Article:
ISSUE No. 10 May - June 2008

Country Overview: Yemen
Cultural Treasures in Arabia Felix

Yemen is one and a half times as large as Germany which makes it the second largest country, after Saudi Arabia, on the Arabian Peninsula. It has a total of 2,500 kilometers of coastline and is in a privileged location for all beach enthusiasts. Yet the fascinating cultural treasures are what really make Yemen worth the trip.

Population
The country has twenty million residents. The ratio of young people is especially high here with forty-seven percent under the age of fifteen and only three percent of the population over sixty-five years old. Yemen’s inhabitants are ninety-seven percent Arabs who in the western region often have African and in the south have Asian roots. Europeans are found in the larger cities. The country’s religion is Islam with Sunni-Shiites in the south and Shiites of the Zaydi sect in the north as well as a minority group of Isma’ilis. There are also small communities of Yemenite Jews as well as foreign Christians and Hindus. The official language is Arabic, but English is considered to be the primary business and trade language. The largest city in Yemen is the capital Sanaa with 1.8 million residents. Al-Hudaida, Taizz and Aden each have approximately 500,000 residents. The official currency of Yemen is the rial.

History
The country looks back on 3,000 years of history which was marked by numerous occupations and a long period of separation of North Yemen from South Yemen. Yemen was part of the Persian Empire from 570 AD to 627 AD. During the 10th century Yemen became an independent state. The country’s independence was continuously challenged, and Yemen was often conquered by foreign invaders. It was occupied by the Fatimids, the Ayyubids and the Rasulids until it fell under Ottoman rule in 1517. During the 16th century, the Portuguese occupied Aden and Socotra. The British came in 1839 to build their support-base for their sea-route to India. The British shared their territories with the Ottoman Empire.
A border between North Yemen and South Yemen was established in 1905 and led to a long-lasting separation of the country with uneven progress and growth in each region. Northern Yemen became an independent kingdom in 1918 in which political unrest and frequent change of government were common occurrences. Civil war broke out in 1962 between the royalists and republicans and lasted for eight years. It was won by the republicans who founded the Arab Republic of Yemen. Things were much quieter in the south. Almost at the same time (1963) that skirmishes happened in the North, the “National Liberation Front” led a gorilla war against the Colonial powers of Great Britain and proclaimed the Democratic People’s Republic of Yemen in November of 1967.
There were frequent border conflicts between the two states, but also repeated negotiations for a political union of North Yemen and South Yemen. On January 22nd, 1990 the borders were eliminated by both sides and exactly four months later, on May 22nd 1990, the northern Arab Republic of Yemen and the southern Democratic Peoples Republic of Yemen united and formed the Republic of Yemen.

Politics
Yemen has a parliament-controlled Presidential System. In 1999, the current head of state Ali Abdullah Salih was elected as the first head of the consoloidated state and was reconfirmed in his office in 2006. Current laws prevent him from being elected again and it is expected that his son Ahmad Salih will be instated during the elections in 2013.
Since Salih has taken office, he has worked for equal rights for men and women, the implementation of basic laws as well as democracy for the state. All Yemenites over the age of eighteen have the right to vote. The government was also able to control the border conflicts with neighboring countries of Oman and Saudi Arabia. Also relations with USA and Great Britain, which had suffered because of Yemen’s Pro-Iraq position in the second Gulf-War, were greatly improved. Internal politics in Yemen are still marred by continued unrest due to the North-South conflicts and the abduction of tourists.

Economy
During pre-Islamic times, Yemen was one of the largest distributors of precious stones, spices and myrrh. There was even a monopoly on frankincense which was much sought after in Europe. Besides that, the country profited early from its active trade with India as well as their artificial irrigation. This was highly commended by the Romans with the title: “Arabia Felix”…prosperous Arabia. Today Yemen is one of the poorest countries in Arabia. More than forty-five percent of the population lives on less than two dollars a day. The economy of the country is almost solely dependent on delivery and export of oil. Experts predict that Yemeni oil reserves will be depleted by 2016. The country faces a huge economic challenge to establish and develop alternative sources of income.
Although only seven percent of the land is useable for agriculture, this area is a huge part of the economy and employs more than sixty percent of the working force. Tourism also has great potential, but suffers constant setbacks due to kidnapping of foreigners. Yemen aspires to become a member of the “World Trade Organization” in 2008.

