What is Yemen?
A: Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in Western Asia, on
the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula.
It borders Saudi Arabia to the north and whom to the
northeast?
A: Oman.
It shares maritime borders with whom?
A: Eritrea, Djibouti, and Somalia.
It is the second-largest Arab sovereign state in the
peninsula, occupying how much area?
A: 555,000 square kilometers (214,000 square miles).
How long is the coastline?
A: It stretches for about 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles).
What is Yemen's constitutionally stated capital, and
largest city?
A: The city of Sanaa.
As of 2021, what was the population of the country?
A: It is estimated at 30,491,000.
In ancient times, Yemen was the home of whom?
A: The Sabaeans, a trading state that included parts of modern-day
Ethiopia
and Eritrea.
Later in 275 AD, the Himyarite Kingdom was influenced
by what?
A: Judaism.
When did Christianity arrive?
A: In the fourth century.
Islam spread quickly in the seventh century and
Yemenite troops were crucial in what?
A: The early Islamic conquests.
The country was divided between what empires in the
1800s?
A: The Ottoman and British empires.
The Zaydi Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen was
established after what?
A: After World War I before the creation of the Yemen Arab Republic in 1962.
South Yemen remained a British protectorate as the Aden
Protectorate until 1967 when it became what?
A: An independent state and later, a Marxist-Leninist state.
The two Yemeni states united to form the modern
Republic of Yemen in what year?
A: 1990.
Who was the first president of the new republic until
his resignation in 2012 in the wake of the Arab Spring.?
A: Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Since 2011, Yemen has been in a state of what?
A: Political crisis.
The crisis started with what?
A: Street protests against poverty, unemployment, corruption, and President
Saleh's plan to amend Yemen's constitution and eliminate the presidential
term limit.
President Saleh stepped down and the powers of the
presidency were transferred to whom?
A: Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi.
Since then, the country has been in a what?
A: A civil war.
How many civilians and combatants have been killed in
armed violence in Yemen since January 2016?
A: At least 56,000.
The war has resulted in a famine affecting how many
people?
A: 17 million.
The lack of safe drinking water, caused by depleted
aquifers and the destruction of the country's water infrastructure, has also
caused what?
A: The largest, fastest-spreading cholera outbreak in modern history, with
the number of suspected cases exceeding 994,751.
Over 2,226 people have died since when?
A: Since the outbreak began to spread rapidly at the end of April
2017.
The ongoing humanitarian crisis and conflict has
received widespread criticism for having a dramatic worsening effect on
what?
A: Yemen's humanitarian situation, that some say has reached the level of a
"humanitarian disaster" and some have even labelled it as a genocide.
It has worsened the country's already-poor what?
A: Human rights situation.
Yemen is a member of what organizations?
A: The Arab League, the United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement and the
Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
It belongs to the least developed country group,
referring to its what?
A: Its numerous "severe structural impediments to sustainable development".
In 2019, the United Nations reported that Yemen is the
country with the most what?
A: People in need of humanitarian aid, about 24 million people, or 85% of
its population.