Ancient history With its long sea border between eastern and western civilizations, Yemen has long existed at a crossroads of cultures with a strategic location in terms of trade on the west of the Arabian Peninsula. Large settlements for their era existed in the mountains of northern Yemen as early as 5000 BC. The
Sabaean Kingdom existed in
Yemen from 1000 BC to 275 AD. is thought to be biblical Sheba and was the most prominent federation. The Sabaean rulers adopted the title
Mukarrib generally thought to mean
unifier, or a
priest-king, or the head of the confederation of South Arabian kingdoms, the "king of the kings". The role of the Mukarrib was to bring the various tribes under the kingdom and preside over them all. The Sabaeans built the
Great Dam of Marib around 940 BC. The dam was built to withstand the seasonal flash floods surging down the valley. By the third century BC, Qataban, Hadhramaut, and Ma'in became independent from Saba and established themselves in the Yemeni arena. Minaean rule stretched as far as
Dedan, with their capital at
Baraqish. The Sabaeans regained their control over Ma'in after the collapse of Qataban in 50 BC. By the time of the Roman expedition to Arabia Felix in 25 BC, the Sabaeans were once again the dominating power in Southern Arabia.
Aelius Gallus was ordered to lead a military campaign to establish Roman dominance over the Sabaeans. The
Romans had a vague and contradictory geographical knowledge about Arabia Felix. A Roman army of 10,000 men was defeated before reaching
Marib.
Strabo's close relationship with Aelius Gallus led him to attempt to justify his friend's defeat in his writings. It took the Romans six months to reach Marib and 60 days to return to
Egypt. The Romans blamed their
Nabataean guide and executed him for treachery. No direct mention in Sabaean inscriptions of the Roman expedition has yet been found. After the Roman expedition (perhaps earlier) the country fell into chaos, and two clans, namely
Hamdan and
Himyar, claimed kingship, assuming the title King of Sheba and
Dhu Raydan. Dhu Raydan,
i.e., Himyarites, allied themselves with
Aksum in Ethiopia against the Sabaeans. The chief of
Bakil and king of Saba and Dhu Raydan,
El Sharih Yahdhib, launched successful campaigns against the Himyarites and Habashat,
i.e.,
Aksum. El Sharih took pride in his campaigns and added the title Yahdhib to his name, which means "suppressor"; he used to kill his enemies by cutting them to pieces. Sanaa came into prominence during his reign, as he built the
Ghumdan Palace as his place of residence. , a
Himyarite king who probably reigned in the late 3rd or early 4th century AD. Displayed in the
National Museum of Yemen. gravestone of a woman holding a stylized sheaf of wheat, a symbol of fertility in ancient Yemen The Himyarites annexed Sanaa from Hamdan around 100 AD.
Hashdi tribesmen rebelled against them and regained Sanaa around 180.
Shammar Yahri'sh had conquered Hadhramaut,
Najran, and
Tihamah by 275, thus unifying Yemen and consolidating Himyarite rule. The Himyarites rejected
polytheism and adhered to a consensual form of
monotheism called
Rahmanism. to god
Ta'lab In 354, Roman Emperor
Constantius II sent an embassy headed by
Theophilos the Indian to convert the Himyarites to Christianity. According to
Philostorgius, the mission was resisted by local Jews. Several inscriptions have been found in
Hebrew and
Sabaean praising the ruling house in Jewish terms for "...helping and empowering the People of Israel." According to Islamic traditions, King
As'ad the Perfect mounted a military expedition to support the Jews of
Yathrib. Abu Kariba As'ad, as known from the inscriptions, led a military campaign to central Arabia or
Najd to support the vassal
Kingdom of Kinda against the
Lakhmids. However, no direct reference to Judaism or Yathrib was discovered from his lengthy reign. Abu Kariba died in 445, having reigned for almost 50 years. By 515, Himyar became increasingly divided along religious lines and a bitter conflict between different factions paved the way for an
Aksumite intervention. The last Himyarite king Ma'adikarib Ya'fur was supported by Aksum against his Jewish rivals. Ma'adikarib was Christian and launched a campaign against the Lakhmids in southern
Iraq, with the support of other Arab allies of
Byzantium. The Lakhmids were a bulwark of
Persia, which was intolerant to a proselytizing religion like Christianity. After the death of Ma'adikarib Ya'fur around 521, a Himyarite Jewish warlord called
Dhu Nuwas rose to power. Emperor
Justinian I sent an embassy to Yemen. He wanted the officially Christian Himyarites to use their influence on the tribes in inner Arabia to launch military operations against Persia. Justinian I bestowed the "dignity of king" upon the Arab
sheikhs of Kindah and
Ghassan in central and northern Arabia. From early on, Roman and Byzantine policy was to develop close links with the powers of the coast of the
Red Sea. They were successful in converting Aksum and influencing their culture. The results concerning to Yemen were rather disappointing. Abraha died around 570. The
Sasanid Empire annexed Aden around 570. Under their rule, most of Yemen enjoyed great autonomy except for Aden and Sanaa. This era marked the collapse of ancient South Arabian civilization, since the greater part of the country was under several independent clans until the arrival of Islam in 630.
