authorities were also criticized from the left. The most radical force of the left opposition was the underground Free Officers Organization, created in 1961 in Sana'a. Supporters of the Baath (see the Party of Arab Socialist Renaissance) and supporters of G.A.Nasser also joined it. Many members of this organization have in the past supported the Free Yemeni movement.

After the death of Imam Ahmed (19.9.1962), the council of ulema elected Crown Prince Muhammad al-Badr as the new imam. On the night of 26-27 September 1962, military units loyal to the "Free Officers" surrounded and fired at the imam's palace, seized the radio station, post office and telegraph office in Sana'a. The Imam and his entourage managed to escape from the besieged palace and fled to the north of the country to the Zeydite tribes who remained loyal to the monarchy. On the morning of September 27, 1962, the headquarters of the uprising announced the formation of the Yemen Arab Republic (YAR). On September 28, 1962, new supreme authorities were formed: the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC), chaired by Colonel Abdallah al-Salal, the Presidential Council headed by Muhammad Ali Osman and the Council of Ministers, which was also headed by A. al-Salal. The revolutionaries proclaimed the establishment of a republican democratic Islamic system based on the principles of social justice. Provided for the observance of Sharia, the elimination of tribal and religious differences. In the field of foreign policy, the new authorities reaffirmed their loyalty to Arab unity, the policy of non-alignment and positive neutrality of Yemen.

From mid-October 1962, supporters of the ousted imam launched hostilities in the north of the YAR against the republican government. Yemen split into two camps (republicans and monarchists), and a civil war broke out in the country. In an effort to strengthen their positions, the opposing sides sought support from influential Arab states. The monarchists were assisted by Saudi Arabia, and the republicans (including direct military support) by Egypt. At the end of August 1965 in the city of Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), the Saudi king Faisal ibn Abd al-Aziz and G.A. Nasser signed an agreement under which Egypt pledged to withdraw its troops from the YAR within 9 months, and Saudi Arabia to stop helping the monarchists. Egypt's defeat in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War (see Arab-Israeli Wars) sharply weakened the position of the republican leadership of Yemen. 11/5/1967, when A. al-Salal was on an official visit to Iraq, a bloodless coup took place in the YAR. A. al-Salal was overthrown, power passed into the hands of representatives of the tribal elite, entrepreneurship, the highest bureaucracy, supported by part of the military. A new Republican Council and a Council of Ministers were formed, and General Hassan al-Amri was appointed supreme commander.

The coming to power of the new republican leadership did not help stabilize the situation in Yemen: in the fall of 1967, the civil war resumed with renewed vigor. In December 1967, supporters of the Imamate achieved some success and surrounded the capital. However, the victory of the national liberation movement in South Yemen (November 1967) strengthened the position of the republican forces. In February 1968 the blockade of Sana'a was lifted, in 1969 the hostilities actually ceased. The end of the civil war came in March 1970, when Saudi Arabia officially announced its recognition of the YAR. The country has embarked on the path of peaceful development. In the permanent constitution adopted in December 1970, the YAR was proclaimed a "consultative parliamentary republic", in which the activities of all political parties and organizations were prohibited. Islam was declared the state religion, and Sharia - the source of all laws.

Throughout the 1970s, the YAR leadership failed to overcome internal differences in determining the country's foreign policy course, especially with respect to neighboring countries - Saudi Arabia and the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY), which emerged in 1970 in southern Yemen. Among the leaders of the YAR there are two factions: moderate traditionalists and supporters of market reforms, on the one hand, and extreme conservatives, on the other. Representatives of the first, headed by the chairman of the Republican Council A. al-Aryani, adhered to a pro-Western orientation. The second expressed the interests of mainly the tribal elite and supporters of the monarchy. The confrontation between them destabilized the situation in the YAR, led to a frequent change of government offices, and became the cause of two military coups (13.6.1974, 11.10.1977).

In 1972, the situation in the border areas of the YAR and NDRY became complicated due to the fact that opponents of the revolutionary leadership of the NDRY involved the North Yemeni tribes in anti-government actions in the territory of South Yemen. As a result, hostilities began between the YAR and the NDRY. Temporary reconciliation with the mediation of the Arab League was achieved at the talks between the YAR and NDRY delegations in Cairo on October 21-28, 1972 and at the meeting of the heads of the two Yemeni states in Tripoli (Libya) on November 26-28, 1972. The parties recognized it expedient to unite the two countries in the future into a state that will have a republican and democratic form of government and strive for "Islamic Arab socialism." The gradual normalization of relations between YAR and NDRY was again interrupted on 24/6/1978, when YAR President AH al-Gashimi died as a result of the explosion of a bomb in the portfolio of the South Yemeni emissary. A propaganda campaign against the NDRY began in the YAR; fighting resumed again on the border of the two states. On 7/17/1978, the former chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant Colonel Ali Abdallah Saleh, was elected president of the YAR. He focused his efforts on rebuilding the economy and building a modern, centralized state. In March 1979, in Kuwait, the YAR and NDRY delegations reached an agreement on a ceasefire, the withdrawal of troops and the opening of the border.

The cessation of hostilities contributed to the political and economic stabilization of both countries. On 8/24/1982, the General People's Congress (VNK) of the YAR adopted the National Charter - a program document that determined the main directions of the country's development. Although the National Charter categorically banned political activities in the country outside the GNK and parliament, the very fact of the creation of the GNK (700 of its deputies were elected in December 1981 and 300 were appointed by the president) marked the beginning of the process of gradual democratization of the country's public life. In the hands of the Congress, headed by the President, the leadership of the socio-economic development of the YAR was concentrated. At the same time, in the 1980s, new public and professional organizations emerged in the country. Some of them (unions of Yemeni writers and journalists) became common for both states. The number of "cooperative development unions" has grown, united in the General Federation; cooperatives, according to the plan of the Yemeni leadership, were supposed to weaken the economic, political and ideological influence of the tribal nobility on the nomadic and sedentary population of Yemen.

The formation of a centralized state in the YAR was accompanied by a slow economic recovery after the hostilities of 1972-79. In the 1st and 2nd five-year development plans (1977-81 and 1982-86), the emphasis was on the development of agriculture, which was the basis of the national economy (it employed about 70% of the economically active population). The mining industry and the energy sector underwent significant development in the 1980s; a large cement plant was opened (1985), several power lines were installed, and a number of highways were built. At the same time, the state sector of the economy took leading positions only in the field of infrastructure and energy. The development of the YAR economy was carried out to a large extent at the expense of loans, loans and assistance provided by other states (mainly Saudi Arabia), international financial companies, the Arab Monetary Fund, and the EEC.

In the 1980s, ties between YAR and NDRY expanded. In December 1981, a joint commission developed and submitted to the presidents of both countries a draft constitution for a united Yemen. In 1982, the Yemeni Presidential Council was created consisting of the heads of both states, joint programs for economic development, ensuring the free movement of citizens, preserving national heritage, etc. began to be worked out.

South Yemen in 1945-90s. After the end of World War II, the military-strategic importance of Aden increased sharply due to the weakening of Great Britain's positions in Egypt, Iraq and other Arab countries. By 1957, it had become the largest British military base east of Suez. The colony was the headquarters of the Supreme High Command of the British Armed Forces in Arabia, which was reorganized in 1961 into the Middle East Command. At the same time, Imam Yahya's efforts to establish an independent state in North Yemen shook British positions in the south in the 1940s. Therefore, in 1954, the British government decided to create a federation of the Arab Emirates of South Yemen (the plan for its creation was developed back in the 1920s). The emergence of a new state formation objectively strengthened the position of the metropolis in the region and isolated South Yemen from the North.

After a long propaganda among the rulers of South Yemen, the emirates of Dalia and Beikhan, the sultanates of Avadil, Upper Avalik, Fadli and Lower Yafi created a federation (11.2.1959); Great Britain was responsible for its foreign policy and defense. On 4.4.1962 the new state was renamed the Federation of South Arabia (FYA). A Supreme Council and a federal government were formed, although all power in the FYA remained in British hands. By 1964, the number of protectorates that entered the FYuA reached 17. The sultanates of Katiri, Quayti, Mahra and Socotra, as well as three small sheikhdoms in Upper Yafi, remained outside its borders.

Since the beginning of the 1950s, the economy of the colony of Aden has developed rapidly, focused on serving the British military base, the port of Aden, foreign sailors and tourists. In 1952-54 in Bureik (a suburb of the city of Aden) a large oil refinery was built, owned by British Petroleum Co. Ltd. and produced marine fuel. The port of Aden was expanded; in the early 1960s, it received annually up to 6.5 thousand sea-going ships and about 1.5 thousand coastal ships. The construction of port facilities, military and civilian facilities was combined with the strengthening of Aden's position as a center for re-export and transit trade. This increased the already considerable difference in the level of economic development of Aden and the protectorates, whose economy was deeply patriarchal. It was based on cattle breeding and fishing; outside Aden, only small fish canning and cotton ginning factories operated.

Socio-economic changes contributed to the emergence of new social groups and the development of the patriotic movement. The victory of the 1962 revolution and the establishment of a republic in North Yemen stimulated the struggle for independence in the southern regions of the country. 24.2.1963 in Sana'a at the conference of patriotic forces of South Yemen, it was decided to create a National Front (NF), which advocated the unification of Yemen and "the unity of the Arab fatherland." The NF included illegal and semi-legal national-patriotic organizations [the Yemeni branch of the Arab Nationalist Movement (DAN), the Patriotic Front, the Tribal Organization, the Nasserist Front, the Revolutionary Organization of the Occupied South of Yemen, "Free Officers" and other opposition groups to the British authorities]. The leadership of the NF was in the hands of the DAN, headed by Kakhtan al-Shaabi.