Geography
Yemen borders on the Red Sea in the west, the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea in the south. Neighbors are Saudi Arabia in the north and Oman in the east. The island of Socotra (3,600 square kilometers) and numerous small islands in the Red Sea, Arabian Sea and in Bab Al-Mandab are part of Yemen as well.
The country can be divided into three large landscapes. The west-coast is dominated by sand and gravel areas before the flat coastal region rises steeply in the country’s center and forms a mountain chain which rises up as high as 3,000 meters in some areas. In the southwest, the coastal plains show protruding mountain flanks as well as evidence of early volcano eruptions; for instance the city of Aden lies in a double-crater. The tallest mountain in the country is Jabal an Nabi Shuayb; it is 3,670 meters high and is located southwest of the capital city of Sanaa. Mountains make up more than a third of the land with the main mountain chain called Al-Sarat. Towards the east, the mountains make way for Wadi streaked highlands with average elevations of 2,000 to 2,500 meters which in the northeast slowly go down in terraced slopes into the central Arabian Desert Al-Rub al Khali.

Climate
Yemen is the only country on the Arabian Peninsula with regular precipitation. This is only true in the mountain regions; the islands and the coastal plains see very little rain. Because of the diverse landscape the climate varies a lot. The coastal plains area has a very humid and hot tropical climate with average relative humidity of sixty to eighty-five percent. Temperatures remain warm during the day even in the winter months with 23 degrees C at night and 31 degrees C during the day. It is almost unbearable during the summer months when temperatures reach above 40 degrees C. Even at night it seldom gets cooler than 26 degrees C. There are tropical nights when the thermometer stays at 30 degrees C.
The climate in the mountain region is rather mild in comparison. Winters are dry with great temperature fluctuations. Temperatures plummet to nearly freezing at night, but during the day the sunshine brings the temperatures back up to around 24 degrees C. Summers here are moderately humid with frequent rainy days from March to August.
The climate in the highlands remains dry almost year-around, winters are mild but also have huge day-to-night temperature fluctuations. Summers are pretty hot with day temperatures around 36 C degrees. Temperatures of 45 C degrees are not unusual in the outskirts of the desert regions.
Indian monsoon rains bring cool weather during summer when light rain showers are not uncommon in the Yemeni southern coast; but this is not the case in the west coast.

Nature
Salt-loving grasses as well as bushes and shrubs grow on the lava fields of the west coast. The south coast has coconut palms, myrrh bushes and frankincense trees. The highlands and the center of the country are dominated by fig trees, date palms and acacias. Further north toward are the highland plains then the landscape changes to semi-desert, and then desert.
A huge problem in Yemen is the lack of drinking water. Wells that have yielded this important resource until now are drying up and there are hardly any plans for setting up drilling rigs or laying waterlines. Groundwater is being used by the fast growing population much faster than it can be replenished by rainfall. The water shortage in this country is the most severe in the world, partially because of the severe contamination of the existing water.

Culture
A trip to Yemen makes a deep insight into the old Arabian culture possible. The country has several cultural treasures of bygone days. Three of them are on the UNESCO world cultural heritage list: the capital city of Sanaa as well as Shibam and Zabid. These cities attest, with their antique architecture, the beauty of the buildings and the small alleys, of the old culture and the unique architectural style of this country. Yemen’s cities are museums under open skies. Especially the old town of Sanaa, one of the largest intact cities in the Arab world, is evidence of the special art of housing construction. The Yemeni style shows buildings constructed of dark basalt rock and clay bricks with facades richly and artistically adorned with white gypsum. The historical importance of the city is evident by the number of houses that date back to 1000 AD. The country also has numerous picturesque villages which sometimes perch atop mountains and represent a tour de force of building techniques.
The cultural treasures of days gone by have not all been discovered yet: just in March of 2008 German archeologists made a monumental discovery. They found a temple of the old kingdom of Saba - in good condition - in the city of Sirwah. German researchers are also restoring a building complex from the Almaqah shrine which dates back to around 700 BC.

Relations with Germany
Relations with Germany are especially good in the economic field. Yemen considers Germany a preferred trading partner. Germany imports many agricultural goods from Yemen and Yemen in turn receives large quantities of machinery as well as automobiles and commercial vehicles. This merchandise exchange has risen significantly in recent years. Germany’s developmental politics have also been received positively. The main focus of this liaison is the fight against poverty as well as the improvement of infrastructure, especially for water supply and waste-water disposal.
The two countries have very good relations, because Germany was clearly on Yemen’s side and supported Yemen during the secession war of 1994. Since 1998, the University of Sanaa has been offering, besides English and French, German as a foreign language again