Middle Ages Advent of Islam and the three dynasties , the oldest mosque in Yemen
Muhammad sent his cousin
Ali to Sanaa and its surroundings around 630. At the time, Yemen was the most advanced region in Arabia. The
Banu Hamdan confederation was among the first to accept Islam. Muhammad sent
Muadh ibn Jabal, as well to Al-Janad, in present-day
Taiz, and dispatched letters to various tribal leaders. Major tribes, including Himyar, sent delegations to
Medina during the "year of delegations" around 630–631. Several Yemenis accepted Islam before 630, such as
Ammar ibn Yasir,
Al-Ala'a Al-Hadrami,
Miqdad ibn Aswad,
Abu Musa Ashaari, and
Sharhabeel ibn Hasana. A man named
'Abhala ibn Ka'ab Al-Ansi expelled the remaining Persians and claimed he was a prophet of
Rahman. He was assassinated by a Yemeni of Persian origin called
Fayruz al-Daylami. Christians, who were mainly staying in
Najran along with Jews, agreed to pay
jizyah (), although some Jews converted to Islam, such as
Wahb ibn Munabbih and
Ka'ab al-Ahbar. Yemen was stable during the
Rashidun Caliphate. Yemeni tribes played a pivotal role in the Islamic expansion into Egypt, Iraq, Persia, the
Levant,
Anatolia,
North Africa,
Sicily, and
Andalusia. Yemeni tribes who settled in
Syria contributed significantly to the solidification of
Umayyad rule, especially during the reign of
Marwan I. Powerful Yemenite tribes such as Kinda were on his side during the
Battle of Marj Rahit. Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn Ziyad founded the Ziyadid dynasty in
Tihamah around 818. The state stretched from
Haly (in present-day Saudi Arabia) to Aden. They nominally recognized the
Abbasid Caliphate but ruled independently from
Zabid. By virtue of its location, they developed a special relationship with
Abyssinia. The chief of the
Dahlak islands exported slaves, as well as amber and leopard hides, to the ruler of Yemen. They controlled only a small portion of the coastal strip in Tihamah along the Red Sea, and never exercised control over the highlands and Hadhramaut. A Himyarite clan called the
Yufirids established their rule over the highlands from
Saada to
Taiz, while Hadhramaut was an Ibadi stronghold and rejected all allegiance to the Abbasids in
Baghdad. Yahya persuaded local tribesmen to follow his teachings. The sect slowly spread across the highlands, as the tribes of
Hashid and
Bakil, later known as "the twin wings of the imamate", accepted his authority. He founded the
Zaidi imamate in 897. Yahya established his influence in Saada and Najran. He also tried to capture Sanaa from the Yufirids in 901 but failed miserably.