The NF became the main driving force behind the long armed struggle for the liberation of South Yemen, which began in 1963. By September 1967, the Front controlled 12 out of 17 emirates and sheikhs. Civil and military people's committees were established on the ground, whose tasks were to maintain order. By the end of November 1967, the entire territory of South Yemen was in the hands of the national-patriotic forces. The British High Commissioner was forced to recognize the NF as the sole legitimate representative of the South Yemeni people. In November 1967, negotiations between the NF and Great Britain began in Geneva, as a result of which the independent People's Republic of South Yemen (PRS) was proclaimed on November 30, 1967. Power passed into the hands of the National Front Political Organization (PNF; that is how the NF became known), declared the only legal organization in the country. In the Prsy, a presidential form of government was introduced, and K. al-Shaabi was appointed president, prime minister and commander-in-chief of the country's armed forces. By a government decree of 12/11/1968, the power of the sultans, emirs and sheikhs was abolished in Prsy, and the powers of federal officials of the FYuA were abolished. A new administrative division was introduced: the republic was divided into 6 provinces.

With the coming to power of the revolutionary forces in Prsy, as in the YAR, internal contradictions intensified, and the polarization of forces began. By the end of the 1960s, two groups emerged in the PNF leadership: supporters of President K. al-Shaabi (based on the middle and small strata of urban entrepreneurship and the traditional elite in the village) and the left, led by Abdel Fattah Ismail, who united revolutionary democrats, left-wing extremist and left-nationalist trend. The left enjoyed the support of the urban lower classes, part of the intelligentsia, junior officers and rank and file of the army. Disagreements between the PONF factions reached their climax in 1968-69; In June 1969, K. ash-Shaabi, accused of dictatorial manners, resigned. A 5-member Presidential Council, a new executive committee of the PNF General Management and a new government were established. The country was headed by leftists - Salem Rubeya Ali, A.F. Ismail, Muhammad Ali Kheitam, and others.

Since 1969, deep socio-economic transformations began in South Yemen: foreign companies were nationalized, comprador capital was nationalized, and on November 5, 1970, the Agrarian Reform Law was adopted, which endowed landless peasants with land and established the maximum size of land per owner. Agricultural cooperatives were set up, and a campaign to eradicate illiteracy was carried out. The course towards the "socialist orientation" of South Yemen was enshrined in the new constitution, which entered into force on November 30, 1970. The country became known as the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY).

In the first half of the 1970s, a political campaign began in the NDRY to create an avant-garde party, which was to be guided by the ideology of Soviet-style scientific socialism. The new party was built on the basis of the United Political Organization National Front (OPONF), created by the left-wing groups of South Yemen at the congress in Aden (October 1975). Blind copying by the South Yemeni radicals of the experience of the USSR and other socialist countries did not evoke the approval of the more moderate leaders of the NDRY, headed by the chairman of the Presidential Council, S. R. Ali. The "moderates" actively opposed the creation of OPONF and its transformation into a vanguard party. But the majority of the members of the Front leadership did not support S. R. Ali, accusing him of striving for a personal dictatorship. The end of the crisis came in June 1978 in connection with the assassination attempt of YAR President AH al-Gashimi. The OPONF leadership, not without reason, accused S. R. Ali of organizing a terrorist act and intending to provoke a war between the two Yemeni states. 06/25/1978 S. R. Ali attempted a coup d'etat, but could not enlist the support of the army; by the verdict of the revolutionary tribunal, he and two of his associates were shot. On October 11-13, 1978, the founding congress of the Yemeni Socialist Party (YSP) was held, declared "the vanguard of the Yemeni working class in alliance with the peasantry."

On 10/31/1978, a new constitution was adopted in the PDRY, which fixed the people's democratic character of the reforms being carried out and the leading role of the YSP in Yemeni society. In December 1978, for the first time, elections were held to the supreme legislative body of the republic - the Supreme People's Council (SNC). It, like the YSP, was headed by A.F. Ismail. However, the implementation of the "socialist perspective" in the NDRY in the 1980s ran into difficulties. Socialist principles turned out to be of little use for the conditions of Yemen, where the strong influence of tribal foundations and traditional values \u200b\u200bon political culture remained. The creation of the vanguard party could not change the situation and was not a guarantee against bloody clashes both within the ranks of the party itself and in southern Yemeni society as a whole.

In the spring of 1980, an acute factional struggle broke out in the YSP, caused by tribal contradictions and the personal ambitions of the republic's leading figures - A.F. Ismail and Ali Nasser Muhammad. The General Secretary of the Central Committee of the YSP was forced to emigrate to the USSR. In October 1985, at the 3rd Congress of the YSP, the crisis reappeared. Part of the party and state leadership, headed by AF Ismail, who returned to the country, sharply criticized the activities of A.N. Muhammad. The compromise reached at the congress between the warring parties delayed the tragic denouement for several months. In January 1986, as a result of a terrorist act, Ismail and a number of his adherents - members of the YSP Politburo (A. Antar, S. M. Kassem, A. Sh. Khadi) were killed. In Aden and the interior, civil war broke out between supporters and opponents of Muhammad. As a result of the fighting, about 4 thousand people were killed, several thousand people were injured. The followers of Ismail won the victory, and the rebels, together with their leader, fled abroad. Ali Salem al-Beid was elected as the new general secretary of the YSP Central Committee. In February 1986, elections were held in the country to the SNC. Its deputies elected a Presidium headed by Haydar Abu Bakr al-Attas.

In the second half of the 1980s, the country's new leadership was engaged in the restoration of the economy, which had suffered during the civil war. State-owned enterprises were built, the energy sector developed, dwelling houses, medical institutions, cultural and household facilities were built. At the same time, an active policy of nationalization was pursued, the role of the state sector in the economy increased. In the context of a gradual economic recovery, pragmatic sentiments prevailed in the leadership of the NDRY. Relations between the two Yemeni states improved after the conclusion of a cooperation agreement (May 1988), which focused on the joint development of oil fields in the border zone. On November 30, 1989, an agreement was signed on the unification of the two states within a year based on the draft Constitution of 1981.

Yemen since 1990... The Republic of Yemen (YR) was formed on 05/22/1990 as a result of the voluntary merger of YAR and NDRY. A 30-month transition period began to unite all the political institutions of the two states. The first chairman of the transitional Presidential Council, which consisted of 5 members, was Lieutenant Colonel (then General) A.A. Saleh (from the former YAR), and his deputy was A.S. al-Beid (from the former NDRY). The Presidential Council has formed a temporary advisory political body of 45 members (20 from the South and 25 from the North), which includes prominent tribal and religious leaders. The new prime minister was H. A. al-Attas (from the former NDRY). In 1990, about 30 new parties were formed in the country - from liberals to traditionalists and Islamic radicals. The most authoritative of these was the Yemeni Association for the Defense of Reforms (Islah), which included representatives of various tribal and religious groups. In 1991, the YR management decided to return to the former owners of the real estate, which had been nationalized earlier in the NDRY. On May 15-16, 1991, a nationwide referendum was held in the country to approve the Constitution of YR; 98.3% of those who participated in the referendum approved this document.

During the Kuwait crisis of 1990-1991, the transitional government of JR opposed the presence of foreign military forces in Saudi Arabia. In response, the authorities in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries expelled about 1 million Yemeni labor migrants. This led to a sharp increase in unemployment and worsening economic situation country.

The first national elections to the House of Representatives were held in Yemen in April 1993. In them, the General People's Congress won 123 seats, Islah - 62, the Yemeni Socialist Party (YSP) - 56, Baath - 7, Nasserists - 3, al-Haqq - 2. the rest of the seats were taken by independent candidates. The leader of Islah A. al-Ahmar was elected head of parliament. As a result of the elections, 4/5 seats in the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Yemen were won by representatives of North Yemen. This tendency provoked the irritation of the southerners, who openly opposed the "marginalization of the South" and "hegemony of the North." General Secretary of the YSP Central Committee A.S. al-Beid launched a political campaign against the Presidential Council headed by A.A. Saleh, which led to a split between the leaders of the North and the South.

Since November 1993, the armed forces of the former NDRY and YAR began deploying along the former border. Despite AA Salekh's promises to decentralize power, revise economic policy and provide the South with administrative and financial autonomy, political efforts to peacefully resolve the conflict have yielded no results. In April 1994, a new civil war broke out in Yemen, during which southerly separatists proclaimed the Democratic Republic of Yemen. There were violent clashes near Aden, in Damara, Sanaa and Aden were subjected to rocket attacks; the southerners suffered a series of defeats, after which the fighting concentrated in the south of the country. 7/7/1994 Aden was taken by the northerners; AS Al-Beid and other ISP leaders fled to Oman.

