Yemen , officially Republic of Yemen, Country, Middle East, southwestern Asia. It occupies the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula and also includes the island of Socotra in the Indian Ocean and the Kamaran island group in the Red Sea. Area: 175,676 sq mi (455,000 sq km). Population: (2024 est.) 33,513,000. Capital: Sanaa. The population is mainly Arab. Language: Arabic (official). Religion: Islam (official; mostly Sunni). Currency: Yemeni rial. From the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, a narrow coastal plain leads to highlands that cover most of the country. The northern region extends into the southern and southwestern Rubʿ al-Khali desert. Mineral resources include iron ore, salt, petroleum, and natural gas, all of which are exploited. Agriculture is important; industries include petroleum and salt production. Yemen is a multiparty republic with two legislative houses; its head of state is the president, and the head of government is the prime minister. Tribal affiliations remain strong and directly affect local and national policy. Yemen was the home of ancient Minaean, Sabaean, and Ḥimyārite kingdoms. The Romans invaded the region in the 1st century ce. In the 6th century it was conquered by Ethiopians and Persians. Following the adoption of Islam in the 7th century, it was ruled nominally under a caliphate. The Egyptian Ayyūbid dynasty ruled there in the late 12th–early 13th century, after which the region passed to the Rasūlids. From c. 1520 through 1918 the Ottoman Empire maintained varying degrees of control, especially in the northwestern section. A boundary agreement was reached in 1934 between the northwestern territory (controlled by a local religious leader), which subsequently became the Yemen Arab Republic (North Yemen), and the southeastern British-controlled territory, which subsequently became the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen (South Yemen). Relations between the two Yemens remained tense and were marked by conflict throughout the 1970s and ’80s. The two officially united as the Republic of Yemen in 1990. Its 1993 elections were the first free, multiparty general elections held in the Arabian Peninsula, and they were the first in which women participated. In 1994, after a two-month civil war, a new constitution was approved. Desire for political and economic reform led to a popular uprising of unprecedented proportions in 2011.
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