Sulayhid dynasty (1047–1138) The
Sulayhid dynasty was founded in the northern highlands around 1040; at the time, Yemen was ruled by different local dynasties. In 1060,
Ali ibn Muhammad Al-Sulayhi conquered Zabid and killed its ruler Al-Najah, founder of the Najahid dynasty. His sons were forced to flee to Dahlak. Hadhramaut fell into Sulayhid hands after their capture of Aden in 1162. By 1063, Ali had subjugated
Greater Yemen. He then marched toward
Hejaz and occupied
Makkah. Ali was married to
Asma bint Shihab, who governed Yemen with her husband. The
Khutba during
Friday prayers was proclaimed in both her husband's name and hers. No other Arab woman had this honor since the advent of Islam. He later installed the Zurayids to govern Aden. al-Mukarram, who had been afflicted with facial paralysis resulting from war injuries, retired in 1087 and handed over power to his wife
Arwa al-Sulayhi. Queen Arwa moved the seat of the Sulayhid dynasty from Sanaa to
Jibla, a small town in central Yemen near
Ibb. She sent Ismaili missionaries to India, where a significant Ismaili community was formed that exists to this day. Queen Arwa continued to rule securely until her death in 1138. Shortly after Arwa's death, the country was split between five competing petty dynasties along religious lines. The
Ayyubid dynasty overthrew the
Fatimid Caliphate in Egypt. A few years after their rise to power,
Saladin dispatched his brother
Turan Shah to conquer Yemen in 1174.
Ayyubid conquest (1171–1260) Turan Shah conquered Zabid from the
Mahdids in 1174, then marched toward Aden in June and captured it from the Zurayids. The
Hamdanid sultans of Sanaa resisted the Ayyubid in 1175, and the Ayyubids did not manage to secure Sanaa until 1189. The Ayyubid rule was stable in southern and central Yemen, where they succeeded in eliminating the ministates of that region, while Ismaili and Zaidi tribesmen continued to hold out in several fortresses. In 1191, Zaydis of
Shibam Kawkaban rebelled and killed 700 Ayyubid soldiers. Imam
Abdullah bin Hamza proclaimed the imamate in 1197 and fought al-Mu'izz Ismail, the Ayyubid Sultan of Yemen. Imam Abdullah was defeated at first but was able to conquer Sanaa and
Dhamar in 1198, and al-Mu'izz Ismail was assassinated in 1202.
Abdullah bin Hamza carried on the struggle against the Ayyubid until his death in 1217. After his demise, the Zaidi community was split between two rival imams. The Zaydis were dispersed, and a truce was signed with the Ayyubid in 1219. The Ayyubid army was defeated in
Dhamar in 1226. Other sources suggest that he was forced to leave for Egypt instead in 1223.
Rasulid dynasty (1229–1454) in
Taiz, the capital of Yemen under the
Rasulid dynasty The
Rasulid dynasty was established in 1229 by
Umar ibn Ali, who was appointed deputy governor by the Ayyubids in 1223. When the last Ayyubid ruler left Yemen in 1229, Umar stayed in the country as caretaker. He subsequently declared himself an independent king by assuming the title "al-Malik Al-Mansur" (the king assisted by
Allah). After the
fall of Baghdad to the
Mongols in 1258, al-Muzaffar Yusuf I appropriated the title of
caliph. The Rasulid sultans built numerous
Madrasas to solidify the
Shafi'i school of thought, which is still the dominant school of
jurisprudence amongst Yemenis today. Under their rule, Taiz and Zabid became major international centres of Islamic learning. The kings were educated men in their own right, who not only had important libraries but also wrote treatises on a wide array of subjects, ranging from astrology and medicine to agriculture and genealogy. The Tahirids were too weak either to contain the Zaydi imams or to defend themselves against foreign attacks. Realizing how rich the Tahirid realm was, the Mamluks decided to conquer it. The Mamluk army, with the support of forces loyal to Zaydi Imam
Al-Mutawakkil Yahya Sharaf ad-Din, conquered the entire Tahirid realm but failed to capture Aden in 1517. The Mamluk victory was short-lived. The
Ottoman Empire conquered Egypt, hanging the last Mamluk Sultan in
Cairo. by offering stiff, vigorous resistance to the Turkish occupation. The Mamluks tried to attach Yemen to Egypt and the Portuguese led by
Afonso de Albuquerque, occupied the island of
Socotra and made an unsuccessful attack on Aden in 1513.