In response to the strengthening of separatist sentiments in the south of Yemen, A.A. Saleh began to centralize and unify the structures of state power and revise legislation. In September 1994, Yemen adopted amendments to the Constitution: instead of the Presidential Council, the institutions of the President and Vice President were created, and Islam was recognized as the main source of legislation. 1.10.1994 Saleh was elected president and formed a coalition government. The YSP leadership that remained in Yemen reorganized its party, but it no longer had the same influence. In the parliamentary elections (April 1997), the General People's Congress increased its representation in the House of Representatives from 123 to 187 deputies, while Islah got 53 seats (instead of 62 in 1993), Baath - 2, naserists - 3. Independent deputies got 54 seats. The opposition, led by the YSP, boycotted the elections. In the April 2003 elections, the General People's Congress won 238 seats out of 301, Islah - 46, YSP - 8, the People's Organization of Nasserist Unionists - 3, Baath - 2. In September 1999, Yemen held the first direct presidential elections in the history of the country, in which Saleh was re-elected for a new term. In the next presidential elections (September 20, 2006) Saleh, who ran for the highest state post for the 5th time, was supported by 77% of voters.

In general, the situation in Yemen in the second half of the 1990s - early 21st century remained unstable. The government has repeatedly made unpopular economic decisions that led to higher food prices and caused riots (especially strong in 1998). The unsettled relations of tribal groups with the state power and the revival of the radical Islamic opposition led in these years to frequent acts of violence and kidnapping of foreign tourists, attacks on transport communications and oil pipelines. 10/12/2000 Al-Qaeda fighters attacked the USS Cole in the harbor of Aden, and in October 2002 the French tanker Limburg was blown up off the coast of Yemen.

At the beginning of the 21st century, Yemen's economy gradually began to emerge from the crisis. Significant oil reserves have been discovered in the area of \u200b\u200bMarib and Hadhramaut (Masila); promising natural gas fields were discovered. If in 1991 Yemen produced 9.9 million tons of oil, then in 2004 - already 24 million tons. Labor emigration of Yemenis to the Gulf countries (over 1 million people, mainly to Saudi Arabia) has increased again. In these conditions, the strategic direction of Yemen's economic policy remains the accelerated development of the oil industry (revenues from oil exports account for about 91% of all foreign exchange earnings in Yemen), as well as the encouragement of agricultural production (due to the general backwardness and difficult natural conditions, Yemen imports up to 70% of the consumed products food). In the 2000s, the Yemeni leadership has focused its efforts on strengthening a unified modern centralized one. states, the creation of free economic zones and the attraction of private capital, especially the funds of Yemeni emigrants in the Gulf countries. In these endeavors, the Yemeni government receives organizational and financial support from the main regional organization - the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Persian Gulf.

Russia and Yemen are linked by traditionally friendly and versatile relations (diplomatic relations were established in 1955; the embassy of the USSR, then the Russian Federation in Sana'a has been functioning since 1962), based on a broad legal base - the Treaties of Friendship and Cooperation with the People's Democratic Republic of Yury (1979) and YAR (1984), the action of which was confirmed in the 1990s by the leadership of YR and the Russian Federation. Trade and economic ties between the USSR and the YAR have been developing since 1956. Economic cooperation with the NDRY (then Prsy) began in 1969. During the existence of an independent state in South Yemen, the USSR was its economic and political partner. With Soviet assistance, all the main industrial and a significant part of the country's social facilities were built. The former USSR accounted for more than 50% of the foreign loans received by South Yemen for economic development. The Soviet side trained over 40 thousand Yemeni specialists. The main areas of Russian-Yemeni economic cooperation are healthcare, energy, construction, transport, agriculture and irrigation. 4 Russian foreign trade organizations and over 300 Russian specialists work in Yemen. In 2001, opportunities opened up for the resumption of bilateral cooperation in the oil sector. The company, affiliated with Rosneftegazstroy International Holding, has taken out a concession for two oil blocks in the south of Yemen. In December 2002, during the official visit to the Russian Federation of the President of the Republic of Yemen A. Salekh, the Declaration on the Principles of Friendly Relations and Cooperation between Russia and Yemen, the Intergovernmental Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of Science, Culture, Education, Sports and Tourism and the Intergovernmental Agreement on encouragement and mutual protection of investments.

Lit .: Wenner M. W. Modern Yemen, 1918-1966. Balt. 1967; Golubovskaya E.K.The revolution of 1962 in Yemen. M., 1971; she is. Political development of the Yemen Arab Republic, 1962-1985 M., 1989; Gavin R. J. Aden under British rule, 1839-1967. L., 1975; Abaza Faruk. al-Khukm al-usmaniy fi-l-Yaman. Cairo, 1975; Naji Sultan. at-Tarikh al-askari li-l-Yaman, 1839-1967. Kuwait, 1977; Naumkin V.V. National Front in the Struggle for the Independence of South Yemen and National Democracy (1963-1969). M., 1980; Bidwell R. The two Yemens. Boulder, 1983; Kostiner J. The struggle for South Yemen. L., 1984; Piotrovsky M. B. South Arabia in the early Middle Ages. M., 1985; Douglas J. L. The Free Yemeni Movement, 1935-1962. Beirut, 1987; Udalova G.M. Yemen during the first Ottoman conquest (1538-1635). M., 1988; Dresch R. Tribes, government and history in Yemen. Oxf. 1989; Robin C. Cites, Royuames et empires de l'Arabie avant Islam // L'Arabie antique de Karib'il a Mahomet. Aix-en-Provence, 1991; Bauer G.M., Lundin A.G. Southern Arabia in the 10th century BC - 6th century AD: the main stages of history // Red Sea Notes. M., 1994. T. 1; South Arabia. Monuments of ancient history and culture. SPb., 1994-1998. Issue 2. Ch. 1-2; Almadhagi A.N. Yemen and the United States. L .; N. Y. 1996; Polyakov K.I. United Yemen: the evolution of ideology and Islam. M., 2000; Amirkhanov Kh. A. Stone Age of South Arabia. M., 2006.

Kh. A. Amirkhanov (Stone Age archeology); A.M. Rodriguez.

Farm

Yemen is one of the least developed and poorest countries in the world. The volume of GDP is 52.6 billion dollars (at purchasing power parity, 2007), calculated per capita is 2400 dollars. Human Development Index 0.508 (2005; 153rd place among 177 countries of the world).

The basis of the economy is the oil-extracting industry (about 75% of foreign exchange earnings, 2006). Remittances from Yemenis, mainly working in Saudi Arabia (about $ 1.3 billion in 2005) and external economic assistance (about $ 252 million in 2004) are important.

In the implementation of the 1st five-year plan (1996-2000), the government of Yemen, with the support of the Navy and the World Bank, carried out a series of economic, financial and administrative reforms aimed at reorganizing the public sector, reducing dependence on the oil industry and attracting foreign investment in other sectors of the economy, reducing unemployment rate, etc. As a result, the growth of production in sectors not related to oil production and refining amounted to an average of 5.6% per year by the beginning of 2000. Real GDP growth 3.2% (2007).

The service sector creates 46.7% of GDP (2007), industry - 40.9%, agriculture, forestry and fishing - 12.4%.

Industry... The first oil field was discovered in 1984 on the territory of Marib governorate, production began in 1986. At the beginning of the 21st century, 87 fields are known (including in the coastal zone), 13. Oil production 20.8 million tons (2005), the main areas - the governorates of Marib, Shabwa, Hadhramaut. The fields are being developed by 11 companies, including the state-owned Yemen General Corporation for Oil & Gas and foreign companies. Most of the oil is exported (18.5 million tons in 2005, including about 1/3 to China). Gas production (associated and natural) is insignificant. With the active participation of foreign companies (including Norwegian, Canadian, American, Italian, Hungarian), work is underway to explore new oil and gas fields (over 30 foreign companies; their share in oil production is about 40%).

The largest refineries are in Aden and Marib (owned by the Yemen Refining Company; together they produce over 5 million tons of oil products per year). In the south of Yemen, with the participation of foreign (including French and South Korean) companies, a plant for the production of liquefied gas is being built (2008).

Electricity production (4.5 billion kWh in 2005) exceeds domestic consumption (3.4 billion kWh). The largest thermal power plants (operating mainly on oil and natural gas) are located in El Mukalla and Ras Kanatiba, near Hodeidah.

Rock salt is mined (on the shores of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden), natural building materials (marble, limestone, gypsum, gravel, etc.). Cement production (1.5 million tons in 2003; the main centers are Aden, Amran, Badjil). There is an aluminum smelting plant (Taiz), small factories for the production of cotton fabrics, clothing, footwear, leather dressing (the main centers are Aden, Sanaa, Taiz, Hodeidah), the production of paints and varnishes and plastic products; small repair shops. Food industry enterprises (including the processing of coffee, fish, the production of tobacco products; the cities of Aden, Sanaa, Taiz, Hodeidah, Maidi, Es-Salif, Moha, El-Mukalla, Tarim). Handicraft production of household utensils, pottery and jewelry, carpets.

Agriculture. Agriculture remains the most important sector of the economy. Own production does not meet the needs for food; most of the food is imported. About 1/3 of the country's territory is suitable for agricultural use, however, agriculture is possible only on 3% of the territory (of which about 65% is cultivated; the main tracts are in the west of the country). The leading branch of agriculture is crop production. The main export crop is coffee (harvest 11.6 thousand tons in 2003).

The main grain crops (occupy over 55% of the cultivated area; harvest, thousand tons, 2003): sorghum and millet 253.4, wheat 103.8, corn 32.8, barley 27.9; industrial crops: cotton 29.1, sesame 18.7, tobacco 11.9. The production of fruits is growing (the total harvest is 736.2 thousand tons in 2003; mangoes, dates, figs, apricots, peaches, bananas, pomegranates, papaya, grapes) and vegetables (833.3 thousand tons, including 272.7 thousand tons of tomatoes ). The planting of kata (drug culture) is expanding, despite the measures being taken.

