Large numbers of Yemenis also live in the United States, mainly in southern California.
Yemen's political capital is San'a (the former capital of YAR) with a population of 1.6 million as of 2001. The economic capital of the state is Aden (the former capital of PDRY). Islam is the official religion of the state, and its official language is Arabic. Yemen's exports include cotton, coffee, hides, vegetables, and salted and dried fish. The per capita gross domestic product (GDP) was estimated at US$820 in 2001; the currency is the Yemeni rial.
Political Background
The home of the ancient kingdom of Sheba from 950 to 115 BC, Yemen was part of the Ottoman Empire from 1517 until the end of World War I. However, Ottoman power in Yemen was always limited, and in reality, the province was ruled by the Zaidi (a branch of Shi'a Islam) imams (religious leaders) who had established the Rassid dynasty in the ninth century. The last of the imams were overthrown in the early 1960s.
In 1839, British forces, who had established their presence in the area as early as 1799, occupied the strategic port of Aden and its surrounding countryside. While the Aden Colony was administered by the British, the rest of Yemen remained under Ottoman/Zaidi control until 1918 when it became an independent kingdom ruled by the Zaidi imams.
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