Portuguese (1498–1756) failed twice to
conquer Aden, though the
Portuguese Empire managed to rule
Socotra until 1511 Starting in the 15th century,
Portugal intervened, dominating the port of Aden for about 20 years and maintaining a fortified enclave on the island of Socotra during this period. From the 16th century, the Portuguese posed an immediate threat to Indian Ocean trade. The Mamluks therefore sent an army under Hussein al-Kurdi to fight the intruders The Mamluk sultan went to Zabid in 1515 and entered into diplomatic talks with the Tahiri sultan 'Amir bin Abdulwahab for money that would be needed for the jihad against the Portuguese. Instead of confronting them, the Mamluks, who were running out of food and water, landed on the coast of Yemen and began harassing the villagers of Tihamah to obtain the supplies they needed. The interest of Portugal on the Red Sea consisted on the one hand of guaranteeing contacts with a Christian ally in Ethiopia and on the other of being able to attack Mecca and the Arab territories from the rear, while still having absolute dominance over trade of spices, the main intention was to dominate the commerce of the cities on the coast of Africa and Arabia. To this end, Portugal sought to influence and dominate by force or persuasion all the ports and kingdoms that fought among themselves. It was common for Portugal to keep under its influence the Arab allies that were interested in maintaining independence from other Arab states in the region.
Modern history The Zaydis and Ottomans in
Sanaa was built in 1597. The Ottomans had two fundamental interests to safeguard in Yemen—the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina, and the trade route with India for spices and textiles, both threatened, and the latter virtually eclipsed, by the arrival of the Portuguese in the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea in the early 16th century.
Hadım Suleiman Pasha, the Ottoman governor of
Egypt, was ordered to command a fleet of 90 ships to conquer Yemen. The country was in a state of incessant anarchy and discord as Pasha described it by saying: Imam
al-Mutawakkil Yahya Sharaf ad-Din ruled over the northern highlands including Sanaa, while Aden was held by the last Tahiride Sultan 'Amir ibn Dauod. Pasha stormed Aden in 1538, killing its ruler, and extended Ottoman authority to include Zabid in 1539 and eventually Tihamah in its entirety. Zabid became the administrative headquarters of Yemen Eyalet. Of 80,000 soldiers sent to Yemen from Egypt between 1539 and 1547, only 7,000 survived. The Ottoman accountant-general in Egypt remarked: Al-Mutahhar was lame, so he was not qualified for the imamate. Indeed, Ottoman troops supported by tribal forces loyal to Imam al-Mutahhar stormed Taiz and marched north toward Sanaa in August 1547. The Turks officially made Imam al-Mutahhar a
Sanjak-bey with authority over
'Amran. Imam al-Mutahhar assassinated the Ottoman colonial governor and recaptured Sanaa, but the Ottomans, led by
Özdemir Pasha, forced al-Mutahhar to retreat to his fortress in
Thula. Özdemir Pasha effectively put Yemen under Ottoman rule between 1552 and 1560. Özdemir died in Sanaa in 1561 and was succeeded by
Mahmud Pasha. Mahmud Pasha was described by other Ottoman officials as a corrupt and unscrupulous governor, and he was displaced by Ridvan Pasha in 1564. By 1565, Yemen was split into two provinces, the highlands under the command of Ridvan Pasha and Tihamah under Murad Pasha. Imam al-Mutahhar launched a propaganda campaign in which he claimed that the prophet Mohammed came to him in a dream and advised him to wage
jihad against the Ottomans. Al-Mutahhar led the tribes to capture Sanaa from Ridvan Pasha in 1567. When Murad tried to relieve Sanaa, highland tribesmen ambushed his unit and slaughtered all of them. Over 80 battles were fought. The last decisive encounter took place in Dhamar around 1568, in which Murad Pasha was beheaded and his head sent to al-Mutahhar in Sanaa. By 1568, only Zabid remained under the possession of the Turks. The army entered the city in triumph and killed its governor. Ottoman troops attacked the Yemenis by hiding at the wells that supplied them with water. This plan proceeded successfully, causing the Yemenis over 200 casualties, most from thirst. Al-Mu'ayyad Muhammad died in 1644. He was succeeded by
Al-Mutawakkil Isma'il, another son of al-Mansur al-Qasim, who conquered Yemen in its entirety. Yemen became the sole
coffee producer in the world. The country established diplomatic relations with the
Safavid dynasty of Persia, Ottomans of Hejaz,
Mughal Empire in India, and Ethiopia, as well. In the first half of the 18th century, the Europeans broke Yemen's monopoly on coffee by smuggling coffee trees and cultivating them in their own colonies in the East Indies, East Africa, the West Indies, and Latin America. The imamate did not follow a cohesive mechanism for succession, and family quarrels and tribal insubordination led to the political decline of the Qasimi dynasty in the 18th century.