The main agricultural area is the terraced slopes of the Yemen mountains in the west of the country, where the main coffee plantations, crops of grain and industrial (cotton, tobacco) crops, orchards and vegetable gardens are concentrated. In the desert lowland of Tihama, where agriculture is possible only on irrigated land, the most important crop is cotton, sesame and date palm are also grown. In the eastern part of Yemen on the plateaus, cereal crops (wheat, barley) prevail. In desert areas, farming is possible only in oases; in the wadi Hadhramaut, the oases of Tarim, Sayoun and El Gaydah, the main plantings of the date palm are concentrated (only 33.3 thousand tons were harvested in 2003); cereals (millet, wheat, barley), cotton, sesame, tobacco, vegetables and fruits are also cultivated.

The leading branches of animal husbandry (developed almost everywhere) are cattle breeding (in mountainous areas - distant-pasture, in the deserts mostly nomadic) and poultry; camels are bred in the deserted eastern regions. Livestock (million heads; 2003): 7.3 goats, 6.6 sheep, 1.4 cattle (mainly zebu), 0.3 camels.

Fishing plays an important role. There are 120 fishing cooperatives, employing about 50 thousand people. Fish catch 213.7 thousand tons, seafood production 14.4 thousand tons (2003). Dried and salted fish is one of the important export items. Pearl mining is in progress (Red Sea coast).

Services sector. Traditionally, the maintenance (refueling, repairs, etc.) of foreign ships entering the port of Aden on the way to the Suez Canal is of great importance. Yemen has great potential for the development of foreign tourism (cultural and historical monuments, favorable natural and climatic resources), but the influx of tourists is limited by internal instability, insufficient infrastructure development and low level of service. Since the early 2000s, the number of foreign tourists has been increasing (almost 40% per year in 2002-05). In 2006, Yemen was visited by 335 thousand people (300 thousand in 2005), of which 65% from the countries of the Near and Middle East; tourism revenues were $ 278 million ($ 236 million in 2005).

The banking sector is represented by the Central Bank, 11 commercial (9 private and 2 state), 2 state specialized (agriculture and housing construction; run by the Central Bank) and 3 Islamic banks. The largest commercial bank is the Arab Bank (60% of all banking assets). Retail and wholesale trade is developed; there are many small trade shops and bazaars.

Transport... The total length of highways is 71.3 thousand km, of which 6.2 thousand km are hard-surfaced (2005). The main highways in the western part of Yemen are: Aden - Taiz - Hodeidah, Sana - Hodeidah, Sana - Taiz - Moha; in the south: Aden - El-Mukalla - Ash-Shikhr, Ash-Shikhr - Tarim. There are 50 airports, of which 17 have a hard surface runway (at 4 airports its length is over 3 km; 2007). Largest international airport in Sanaa (72% of air passenger traffic and 87% of cargo; 2003); others in Aden, Sayyaon, Taiz and Hodeidah. The main seaport is Aden; among others - Hodeidah, Moha, El-Mukalla, Hisn-en-Nushaima. Oil terminals - Ras Isa, Rudkhu (in Hisn-en-Nushaima), Esh-Shikhr. Yemen's merchant marine fleet includes 4 vessels (over 1000 gross registered tons each; a total of 15,474 thousand registered gross tons, or 18,072 thousand deadweight tons, 2006), of which 2 are tankers. The length of the main pipelines is 1402 km, including oil pipelines 1309 km, gas pipelines 71 km, for liquefied gas 22 km (2007). The largest oil pipelines connect oil fields with port export terminals on the Red Sea (Marib - Ras Isa) and the coast of the Gulf of Aden (Shabva - Rudkhu).

International trade... The value of merchandise exports $ 7.6 billion, imports $ 6.6 billion (2007). The main export items are oil, coffee, dried and salted fish. Major export trading partners: China (31.4% of the value, 2006), India (17.4%), Thailand (16.7%), South Korea (7%), USA (6.7%), UAE ( 4.1%). Mainly imported machinery and equipment, food, livestock, various chemicals from the UAE (16.4%), China (12.8%), Saudi Arabia (7.7%), Kuwait (5.8%).

Lit .: Business Yemen: Economy and Relations with Russia. M., 2002; Yemen into the twenty-first century: continuity and change. Reading, 2007.

A.I. Voropaev.

Military establishment

The Armed Forces (AF) of Yemen has 74 thousand people (2006) and consists of the Ground Forces (Land Forces), Air Force and Air Defense, Navy and Coastal Defense Forces. There are also paramilitary units, the number of which is 70 thousand people (internal troops - 50 thousand people, armed detachments of tribes - 20 thousand people). Military Annual Budget $ 942 Million (2005).

The Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces is the President of the country. He carries out the general leadership of troops (forces) and decides questions of military development through the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff. The Ministry of Defense deals with the planning of combat and operational training of troops and staffs, equipping with weapons and military equipment, and conducts mobilization measures. The General Staff provides operational guidance and manning of the Armed Forces, and the development of plans for their combat use. The chief of staff is also the commander of the ground forces.

SV (50 thousand people) - the main type of the Armed Forces. They include a tank division, 56 separate brigades (3 missile, 17 infantry, 8 mechanized, 22 tank, 4 rocket artillery, 2 "commandos"), about 20 separate battalions. In service with the ground forces: 6 launchers for operational-tactical missiles, 28 launchers for tactical missiles, over 1.2 thousand tanks, about 1.5 thousand armored combat vehicles, 1.3 thousand field artillery guns and mortars, 300 MLRS, about 1 thousand anti-tank weapons (including 100 anti-aircraft missile launchers), about 900 anti-aircraft weapons (including 270 MANPADS). The Air Force and Air Defense (18 thousand people) consist of 2 squadrons of fighter-bombers and 6 fighter squadrons. They are armed with 80 combat aircraft, 30 auxiliary aircraft, about 30 helicopters, 600 anti-aircraft weapons (including 120 PU SAMs). The main air force bases are Sana'a, Taiz, Hodeidah, El Anad. The Navy and coastal defense forces (6 thousand people) include 2 naval bases (Aden and Hodeidah), which have 10 battalions (2 landing ships, 2 mine-sweeping ships, 2 missile boats, 2 patrol boats, 2 auxiliary ship), a brigade and 2 separate battalions of the marines. They are armed with 13 warships (including 6 amphibious, 5 mine-sweeping), about 20 boats (including 6 missile), 4 mobile coastal anti-ship missile systems "Rubezh".

The acquisition of the aircraft is carried out by conscription. Service life 2 years. The reserve is about 40 thousand people, mobilization resources - 4.6 million people, including those fit for military service - 2.6 million people.

V.V. Gorbachev.

Healthcare. Sport

In Yemen, there are 33 doctors, 64 nurses, 4 dentists, 13 pharmacists, 2 midwives per 100 thousand inhabitants; hospital beds - 6.1 per 10 thousand inhabitants (2005). Total expenditures on health care account for 5% of GDP (budget financing - 38.3%, private sector - 61.7%). The legal regulation of the health care system is carried out by the Constitution (1990), the law on the protection of society from the dangers of smoking (1995). The state guarantees the construction of hospitals and medical institutions, social security for all citizens in case of illness, disability, unemployment, loss of a breadwinner, as well as in old age. The most common infections: malaria, measles. The incidence of tuberculosis is 82 cases per 100 thousand inhabitants (2005).

The Olympic Committee was created in 1971, recognized by the IOC in 1981. The North Yemen Olympic team participated in the Olympic Games (1984 and 1988), the South Yemen team - in the 1988 Olympic Games. After unification in 1990, the team of the Republic of Yemen has been participating in the Olympic Games since 1992 (Barcelona) in athletics, swimming, taekwondo; athletes of Yemen did not win prizes. Yemeni athletes participate in the Asian Games (1998-2006); awarded 2 bronze medals. One of the most popular types sports - football; the football association was founded in 1962 (since 1980 - in FIFA). Yemen's men's national chess team participates in the World Chess Olympiads (since 1986, Dubai).

V.S. Nechaev (health care).

Education. Institutions of science and culture

Control educational institutions carried out by the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, the Ministry of Technical Education and vocational training... The main regulatory document is the Education Act (1992). The education system includes preschool institutions for children from 3 to 6 years old (covering only 1% of preschool children), secular primary schools, secondary (incomplete and full) schools, as well as religious secondary schools. Separate training. Education is compulsory and free for children aged 6 to 15. However, many children, especially girls and children living in rural areas, do not receive primary education. In 2005, 89% of children attended primary school (girls - 75%), secondary - 47% (31%); less than 10% of secondary school graduates receive higher education. The literacy rate of the population over 15 years old was 54.1% (2004). In 2003, the National Education Strategy for 2003-15 was adopted, the main goal of which is to close the gender gap in primary education and increase the literacy of the population. Vocational training is carried out on an incomplete basis high school in 2-year vocational centers, technical, veterinary, agricultural and health schools.

The higher education system includes: 15 universities, including 7 public universities - in Sana'a (1970), Aden (1975), Taiz (1995), Ibbe (1996), Hodeida (1969), Damara; University of Science and Technology in El Mukalla (1993); School of Islamic Law (1970) in Sana'a. Private universities include the University of Science and Technology (1994), Queen Arwa University (1996; both in Sana'a). Large libraries are located in the al-Jama al-Kebir mosque in Sana'a (1925), under the municipality of Aden. National Museum (1971; branches in Sanaa and Aden), folklore, ethnographic, military museums (all in Aden); museums in Taiz, Sayun and other cities.

