The Undiscovered Pearl of the Peninsula
Part of my new year’s resolution was to start researching a new country every month. This month I chose Yemen. And I was informed by the wonderful Kent that I have to share my knowledge on here. Tho’ I can’t possibly put everything on here – I have about 7 pages of notes right now – I’m gonna hook you up with some info. I’m also hoping to talk with some people from Yemen before the end of next month to gain some more insight into the culture. If I get that opportunity, look for some info on that.
“The reputed home of the Queen of Sheba, Yemen has been at the crossroads of Africa, the Middle East and Asia for thousands of years thanks to its position on the ancient spice routes.” – BBC News
The capital of Yemen is Sana’a. It borders Oman, Saudi Arabia, the Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea. According to Wikipedia it’s somewhat larger than California and comparable in size to Thailand. It is the 49th largest country – after France. According to the CIA’s World Factbook, Yemen is slightly larger than twice the size of Wyoming.
The population is around 21.5 million. The people are predominately Arab, but there are also Afro-Arabs, South Asians and Europeans. Muslim is the dominate religion with small numbers of people who are Jewish, Christian and Hindu. And the official language is Arabic.
Yemen has a lot of history that can be dated back to at least the 2nd century AD. So here’s some recent history: North Yemen was part of the Ottoman Empire beginning in the 16th century and again in the 19th century until 1918. The British occupied the port of Aden from 1839 – 1967. When they left, this area became known as South Yemen. Around 1970, a massive exodus of hundreds of thousands of people from the south to the north lead to two decades of hostility between the two. They basically split into two countries, North Yemen and South Yemen. In 1990, they came together to form the Republic of Yemen.
Encyclopedia Britannica states, “Yemen is a part of the Islamic world and as such reflects many of the contemporary trends in Islam. At the same time, the Yemenis are intensely proud of their pre-Islamic heritage. The national museum in Sana’a and the archaeological museum in Aden house important treasures from this period. In their extensive networks of overland and maritime trade, the ancient Yemenis encountered myriad cultures and civilizations. There is ample evidence of Greek, Roman, Indian, Indonesian, and Chinese influence on various aspects of both traditional and contemporary Yemeni culture. Similarities have been drawn, for example, between marriage institutions in India and Yemen and between religious music in Yemen and Byzantine masses.”
There are 46 airports in the country, 16 of which have paved runways. There’s approximately 71,300km of roadways but only 6,200km of it is paved.
There are 19 governorates; the capital is treated as an additional governorate for electoral & admin purposes. The legal system is based on Islamic law, Turkish Law, English Law and local tribal customary law. The president is elected by popular vote for a 7 year term. Everyone else is appointed by the president. The next election will be held in Sept. 2013.
The agriculture consists of grain, fruits, veggies, pulses, qat, coffee, cotton, dairy products, livestock (sheep, goats, cattle, camels), poultry and fish.
The economy mostly depends on oil. Most of the people are employed in agriculture and herding. Construction, services, industry and commerce make up less than ¼ of the labor force. They partner with the following countries for importing & exporting: UAE, Saudi Arabia, China, Kuwait, India, Chile, Thailand, Japan, South Korea and the US.
The currency is Yemeni Riyal. 1 YER = $0.005083 and $1 = 196.75 Riyal (Yahoo! Finance, Jan. 6, 2007).
The life expectancy is 62.12 and the fertility rate is 6.58 children born/woman. Half of the population is literate with men dominating the skill.
There are 7 broadcast stations compared to Egypt’s 98 and the US’s 2,218. There are 220,000 internet users compared to Egypt’s 5 million and the US’s 205 million. According to BBC News, “the Ministry of Information administers all broadcasting through the Public Corporation for Radio and Television. It controls most printing presses and funds some newspapers. The press is strictly controlled and newspapers have often been prosecuted over political articles. TV and radio are vital sources of news in Yemen because of high levels of illiteracy.”
As of 2005, there were 63, 511 refugees from Somalia.
According to Lonely Planet, the places to see in Yemen are Sana’a, Shihara, Old Sana’a, Shaharah and Shibam. Sana’a is believed by many Yemenis to be the first sites of human settlement, founded by Noah’s son, Shem. Sana’a is now sprawled outside the walls and many homes in the Old City are over 400 years old. The area within the walls is the largest preserved medina in the Arab world. In Old Sana’a, the town is so perfectly preserved it is said that you can walk on a square km without coming across a single new building. The old city is famous for its 14,000 tower houses which reach up to six or eight stories high.