Great Britain and the nine regions , built by the English in the 19th century as ''St. Mary's Church'', was converted into the building of the Legislative Council in the 1960s, and is now a museum. The British were looking for a coal depot to service their steamers en route to India. It took 700 tons of coal for a round-trip from
Suez to
Bombay.
East India Company officials decided on
Aden. The
British Empire tried to reach an agreement with the Zaydi imam of Sanaa, permitting them a foothold in Mocha, and when unable to secure their position, they extracted a similar agreement from the
Sultan of Lahej, enabling them to consolidate a position in Aden. The British managed to occupy Aden and evicted the Sultan of Lahej from Aden and forced him to accept their "protection". The English presence in Aden put them at odds with the Ottomans. The Turks asserted to the British that they held sovereignty over the whole of Arabia, including Yemen as the successor of Mohammed and the Chief of the Universal Caliphate.
Ottoman return Grand Vizier and
Wāli of Yemen
Ahmed Muhtar Pasha The Ottomans were concerned about the British expansion from the
British-ruled subcontinent to the Red Sea and Arabia. They returned to the Tihamah in 1849 after an absence of two centuries. Rivalries and disturbances continued among the Zaydi imams, between them and their deputies, with the
ulema, with the heads of tribes, as well as with those who belonged to other sects. Some citizens of Sanaa were desperate to return law and order to Yemen and asked the Ottoman Pasha in Tihamah to pacify the country. The opening of the
Suez Canal in 1869 strengthened the Ottoman decision to remain in Yemen. By 1873, the Ottomans succeeded in conquering the northern highlands. Sanaa became the administrative capital of
Yemen Vilayet. The Ottomans learned from their previous experience and worked on the disempowerment of local lords in the highland regions. They even attempted to secularize the Yemeni society, while
Yemenite Jews came to perceive themselves in Yemeni nationalist terms. The Ottomans appeased the tribes by forgiving their rebellious chiefs and appointing them to administrative posts. They introduced a series of reforms to enhance the country's economic welfare. However, corruption was widespread in the Ottoman administration in Yemen. This was because only the worst of the officials were appointed because those who could avoid serving in Yemen did so. The Ottomans had reasserted control over the highlands for a temporary duration. The tribal chiefs were difficult to appease and an endless cycle of violence curbed Ottoman efforts to pacify the land.
Ahmed Izzet Pasha proposed that the Ottoman army evacuate the highlands and confine itself to Tihamah, and not unnecessarily burden itself with continuing military operation against the Zaydi tribes. The revolts between 1904 and 1911 were especially damaging to the Ottomans, costing them as many as 10,000 soldiers and as much as 500,000
pounds per year. The Ottomans signed a treaty with imam
Yahya Hamidaddin in 1911. Under the treaty, Imam Yahya was recognized as an autonomous leader of the Zaydi northern highlands. The Ottomans continued to rule
Shafi'i areas in the mid-south until their departure in 1918.
Mutawakkilite Kingdom , Imam
Yahya Hamid Ed-Din's house near Sanaa Imam Yahya hamid ed-Din al-Mutawakkil was ruling the northern highlands independently from 1911, from which he began a conquest of the Yemen lands. In 1925 Yahya captured al-Hudaydah from the
Idrisids. In 1927, Yahya's forces were about away from Aden, Taiz, and Ibb, and were bombed by the British for five days; the imam had to pull back. Small
Bedouin forces, mainly from the
Madh'hij confederation of
Marib, attacked
Shabwah but were bombed by the British and had to retreat. The
Italian Empire was the first to recognize Yahya as the king of Yemen in 1926. This created a great deal of anxiety for the British, who interpreted it as recognition of Imam Yahya's claim to sovereignty over Greater Yemen, which included the Aden protectorate and Asir. The Idrisis turned to
Ibn Saud seeking his protection from Yahya. However, in 1932, the Idrisis broke their accord with Ibn Saud and went back to Yahya seeking help against Ibn Saud, who had begun liquidating their authority and expressed his desire to annex those territories into his own Saudi domain. Yahya demanded the return of all Idrisi dominion. Imam Yahya agreed to release Saudi hostages and the surrender of the Idrisis to Saudi custody. Imam Yahya ceded the three provinces of Najran, Asir, and
Jazan for 20 years. and signed another treaty with the British government in 1934. The imam recognized the British sovereignty over Aden protectorate for 40 years. Out of fear for
Hudaydah, Yahya did submit to these demands.