Scientific research is carried out mainly in universities; among other scientific institutions - the Center for Marine Science and Resources in Aden, agricultural research centers in Taiz, Damara, Sayun and other cities.

Lit .: Education in Republic of Jemen: national report. Gen., 2004.

Media

Over 120 periodicals are published in Yemen. The largest and most influential newspapers are published in Arabic: As-Saura (Revolution, founded in 1948 under the name Saba; modern name since 1963); Arbaat ashar min uktubir (October 14; since 1968), Al-Jumhuriya [Republic, founded under the name An-Nasr (Victory) in 1948; modern name since 1963], "Al-Islah" ("Reform"; since 1991). The English-language editions "Yemen Times" (since 1991) and "Yemen Observer" are published.

Radio broadcasting in South Yemen since 1940, in North Yemen since 1946 (no radio programs were broadcast in 1948-55); centralized broadcasting in South Yemen since 1954, in North Yemen since 1963. Leading radio stations: Radio Sana (since January 1946), Radio Aden (since August 1954). Local radio stations operate in Taiz (since 1963), El-Mukalla (since 1967), Hodeida (since 1969), and Sayune (since 1973). Television broadcasting since 1964 (in Aden; since 1975 in Sana'a), mainly in Arabic; news programs - partly in English. There are 2 national television channels operating: Channel 1 (North Yemen) and Channel 2 (South Yemen). Color television broadcasting in North Yemen since September 1979, in South Yemen since March 1981. Radio and television programs from Oman and Saudi Arabia are also received. The State Radio and Television Service - The State Corporation for Radio and Television Affairs - was formed in 1990 through the merger of the Yemen State Radio and Television Corporation of the Yemen Arab Republic (since 1976) and the Radio and Television Committee of the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (since 1988).

Yemen's leading news agencies are Saba (in Sana'a) and the Aden News Agency (in Aden), both since 1970.

Literature

The literature of Yemen until the middle of the 20th century developed in line with the medieval Arab tradition (see the section Literature in the article Arab-Muslim culture); existed in handwritten form, was represented mainly by poetry in classical Arabic, as well as prose works of a religious, historical and edifying nature. Oral poetry in the local dialect, song and fairy tale folklore were popular. The emergence of new literature in Yemen is associated with the appearance in 1940 in Aden of the Arabic-language newspaper Fatat al-Jazeera. It published the stories of Muhammad Lukman - its publisher and leader of the national cultural and educational movement, Hamed Khalifa, Muhsin Khalifa and other writers, who set themselves the task of enlightening and improving public mores. Since the mid-1950s, socio-political issues have come to the fore; there was a transition from enlightenment to revolutionary romanticism, and then to critical realism. The stories of Saleh ad-Dahkhan, Ahmad Mahfuz Omar, Abdallah Bawazir, Ali Bazib, Abd al-Majid al-Qada are marked by a profound interest in the inner world of man. The final formation of the realistic direction is associated with the name of Muhammad Abd al-Wali, the author of collections of stories, the story "They die in a foreign land" (1971) and the novel "Sana'a - an open city" (1977), which brought him fame outside of Yemen. Poetry, which prevailed in volume over prose, basically retained its traditional features (the work of Abdallah al-Baradduni and Abd al-Aziz al-Makalikh).

In 1974, the Union of Writers was created, united for the YAR and NDRY. The realistic short story acquired a truly national flavor (the works of Zeid Dammaj, Ramzi al-Iryani, Muhammad Musanna). The novel "Hostage" by Zeid Dammaj (1984), which is devoted to the life of pre-revolutionary North Yemen and translated into many languages, gained popularity. Political instability and pessimism in public sentiment, characteristic of both parts of the country, are reflected in the work of modernist writers. In the stories of Ahmad Mahfuz Omar, Ibrahim al-Kaf, Muhammad Saleh Haydara, Maifa Abd ar-Rahman, Hasan al-Lauzi, Abd al-Fattah Abd al-Wali and Zeyn al-Saqqaf, a person is shown who has lost faith in the rational structure of the world around him. With the beginning of the process of unification of Yemen (late 1980s), a critical attitude to the socialist period of national history has developed in literature (the novel Three Night owls by Said Aulaki, 1989; the story Soaring into Heaven by Abdullah Bawazir, 1995). A new style of writing was formed, combining national flavor, documentary, social satire, parody and fiction (works by Abd al-Karim al-Razikhi, Muhammad al-Garbi Amran, Arwa Abdo Usman). Postmodernism manifested itself in the stories and satirical novel Mountain Boats (2002) by Wajdi al-Akhdal. The work of Nabili Zubayr, Nadia al-Kaukabani, Khuda al-Attas, Ahmad Zeyn was noted for the search for new stylistic solutions. The recent history of Yemen was assessed in the novels of Ali Muhammad Zeid "Coffee Flower" (1998) and "Metamorphoses of the Place" (2005), dedicated to the civil war, as well as in the historical and satirical novels of the French resident Habib Saruri "The Deceived Queen" (1998) and Damlan (2004).

Lit .: Suvorov M. N. Enlightenment movement and the beginning of literary renewal in Yemen (1925-1955) // Culture of Arabia in the Asian context. SPb., 2006; he is. South Yemeni socialism in the works of Said Aulaki (new prose of Yemen) // Russia - the Arab world: the past and the present. SPb., 2006.

M.N.Suvorov.

Fine arts and architecture

The ancient artistic culture of Yemen is part of the circle of South Arabian culture, which began to take shape from the end of the 2nd millennium BC and spread to the territory of modern Yemen, Aden and partly Ethiopia. In the ancient states of South Arabia in the 2nd and 1st millennia BC, rectangular cities were erected, fortified with stone walls with towers, with palaces of rulers in the center (Marib is the capital of the Sabaean kingdom), fortresses, powerful irrigation structures (the ruins of the giant Maib dam with locks and a stone-lined earthen dam, reaching a height of over 14 m, a length of more than 600 m; 7th century BC, destroyed by floods in the 6th century BC); a network of irrigation canals was created (in the regions of Shabva, Sirvakh, Beikhan, etc.), tunnels were laid on mountain roads. The sanctuaries (usually rectangular temples in plan, sometimes rounded on one side, surrounded by a massive fence with two entrances) were built of stone, had flat ceilings, were distinguished by their monumentality and simplicity of forms, restraint of carved and painted decor: Abvam - the temple of the moon god Almakah near Marib, built of large blocks of limestone, oval in plan (founded in the 8th century BC), "propylaea" on 32 stone 4-sided pillars with an adjoining gallery courtyard (5th century BC); the rectangular temple of Rasph near Karnavu, the capital of Main (between 550-450 BC); the temple of the astral deity Astara in Savda (100 km north-east of Sana'a; 6th and 3rd centuries BC). The ruins of the capital of the Kataban kingdom of the city of Timna (Arabic Hajar-Kukhlan; 9-1 century BC) with the remains of city stone fortifications and buildings with inscriptions on the walls, an open market with a stele with a record of the trade charter; outside the walls of a rectangular city, a temple was opened, to the northeast - a burial ground in rocky ground, known as Haid-Bin-Akil. In Hadhramaut, ruins of cities of the 5th-4th centuries BC with defensive walls made of hewn stone (Shabva) and ruins of houses (apparently, towers), rock tombs and reservoirs (Aden) were discovered. About the royal residences of ancient Yemen, in the decoration of which marble, mahogany, precious stones, mother of pearl, gold and ivory were used, the descriptions of the geographer al-Hamdani (10th century AD) and other medieval authors of the castle-palace of Gumdan in Sana'a ( founded by the Sabaean king around 25 BC or by the Himyarites in the 2nd century AD, destroyed by the Axumite army in 525 AD, restored in 570 AD, demolished in the 7th century AD). The rock tower castle consisted of 20 floors, in the lower part made of slab sandstone, bonded with copper; the upper part (made of polished marble) included a terrace with bronze eagle heads and "roaring" lions in the corners, a room covered with a light-transmitting alabaster slab, and a drip clock. The traditions of temple architecture of ancient Yemen were partly used in the construction of churches (from the middle of the 4th century AD), in the form and decoration of which the influence of Byzantine architecture affected (the not preserved cathedral in Sana'a, mid-6th century, was decorated with smalt mosaics).

Ancient monuments of fine art on the territory of Yemen are rock sgraffito and murals (figures of animals, hunting scenes; according to some sources, date back to the 4th-3rd millennia BC). Works of sculpture (temple, palace and tombstone reliefs, marble busts, temple and memorial statues, votive figurines made of stone, cast copper or bronze) and paintings (wall paintings in the royal palace in Shabwa, in the temple in Karyat al-Fao - the capital Kinda) of the 1st half of the 1st millennium BC were characterized by the conventionality and schematism of forms [sgraffito on the pylons of the Astara temple in Savda: friezes with images of sacred animals (lying mountain sheep) and symbols (clubs and boomerangs holding paired figures men and women) of the god Almakah]. Since the 5th century BC, the proportions of the figures become correct, the poses become relaxed, in the interpretation of faces there is a noticeable tendency to emphasize individual features. The style of sculpture monuments of the end of the 1st millennium BC - the first centuries of our era is marked by signs testifying to the contact of the Yemeni civilization with the Greco-Roman artistic culture (finds in Marib, Timna).