Anything that wasn’t specifically sited came from the CIA’s World Factbook. Hope you enjoyed learning about a new country ;-)
“The reputed home of the Queen of Sheba, Yemen has been at the crossroads of Africa, the Middle East and Asia for thousands of years thanks to its position on the ancient spice routes.” – BBC News
The capital of Yemen is Sana’a. It borders Oman, Saudi Arabia, the Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea. According to Wikipedia it’s somewhat larger than California and comparable in size to Thailand. It is the 49th largest country – after France. According to the CIA’s World Factbook, Yemen is slightly larger than twice the size of Wyoming.
The population is around 21.5 million. The people are predominately Arab, but there are also Afro-Arabs, South Asians and Europeans. Muslim is the dominate religion with small numbers of people who are Jewish, Christian and Hindu. And the official language is Arabic.
Yemen has a lot of history that can be dated back to at least the 2nd century AD. So here’s some recent history: North Yemen was part of the Ottoman Empire beginning in the 16th century and again in the 19th century until 1918. The British occupied the port of Aden from 1839 – 1967. When they left, this area became known as South Yemen. Around 1970, a massive exodus of hundreds of thousands of people from the south to the north lead to two decades of hostility between the two. They basically split into two countries, North Yemen and South Yemen. In 1990, they came together to form the Republic of Yemen.
Encyclopedia Britannica states, “Yemen is a part of the Islamic world and as such reflects many of the contemporary trends in Islam. At the same time, the Yemenis are intensely proud of their pre-Islamic heritage. The national museum in Sana’a and the archaeological museum in Aden house important treasures from this period. In their extensive networks of overland and maritime trade, the ancient Yemenis encountered myriad cultures and civilizations. There is ample evidence of Greek, Roman, Indian, Indonesian, and Chinese influence on various aspects of both traditional and contemporary Yemeni culture. Similarities have been drawn, for example, between marriage institutions in India and Yemen and between religious music in Yemen and Byzantine masses.”
There are 46 airports in the country, 16 of which have paved runways. There’s approximately 71,300km of roadways but only 6,200km of it is paved.
There are 19 governorates; the capital is treated as an additional governorate for electoral & admin purposes. The legal system is based on Islamic law, Turkish Law, English Law and local tribal customary law. The president is elected by popular vote for a 7 year term. Everyone else is appointed by the president. The next election will be held in Sept. 2013.
The agriculture consists of grain, fruits, veggies, pulses, qat, coffee, cotton, dairy products, livestock (sheep, goats, cattle, camels), poultry and fish.
The economy mostly depends on oil. Most of the people are employed in agriculture and herding. Construction, services, industry and commerce make up less than ¼ of the labor force. They partner with the following countries for importing & exporting: UAE, Saudi Arabia, China, Kuwait, India, Chile, Thailand, Japan, South Korea and the US.
The currency is Yemeni Riyal. 1 YER = $0.005083 and $1 = 196.75 Riyal (Yahoo! Finance, Jan. 6, 2007).
The life expectancy is 62.12 and the fertility rate is 6.58 children born/woman. Half of the population is literate with men dominating the skill.
There are 7 broadcast stations compared to Egypt’s 98 and the US’s 2,218. There are 220,000 internet users compared to Egypt’s 5 million and the US’s 205 million. According to BBC News, “the Ministry of Information administers all broadcasting through the Public Corporation for Radio and Television. It controls most printing presses and funds some newspapers. The press is strictly controlled and newspapers have often been prosecuted over political articles. TV and radio are vital sources of news in Yemen because of high levels of illiteracy.”
As of 2005, there were 63, 511 refugees from Somalia.
According to Lonely Planet, the places to see in Yemen are Sana’a, Shihara, Old Sana’a, Shaharah and Shibam. Sana’a is believed by many Yemenis to be the first sites of human settlement, founded by Noah’s son, Shem. Sana’a is now sprawled outside the walls and many homes in the Old City are over 400 years old. The area within the walls is the largest preserved medina in the Arab world. In Old Sana’a, the town is so perfectly preserved it is said that you can walk on a square km without coming across a single new building. The old city is famous for its 14,000 tower houses which reach up to six or eight stories high.
Anything that wasn’t specifically sited came from the CIA’s World Factbook. Hope you enjoyed learning about a new country ;-)
posted by Nay-Nay at 3:48 AM
2 Comments:
I had no idea. Thanks for the info.
Hey Nay-Nay,
Adam from AIESEC Madison in the U.S. here...another @Madison dude and myself are coming to Cairo in a week to study at AUC for the semester. Not sure how much longer you have there but it would be cool to meet up. Been talking to Nisrin, Yasmine and some other Egyptian @ers...hit me up at lichtenheld@gmail.com if you want or comment on my blog.
Post a Comment
<< Home