Colonial Aden holding a sword, prepared to
knight subjects in
Aden as part of a
1954 visit.
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh is at right. Starting in 1890, hundreds of Yemeni people from Hajz, Al-Baetha, and Taiz migrated to Aden to work at ports, and as labourers. This helped the population of Aden once again become predominantly Arab after, having been declared a free zone, it had become mostly foreigners. During World War II, Aden had increasing economic growth and became the second-busiest port in the world after
New York City. After the rise of labour unions, a rift was apparent between the sectors of workers and the first signs of resistance to the occupation started in 1943. The
Colony of Aden was divided into an eastern colony and a western colony. Those were further divided into 23 sultanates and emirates, and several independent tribes that had no relationships with the sultanates. The deal between the sultanates and Britain detailed protection and complete control of foreign relations by the British. The Sultanate of Lahej was the only one in which the sultan was referred to as
His Highness. The
Federation of South Arabia was created by the British to counter
Arab nationalism by giving more freedom to the rulers of the nations. The
North Yemen Civil War inspired many in the south to rise against the British rule. The
National Liberation Front (NLF) of Yemen was formed with the leadership of
Qahtan Muhammad Al-Shaabi. The NLF hoped to destroy all the sultanates and eventually unite with the
Yemen Arab Republic. Most of the support for the NLF came from
Radfan and Yafa, so the British launched
Operation Nutcracker, which completely burned Radfan in January 1964.
Two states Arab nationalism had an influence in some circles who opposed the lack of modernization efforts in the Mutawakkilite monarchy. This became apparent when Imam
Ahmad bin Yahya died in 1962. He was succeeded by his son, but army officers attempted to seize power, sparking the
North Yemen Civil War. The Hamidaddin royalists were supported by Saudi Arabia, Britain, and Jordan (mostly with weapons and financial aid, but also with small military forces), whilst the military rebels were backed by Egypt. Egypt provided the rebels with weapons and financial assistance, but also sent a large military force to participate in the fighting. Israel covertly supplied weapons to the royalists to keep the Egyptian military busy in Yemen and make Nasser less likely to initiate a conflict in the Sinai. After six years of civil war, the military rebels formed the
Yemen Arab Republic. The revolution in the north coincided with the
Aden Emergency, which hastened the end of British rule in the south. On 30 November 1967, the state of South Yemen was formed, comprising Aden and the former Protectorate of South Arabia. This socialist state was later officially known as the
People's Democratic Republic of Yemen and a programme of nationalisation was begun. Relations between the two Yemeni states fluctuated between peaceful and hostile. The South was supported by the Eastern bloc. The North, however, was not able to get the same connections. In 1972, the two states fought a war. The war was resolved with a ceasefire and negotiations brokered by the
Arab League, where it was declared that unification would eventually occur. In 1978,
Ali Abdullah Saleh was named as president of the Yemen Arab Republic. After the war, the North complained about the South's help from foreign countries including Saudi Arabia. In 1979, fresh fighting between the two states resumed and efforts were renewed to bring about unification. After the
invasion of Kuwait crisis in 1990, Yemen's president opposed military intervention from non-Arab states. As a member of the
United Nations Security Council for 1990 and 1991, Yemen abstained on a number of
UNSC resolutions concerning Iraq and Kuwait and voted against the "...use of force resolution." The vote outraged the U.S., and Saudi Arabia expelled 800,000 Yemenis in 1990 and 1991 to punish Yemen for its opposition to the intervention. , with the
Secretary-General of the
Yemeni Socialist Party,
Ali Salem al-Beidh, signing the unity agreement on 30 November 1989. In the absence of strong state institutions,
elite politics in Yemen constituted a
de facto form of
collaborative governance, where competing tribal, regional, religious, and political interests agreed to hold themselves in check through tacit acceptance of the balance it produced. The informal political settlement was held together by a power-sharing deal among three men: President Saleh, who controlled the state; major general
Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, who controlled the largest share of the
Yemeni Armed Forces; and
Abdullah ibn Husayn al-Ahmar, figurehead of the Islamist
al-Islah party and Saudi Arabia's chosen broker of transnational
patronage payments to various political players, including tribal
sheikhs. The Saudi payments have been intended to facilitate the tribes' autonomy from the Yemeni government and to give the Saudi government a mechanism with which to weigh in on Yemen's political decision-making. Following food riots in major towns in 1992, a new coalition government made up of the ruling parties from both the former Yemeni states was formed in 1993. However, Vice President al-Beidh withdrew to Aden in August 1993 and said he would not return to the government until his grievances were addressed. These included northern violence against his
Yemeni Socialist Party, as well as the economic marginalization of the south. Negotiations to end the political deadlock dragged on into 1994. The government of Prime Minister
Haydar Abu Bakr Al-Attas became ineffective due to political infighting. An accord between northern and southern leaders was signed in
Amman,
Jordan on 20 February 1994, but this could not stop the civil war. During these tensions, both the northern and southern armies (which had never integrated) gathered on their respective frontiers.