The medieval art of Yemen, archaic, saturated with reminiscences of South Arabian antiquities and at the same time meeting the Muslim way of life, represents a separate branch of Islamic artistic culture. For centuries, the architecture of Muslim Yemen retained the construction and decoration techniques and architectural types of ancient eras (the Qasr al-Silah citadel with a double ring of walls and two powerful, tapering round towers - "navba"; based on the remains of the Sabean fortification around 871-872, significantly rebuilt in the 19th century). New buildings included architectural elements (columns, capitals, friezes, reliefs) from old buildings. Early Yemeni mosques adopted the laconic geometric shape of the kaaba (from the Arabic cube), a pagan Arabian sanctuary. A cubic-type mosque is a square, single-chamber building with a single entrance, usually without windows, with a flat wooden roof resting on 2 rows of columns, 3 in each of them (the mosque in Tamur may have been converted from a pre-Islamic temple, restoration - 1089) ; sometimes windows were placed under the ceiling (al-Abbas mosque in Asnaf, based on the remains of a pre-Islamic sanctuary, 1125-26; restoration 1996; similar in form to the Kaaba in Mecca, wooden ceiling with caissons decorated with carvings, tempera painting and gilding). Another type is represented by mosques in the form of an elongated multi-pillar hall with transverse rows of columns (Suleiman ibn Daud mosque in Marib, 1074; Great Mosque in Zabid, about 820, minaret - 13th century). The earliest example of a palace-type building with multi-pillar galleries (flat roofs on stone arcades) on the sides of the courtyard is the al-Jama al-Kebir mosque in Sana'a (circa 705-715), which included the remains of a 5th century cathedral and stone reliefs originating from Gumdan castle with images of animals and birds. In the Ayyubid era, a dome appeared in Yemen's architecture (over a tower structure marking the location of the mihrab on the northern side facing Mecca) and a brick minaret with an eight-sided trunk on a square base (in Mahjam) and large decor; the construction of madrassas began, which in Yemen was distinguished by the absence of residential premises: the al-Ashrafiyah madrasah in Taiz (1295-97) with an inner courtyard uniting a mosque, a study hall, a Koranic school and a library. An innovation was also a domed mausoleum - square in plan, open on 3 sides, with a mihrab in the northern wall (mausoleums in Saada, with domes covered with calligraphic inscriptions and geometric ornaments made of painted knock). Late Yemeni madrasahs (for example, the 3-storey Amiriya in the city of Rada, 1504, restoration - 1982-2004) were complex structures enclosed in a compact rectangular plan, which, in addition to a mosque and an educational building, included public baths and shops from the outside. In the Ottoman period, central domed mosques of the Turkish type (Mustafa Pasha Mosque, 1554) became widespread, but with a carved knock in the decor of the interiors, characteristic of Yemen, and a wide round minaret. The urban and rural palaces (built on a rock, like Gumdan, the Dar al-Hajar castle-palace - the summer residence of Imam Yahya in Sanaa, 17th century; restoration - 1997, architect Abdullah Khadrami), as well as residential architecture are characterized by well-maintained (with water supply and sewerage) tower houses, in Sana'a and mountainous areas, built of stone and brick, in wadi Hadhramaut - from adobe bricks and broken clay. Outside, the houses, tapering upward (due to a decrease in the thickness of the walls from 1 m to 0.25 m), are elegantly decorated with borders and friezes made of white plaster, geometric brickwork, wooden window grilles-mashrabiyya (Bayt-Sari in Sana'a, 14th century, restoration - 1990). In Sana'a (Bayt al-Mansur, 19-20 centuries) and adjacent areas, the ground floor of each house is reserved for utilitarian premises (storage room, stall, etc.). Depending on the height of the building, living quarters can start from the 2nd or 3rd floor. Upstairs there is a spacious reception hall, a mufraj with two tiers of windows, closed with patterned knock bars filled with colored glass; the flat roof is surrounded by a parapet, in which loopholes are sometimes arranged in case of defense. Traditional adobe towers, on the stone foundations of the Hadramaut houses (in Shibam - over 8 floors), with a stone staircase inside, supposedly repeat the shapes of high stone dwellings in mountainous regions. The lower floor of these houses is intended for shops and warehouses, the second for cattle, and the third for business receptions; above there are residential complexes, upstairs - a living room-majlis with a mihrab, terraces, transitions to neighboring houses, allowing women to visit each other without going outside. It is difficult to determine the age of these houses, but the tradition of their construction dates back to antiquity. The coastal strip of Yemen is dominated by huts made of palm branches or huts braided with reeds or grass on a wooden frame.

During the period of British influence, buildings appeared in Yemen with an eclectic combination of features of traditional fortress and palace and European representative architecture (the Sultan's Palace in Sayoun, 19th century, raw brick) and in the neoclassical style (Bin Daer school in Sayoun, 1st half of the 20th century) ... Since the 1970s, buildings have been built in cities using modern technologies and in forms that do not violate the traditional architectural landscape (Ministry of Public Works, 1979; Central Bank of Yemen, 1980, architect Salah Zeitun; both in Sanaa; hotel "al-Salam" , 1974, and the open theater in Sayune; the main hospital in Aden, 1992). Preference is given to age-old Yemeni building techniques and design and local architects (US Embassy in Sana'a, 1979, architect Abd al-Qadir Farahan; Yemen pavilion at Expo 2000 in Hanover); the government of Yemen, together with UNESCO, developed plans for the preservation of the old city in Sana'a and Shibam.

The development of modern forms of painting and sculpture in the second half of the 20th century was facilitated by the training of artists who received primary skills at home, in Germany (Faud al-Futaih), Russia (al-Akil Hakim, also studied with the Yemeni painter Hashim Ali). Ancient types of folk art retain predominant importance: wood and metal inlays, jewelry (filigree silver pendants with stones, rings, bracelets, crooked jambia knives decorated with silver and carnelian), silk and wool embroidery with metal thread (geometric patterns) on national clothes, carpet weaving (woolen lint-free carpets with bright stripes - red, green, yellow).

Lit .: San: an Arabian Islamic city / Ed. R. B. Serjant. L., 1983; Piotrovsky MB South Arabia in the early Middle Ages. Formation of a medieval society. M., 1985; Yemen: 3000 years of art and civilization in Arabia Felix / Ed. W. Daum. Innsbruck; Fr./M., 1987; Breton]. Fr., Arramond J. Ch., Robine G. Le temple de Athtar d'as-Sawd''. , 1990; Finster V. An outline of the history of Islamic religious architecture in Yemen // Muqarnas. 1992. Vol. 9.

T. Kh. Starodub.

Music

Musical culture has common features with neighboring Arab countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, UAE, Oman, partly Saudi Arabia, South Iraq). The name of the musician of the pre-Islamic period is known - al-Asha Maymun ibn Qays (6th - 1st half of the 7th century). Classical music in Yemen, like the entire Muslim world, is based on the principles of maqam. The forms of cult music of Sufism and Zeidism are widespread. In mountain villages, coastal settlements of fishermen, Bedouins have preserved various types of oral creativity, specific regional styles are found in the central regions of the country, in Hadhramaut, Tihama, Mahra and Socotra. Some forms of music have developed under the influence of African culture (for example, the music of the zar healing rite). A specific layer is the music of Yemeni Jews, influenced by Arab music. The ancient traditions of urban music began to develop in the 16th century. Sana is famous for her cult singing (morning calls to prayer, hymns performed by professional singers - mashrabas, etc.). Among the popular genres is "Sana's music" (al-gina alsan'ani: solo improvisation in oud and the song itself). In Aden, the lahji style of lyric and political songs originated and since the 1980s has spread throughout Yemen.

Among the performers of the mid-20th century are the singer Muhammad Juma khan Salih, the singers and lute players Abdallah al-Antari, the singer Ahmad Fadl al-Lahji. In the last third of the 20th century, one of Yemen's greatest cultural figures worked - Jamil Ghanim (studied in Baghdad), folklorist, ethnographer, founder of the first ensemble of folk instruments in Yemen "Takht Yamani", founder and artistic director of the String Orchestra of the Armed Forces of Yemen (both - the beginning 1970s), Institute of Music (1973, since 1977 Institute of Fine Arts; all in Aden). The State Folk Dance Ensemble, founded on the basis of the Institute of Music (1974), toured the USSR and Eastern Europe. Among the composers are M. Atrash, A. ben Goudal, A. Kassem. Since the 1970s, Western pop music has spread.

Capital: Sana'a, Aden (the former capital of the Democratic Republic of Yemen) has the status of an economic capital.

Geography: The Republic of Yemen is a state in Southwest Asia, in the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula. In the west, the territory of Yemen is washed by the waters of the Red Sea, in the south and east - by the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea, in the north it borders with Saudi Arabia, and in the east - with Oman. The total area of \u200b\u200bthe country according to the UN is 528 thousand square meters. km. (the border in the north of the country runs through the desert and is not clearly defined). Yemen also owns a number of islands in the Red and Arabian Seas.

Big cities: Sanaa, Aden, Taiz, Hodeidah, Al-Mukalla.

Main seaports: Aden, Hodeidah, Moha, Salif, Al-Mukallah.

Time: In winter, it corresponds to Moscow, in summer it lags behind by 1 hour.

