Overview

Yemen (in Arabic, al-Yaman or al-Jumhuriyah al-Yamaniyah) is situated in the southwestern corner of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, Oman to the east, the Gulf of Aden to the south, and the Red Sea to the west. The northern border with Saudi Arabia is part of a vast desert and remains mostly uncharted. Yemen's total land area is estimated to be around 156,000 square miles (405,000 square kilometers), which is slightly smaller than the state of California. The land of Yemen can be divided into five major regions: the highlands in the east, the eastern and northeastern desert regions, the central mountains (known as the Yemen Highlands), the western mountains, and the coastal plain found in the northwest. The population of Yemen lives in all of these zones, the altitudes of which range from sea level to more than 10,000 feet...