Contemporary Yemen Ali Abdullah Saleh became Yemen's first directly elected president in
the 1999 presidential election, winning 96% of the vote. In October 2000, 17 U.S. personnel died after an al-Qaeda
suicide attack on the U.S. naval vessel USS Cole in
Aden. After the
September 11 attacks on the United States, President Saleh assured U.S. President
George W. Bush that Yemen was a partner in his
war on terror. In 2001, violence surrounded
a referendum, which apparently supported extending Saleh's rule and powers. The
Houthi insurgency in Yemen began in June 2004 when dissident cleric
Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi, head of the Zaidi Shia sect, launched an uprising against the Yemeni government. The Yemeni government alleged that the
Houthis were seeking to overthrow it and to implement ''Shī'ite''
religious law. The rebels countered that they were "defending their community against discrimination" and government aggression. In 2005, at least 36 people were killed in clashes across the country between police and protesters over rising fuel prices. In the
2006 presidential election, Saleh won with 77% of the vote. His main rival,
Faisal bin Shamlan, received 22%. Saleh was sworn in for another term on 27 September. A suicide bomber killed eight Spanish tourists and two Yemenis in the
Marib Governorate in July 2007. A series of bomb attacks occurred on police, official, diplomatic, foreign business, and tourism targets in 2008. Car bombings outside the U.S. embassy in Sanaa killed 18 people, including six of the assailants in September 2008. In 2008, an opposition rally in Sanaa demanding electoral reform was met with police gunfire.
Revolution and aftermath The 2011
Yemeni revolution followed other
Arab Spring mass protests in early 2011. The uprising was initially against unemployment, economic conditions, and corruption, as well as against the government's proposals to modify the
constitution of Yemen so that Saleh's son could inherit the presidency. In March 2011, police snipers opened fire on a pro-democracy camp in Sanaa, killing more than 50 people. In May, dozens were killed in clashes between troops and tribal fighters in Sanaa. By this point, Saleh began to lose international support. In October 2011, Yemeni human rights activist
Tawakul Karman won the
Nobel Peace Prize, and the
UN Security Council condemned the violence and called for a transfer of power. On 23 November 2011, Saleh flew to
Riyadh, in neighbouring Saudi Arabia, to sign the
Gulf Co-operation Council plan for political transition, which he had previously spurned. Upon signing the document, he agreed to legally transfer the office and powers of the presidency to his deputy, Vice President
Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi. Hadi took office for a two-year term upon winning the uncontested presidential elections in February 2012. A unity government—including a prime minister from the opposition—was formed. Al-Hadi would oversee the drafting of a new constitution, followed by parliamentary and presidential elections in 2014. Saleh returned in February 2012. In the face of objections from thousands of street protesters, parliament granted him full immunity from prosecution. Saleh's son, General
Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh, continues to exercise a strong hold on sections of the military and security forces.