Nature: OK. 2/3 of the country's territory is occupied by the Yemen mountains (Jebel), the average height is 2000-2500 m above sea level. Mount An-Nabi-Shaib with a height of 3600 m is the highest point of the Arabian Peninsula. In the west, along the coast of the Red Sea, lies a very dry coastal plain - the Tihama Desert, one of the hottest places on Earth. In the east - low plateaus, gently sloping down to the Rub al-Khali desert. There are many extinct volcanoes. There are no permanent rivers. The vegetation cover is mostly desert and semi-desert; the date palm grows in the oases. On the slopes of the mountains there is sparse tree and shrub vegetation (acacia, mimosa, oleander, aloe, ficus). Socotra Island has rare tropical vegetation, including a dragon tree. Forests cover only 3.8% of the territory.

Climate: Tropical, mostly dry. Average temperature fluctuations in January are from +20 C to +25 C, in June from +21 C to +32 C. By the nature of the climate, the country is divided into several zones: the Tihama Desert (where there is an absolute maximum temperature of 45-55 C with relative humidity air up to 98%), the highland region, where the climate is dry continental with sharp changes in day and night temperatures (at night up to -20 C) and relative humidity of 10-20%, the Rub al-Khali desert region (less significant temperature changes) and coastal districts of Aden, Abyan and Hadhramaut, located in the tropical zone with a hot and humid climate. Precipitation falls from 40 to 1000 mm. in year.

Political system: The head of state is the president. The head of government is the prime minister. Legislative power is vested in a unicameral parliament (House of Representatives). Until now, tribal relations dominate in Yemen. Sheikhs have almost unlimited local power. Conflicts often arise between the authorities and the tribes.

Administrative divisions: 16 provinces.

Population: 19.35 million people (2003). The majority of the population are Arabs, the rest are Indians, Pakistanis, Ethiopians, Somalis and Jews. In the east and north-east of the country, St. 100 thousand nomads. The majority of the population is concentrated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula, around large cities. The urban population is 34%. The population density is 36.6 people / km2. Many Yemenis work in oil fields in other Arab countries.

Tongue: Arabic, most tourism and trade workers speak English.

Religion: State religion is Islam. Most of the believers are Muslims (in the south of the country, Shafi Sunnism is widespread, in the north, Zaidi Shiism), Judaists, etc.

Economy: Yemen is an agrarian country with an underdeveloped economy. GNP per capita. $ 260 (1995) 70% of the economically active population is employed in agriculture. Heavy natural conditions complicate the development of agriculture, only approx. 3% of the territory. Yemen is forced to import up to 70% of food. The main crops are date palm, tobacco, cereals, vegetables, cotton, etc. For export there are: coffee, indigo, sesame, ginger, tobacco, henna, cat. Fishing and pearling are traditionally important. In the areas of Mareb and Hadhramaut oil is extracted, ch. arr. for export. Traditional crafts: production of household utensils, textiles, leather goods, pottery and jewelry, edged weapons, etc.

Currency: Yemeni real. You can exchange currency in almost any bank and shop, as well as in numerous private exchange offices. Most large hotels, restaurants and shops accept credit cards (mainly American Express, MasterCard and Diners Club), in the provinces it is difficult to use them. Traveler's checks are used to a limited extent, although they are becoming more common, they are now accepted for payment in large shopping centers, hotels and on air transport. Tipping is up to 10%, although most often the cost of service is already included in the bill, in small private establishments it is necessary to specify the amount of the service fee in each case.

Major attractions: Most of the country, due to the peculiarities of the climate, is of little use for traditional tourism, although lovers of extreme recreation will find a lot of interesting things here for themselves - from races in the desert in jeeps and camels and conquering low but beautiful local mountains, to sand slalom and searching for numerous, as they say chronicles, but covered with desert medieval settlements.

In the capital, you should definitely visit the University, known since the 1st century, the Palace of the Sultans in a traditional oriental style. To the northeast of the capital lie the ruins of the ancient city of Main, one of the most mysterious in the region - there are still disputes about its builders and their origins. The numerous excavations of the ancient civilizations of Hadhramaut, Saba and the Himyarite kingdom are also interesting. The artisan workshops of Yemen are famous for their metal utensils, weapons, works on silver and gold, excellent coinage. Numerous mosques (Shibam, Taiz, Jibla) are scattered throughout the country, many of which are more than one hundred years old. In Shibam there is a unique architectural complex - "clay skyscrapers". These are clearly the first buildings of this type in the world, numbering 10-11 floors, white and yellow, made in the 19th century. only from fired clay without additional binding elements.

In the Gulf of Kamar and in the area of \u200b\u200bQusayir, Turba and about. Kamaran is home to picturesque coral reefs, the dream of any diver, but considered quite difficult and dangerous for diving due to the peculiarities of local currents. Also of special interest from the point of view of underwater archeology is the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait ("The Gate of Tears") at the bottom of which thousands of ships of all times and peoples who have crashed on reefs rest.

Historical overview: On the territory of Yemen at the turn of the 2nd - 1st millennium BC. e. the South Arabian civilization developed, the states of Hadhramaut, Kataban, Ausan, Saba, Main arose; OK. ser. 1st millennium BC e. the most significant is Saba (mentioned in the Bible). In the beginning. 4 c. n. e. the entire territory of Yemen is united into the Himyarite kingdom. From the 7th century. Yemen as part of the Muslim Arab Caliphate. In the 10th century. in North Yemen, the Shiite sect of the Zeidis established themselves. From the beginning. 16th century as part of the Ottoman Empire, since 1633 - an independent state, imamate of the Zeidites. By the beginning. 1870s the power of the Turkish sultan in North Yemen is restored. Since 1839, South Yemen comes under British rule (the colony of Aden and the Aden protectorates). During the anti-Ottoman uprising of 1904-11. North Yemen achieved autonomy, in 1918 an independent kingdom was proclaimed, headed by the imam of the Zeidis. In 1962, the Yemen Arab Republic (YAR) was proclaimed in North Yemen. In 1967, the independence of South Yemen was proclaimed (since 1970 the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, NDRY). In 1978-86, the pro-Soviet Yemeni Socialist Party was in power. In 1990, the YAR and NDRY merged into the Republic of Yemen. However, the country retained a tendency to delimit the southerners and northerners, which grew in 1994 into a major military conflict that ended in victory for the northerners.

National holiday: May 22 (National Day - Day of Yemeni Unity).

National domain: .YE

Entry rules: Visa regime, the minimum visa processing time is from 1 to 3 days. Documents required to obtain an entry visa: 3 photographs, 3 questionnaires (in Russian, English or Arabic, passport details in the original language), passport, invitation (if any) registered with the Yemeni Foreign Ministry, medical certificate for traveling abroad (for departure to work). To obtain a transit visa, you must have visas from neighboring states in your passport. The validity of an entry visa is 30 days from the date of issue at the consulate. Stay in the country is not limited. Tourist trips - only for groups of at least 6 people. Consular fee for citizens of Russia - $ 50, for citizens of Ukraine - $ 150, for citizens of other CIS countries - $ 60. Discounts for children with their own passport - 50%. Children entered in the parents' passport enter the country without paying a consular fee. When crossing the border, you must present a passport with an entry visa and an immigration card filled in Arabic or English, which indicates: full name, date and place of birth, nationality, profession, passport number, date and place of issue, purpose arrival in Yemen, entry visa number. For foreigners arriving in Yemen on general civil passports for a period of more than one month, it is required to obtain an HIV test certificate (only certificates obtained from the Central Blood Bank of Yemen are accepted for consideration).

Customs regulations: Import, export and exchange of national and foreign currency is not limited. A bank document is required indicating the source of origin of the currency if an amount of more than USD 10,000 is exported. Allowed duty-free import of cigarettes - 200 pcs., Alcoholic drinks - 2 bottles, food - within the limits necessary for personal consumption. It is forbidden to import gold bullion, printed and video products with erotic content without the permission of the bank of the country. When exported, weapons, antiques and art, items made of gold and precious metals are subject to mandatory customs control.

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Yemen is a state with a rich and interesting history, but many tourists do not know anything about it. Sometimes people ask the question “Yemen is the capital of which country?”, Not knowing that Yemen is a state. Of course, due to its climatic conditions, it cannot satisfy the wishes of tourists in terms of traditional recreation, but it is an excellent choice for those who love extreme and exotic.

Sana'a is a modern capital. Yemen is distinguished by unique deserts, beautiful picturesque mountains, the majestic Bab el-Mandeb Strait and volcanoes. In addition, here you can admire the architecture that has been preserved since ancient times.

A few words about the history of the country

Yemen is a country located in the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula and was called by ancient historians "Arabia Felix", which means "happy Arabia". It owes its prosperity to the famous trade caravan route of incense, along which incense, myrrh, and other aromatic resins were delivered to Greece, Rome, Egypt or Asia Minor. But after centuries, trade routes changed directions.

The people settled on this land much earlier than in other territories of the peninsula. Yemen is famous for its developed states that arose before our era. Archaeologists often find coins, beautiful jewelry, highly artistic sculptures and household items at the site of these ancient cities. In addition, even now, the Yemenis use spacious reservoirs that were carved into the rocks in ancient times.

The largest cities are Sana'a, the capital of Yemen, and Aden, Salif and Hodeidah, the port cities.

The history of the ancient city and the current capital of Sana'a

Again, the most ancient city of Sana'a is today's capital. Yemen is considered one of the first places where people settled, and according to the Bible, this city was founded by Shem, the son of Noah, after the Great Flood. But historians point to other facts that in the second-first centuries BC, the first human settlements arose on this territory.

It is worth noting that the city has always attracted various conquerors, as trade routes to Mediterranean countries passed through it. Therefore, Sanaa was the capital of the Yafurids in the 9th-10th centuries, then in the 12th century - the Ayyubids, and after a couple of centuries it becomes the main city of the Tahirid dynasty (in the 16th century). But already in 1517 the city was captured by the army of the Ottoman Empire, and Sanaa received the status of the capital in the autonomous Turkish imamate. Later, the city became the seat of the Zeidi imams of Yemen.

Several centuries later, the Turks captured Sanaa again, but forty years later, in 1911, she passed to Imam Yahya ibn Muhammad. And in 1918 the city becomes the capital of the Kingdom of Yemen. After the death of the ruler, his son Ahmed ibn Yahya Hamidadtsin received power, who issued a decree on the transfer of the capital to the city of Taiz.

During this period, the anti-monarchist revolution began, which led to the proclamation of the Yemen Arab Republic. And also a struggle for power arose between the rulers, which led to a civil war that lasted for many years.

It was only in 1990 that Sana'a again received its former capital status, and Yemen became a unified state.

Yemen's modern capital and largest city - Sana'a

Now Sana'a is not only the capital of Yemen, but also an industrial, cultural and commercial center. Previously, various valuable stones were mined in the mountains surrounding the city, such as carnelian, onyx and chalcedony. Also in the old days it was famous for its metalworking, but, unfortunately, at the moment there are only handicraft workshops in which craftsmen create edged weapons.

In the south of the Arabian Peninsula, Sanou can rightfully be called the center of crafts, as there are thousands of different workshops that create products from gold, silver or copper, as well as furniture and fabric. In addition, the city has large industrial enterprises engaged in the production of cement and tobacco.

Like many centuries ago, Sana'a is the most important center for trade. In addition, it is also a large agricultural center. It should be noted that the city has a very fertile land due to the abundant rain (relative to other regions of the country) and its volcanic origin.

Currently, Sana'a is home to about 2 million people.

sights

Despite the fact that Sana'a is the economic capital of Yemen, the city carefully guards and honors its history. The old town was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, as the unique buildings and structures, which are more than 400-500 years old, are in excellent condition, and their facades are decorated with all kinds of intricate borders and beautiful windows made in Arab traditions. Above these buildings are minarets, which were built in accordance with classical Islamic patterns. It is worth noting that many consider them the hallmark of the capital.

The citadel of Qasr el-Sila is the historical center of the city; it has retained its original appearance since the 7th century.

The Sana'a Grand Mosque is the second most popular attraction in the city. This mosque is the largest in Sanaa and one of the oldest in the world.

In addition, there are other very attractive attractions in the capital:

Souk Al Mil Central Market.
... Jambia Market.
... Palace of the Republic.
... The oldest university.
... Museum of Arts and Crafts.
... War Museum.

Unique spots in the area

The capital of Yemen - Sana'a - is surrounded by no less interesting places. For example, a little further from the capital towards the north, there are the most beautiful vineyards, fertile lands, palaces and a mosque. And if you move towards the south, you will see almost the resort town of Shibam with its mild climate.

In the northwest of the capital is the summer residence of Imam Dar al-Hajar. But in the northeastern side is the ancient capital of the Kingdom of Main, which used to be a very important center of trade.

The city of Aden and its attractions

The ex-capital of Yemen, Aden, is located in the southernmost part of the country on the shores of the bay. The city was founded in the crater of an extinct volcano, and that is why many call the old part of the city Crater. Aden for many is the second capital of Yemen. The main attractions of the city:

Sultan Lahej's palace (now the National Museum).
... Rimbod Mansion.
... War Museum.
... Ethnographical museum.
... Sayyid Abdullah al-Aydarus Mosque.
... Fortification complexes of Jebal Hadid and Jebal Shamsan.

The former capital of Yemen is famous for its picturesque and beautiful surroundings, there are many tempting shores with the purest sand, there are large rocky massifs, and the swampy shores of Sailan Bay, and volcanic bays, as well as small villages of fishermen.

Sanaa, the capital, is beautiful and amazing. Yemen has retained its great history, while developing both economically and culturally.

Yemen ... What do we know about this country? Where is it? What interesting can you tell about the cities of Yemen? Our article will introduce you to one of the most mysterious countries

A wonderful country, an unknown country ...

Are we familiar enough with a state like Yemen? Probably not. Yemen is little written about and rarely mentioned in news broadcasts. Tourists and travelers also do not often visit this country. She seems to be isolated, cut off from the rest of the world.

In part, this cut off is due to the country's geographic location. The Republic of Yemen is located on the very edge of the Arabian Peninsula and is washed on both sides by the seas of the Indian Ocean. Typical landscapes of Yemen are lifeless deserts and rocky massifs covered with sparse vegetation. In some areas of the state, it does not rain for years.

Yemen is a rather poor country. In terms of the standard of living of citizens, it occupies a far from honorable 151st place in the world. The unemployment rate is around 30%. True, this figure is largely due to the fact that women do not work here at all. It is far from safe for tourists to be in the country, especially outside the large cities of Yemen. Foreign guests can travel around the republic only accompanied by local armed "bodyguards".

In Yemen, many men still walk the streets with submachine guns at the ready. And this is not surprising if you get acquainted with the latest history of the country. 1994 - civil war, 1995 - conflict with Eritrea, 2011 - revolution. The last conflict erupted here in 2014, when Yemeni government forces clashed with the radical Shiite group Ansar Allah.

Yemen population, economy and cities

Yemen's population is growing rapidly. Today it is home to about 25 million people. These are mainly Arabs, as well as small groups of immigrants from India and East Africa. The latter come here, oddly enough, to work. For example, from Somalia, where the standard of living is even lower than in Yemen.

Yemen's economy is based on oil production and processing, as well as agriculture. The country grows grain, cotton and beans (fruits in the oases), goats, sheep and camels. There are small enterprises in the textile and food industries, handicrafts are developed.

Administratively, the Republic of Yemen is divided into 22 governorates and 333 districts. There are 51 cities and over 38 thousand villages in the country. The largest cities in Yemen are listed below:

• Sana.
• Aden.
• Taiz.
• Hodeida.
• Mukalla.
• Damar.
• Sayvun.

Sana'a, Yemen: capital of the republic

Every tenth Yemeni lives here. Sana - the largest city Yemen and its main financial and cultural center of the country. Sana'a is also considered one of the most ancient cities not only in Asia, but throughout the world. The first mention of the current capital of Yemen, Sana'a, dates back to the first century AD. Today the historic city center is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Geographically, the city of Sana'a is located in the western part of the country, in a desert tropical climate. Its name translates from arabic as a "strong, fortified structure." The city is surrounded by low mountains from almost all sides.

The modern city of Sana'a is a large metropolis with a population of 2.5 million. It is an important center for trade as well as the Islamic religion in the Arab world. There are more than a hundred mosques in the city. There are also many attractions in Sanaa. Several thousand historic buildings dating back to the 11th century have survived here. Tourists are also attracted by the local bazaar, which is one of the oldest in all of Asia.

City of Aden: the country's main port

Aden is the second largest city in the republic and the largest on the coast of Yemen. There is an international airport and an important transit port located on one of the world's busiest sea routes. Aden is located on the shores of the bay of the same name. It has been known about it since ancient times.

Today the city is home to about 800 thousand people. Historically, Aden is divided into several distinct regions:

• Sina is the oldest and most populous area (historical center).
• At-Tuvakhi is the area of \u200b\u200bBritish colonists.
• The seaport is a deep harbor of natural origin, which was "ennobled" by the English colonists and equipped by them to receive large sea vessels.
• Little Aden is an industrial area of \u200b\u200bthe city, which arose on the basis of a large oil refinery.

Among the sights of Aden are both architectural monuments of the ancient period (Syrah Fortress, Aden Gate) and numerous buildings of the colonial era (St. Joseph's Temple, Aden's Big Ben, and others). The city is also known for the fact that the famous French poet Arthur Rimbaud lived in it for some time. His house has survived in Aden.

Walled city Rada

Rada is a city in the south of Yemen (180 km from the capital), which is home to about 60 thousand people. Perhaps one of the most interesting and most beautiful in the country.

In the second half of the 15th century, the city was the capital of the Takhirid kingdom, which managed to conquer Aden from the powerful and influential Rasulid dynasty. Since those distant times, he has managed to preserve a unique atmosphere, as well as a number of ancient buildings built of unusual clay bricks. Outside, these bricks are covered with a layer of gray clay. And this layer is renewed annually.

The main attraction of the Rada is the medieval mosque El-Amiriya, surrounded by an impregnable fortress wall. It has one unique feature - it does not have a minaret.

Shibam - a city under the protection of UNESCO

This city is located within the country's largest governorate, Hadhramaut, in the valley of the dry river of the same name. Shibam was founded at the beginning of our era. It is famous, first of all, for its original architecture.

Shibam is called the "Manhattan of the Desert". This name was awarded to him by the German journalist and traveler Hans Helfritz back in the 30s of the last century. However, all the "skyscrapers" here are built ... from ordinary clay! Due to its architecture, the city of Shibam was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List (in 1982).

A wide avenue runs through the whole city. Numerous lanes depart from it in different directions. Some of them are no more than two meters wide. All buildings in Shibam are built from madar, a local building material (raw clay and straw). Most of them date back to the 19th century.