AQAP claimed responsibility for a February 2012 suicide attack on the presidential palace that killed 26 Republican Guards on the day that President Hadi was sworn in. AQAP was also behind a suicide bombing that killed 96 soldiers in Sanaa three months later. In September 2012, a car bomb attack in Sanaa killed 11 people, a day after a local al-Qaeda leader
Said al-Shihri was reported killed in the south. By 2012, there was a "small contingent of U.S. special-operations troops"—in addition to CIA and "unofficially acknowledged" U.S. military presence—in response to increasing terror attacks by AQAP on Yemeni citizens. Many analysts have pointed out the former Yemeni government role in cultivating terrorist activity in the country. Following the election of President
Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, the Yemeni military was able to push
Ansar al-Sharia back and recapture the
Shabwah Governorate. : The central government in Sanaa remained weak, staving off challenges from
southern separatists and Houthis as well as AQAP. The
Houthi insurgency intensified after Hadi took power, escalating in September 2014 as anti-government forces led by
Abdul-Malik al-Houthi swept into the capital and forced Hadi to agree to a "unity" government. The Houthis then refused to participate in the government, although they continued to apply pressure on Hadi and his ministers, even shelling the president's private residence and placing him under house arrest, until the government's mass resignation in January 2015. The following month, the Houthis dissolved parliament and
declared that a
Revolutionary Committee under
Mohammed Ali al-Houthi was the interim authority in Yemen. Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, a cousin of the acting president, called the takeover a "glorious revolution". However, the "constitutional declaration" of 6 February 2015 was widely rejected by opposition politicians and foreign governments, including the
United Nations. The following month, Hadi declared Aden Yemen's "temporary" capital. The Houthis, however, rebuffed an initiative by the
Gulf Cooperation Council and continued to move south toward Aden. All U.S. personnel were evacuated, and President Hadi was forced to flee the country to Saudi Arabia. On 26 March 2015, Saudi Arabia announced
Operation Decisive Storm and began airstrikes and announced its intentions to lead a military coalition against the Houthis, who they claimed were being aided by Iran and began a force buildup along the Yemeni border. The coalition included the
United Arab Emirates,
Kuwait,
Qatar,
Bahrain,
Jordan,
Morocco,
Sudan,
Egypt, and
Pakistan. The United States announced that it was assisting with intelligence, targeting, and logistics. After Hadi troops took control of Aden from Houthis, jihadist groups became active in the city, and some terrorist incidents were linked to them such as
Missionaries of Charity attack in Aden on 4 March 2016. In February 2018, Aden was
seized by the UAE-backed separatist
Southern Transitional Council. Yemen has been suffering from a
famine since 2016 as a result of the civil war. More than 50,000 children in Yemen died from starvation in 2017. Numerous commentators have condemned the Saudi-led coalition's military campaign, including its
blockade of Yemen, as
genocide. The famine is being compounded by an outbreak of
cholera that has affected more than one million people. The Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen and blockade of Yemen have contributed to the famine and cholera epidemic. The UN estimated that by the end of 2021, the war in Yemen would have caused over 377,000 deaths, and roughly 70% of deaths were children under age 5. On 4 December 2017, deposed strongman and former president
Ali Abdullah Saleh, accused of treason, was assassinated by Houthis whilst attempting to flee clashes near rebel-held Sanaa between Houthi and pro-Saleh forces. After losing the support of the Saudi-led coalition, Yemen's President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi resigned, and the Presidential Leadership Council took power in April 2022. Following the outbreak of the
Gaza war, the Houthis began to
fire missiles at Israel and
attack ships off Yemen's coast in the Red Sea, which they say is in solidarity with the Palestinians and aiming to facilitate entry of humanitarian aid into the
Gaza Strip. In June 2024, the UAE-backed STC were putting pressure to lease the
Aden International Port to
Abu Dhabi Ports. The move was opposed by the Parliament and the public. A joint statement by 24 members of Shura Council expressed categorical rejection of the lease agreement. Economists said the Emirates was attempting to control the Aden Port and limit its activities, in order to keep its own ports active. Governor of Aden, Tariq Salam also said the lease attempt aims to devalue the Aden Port and take its international maritime status. Aden International Port had ended its agreement to manage two container terminals with Dubai Ports World in 2012, due to economic decline and failure to fulfill commitments. Despite the STC embarking on
an initially successful military campaign in late 2025,
it was decisively defeated in early 2026 by a Yemeni government counter-offensive. == Geography ==