South Yemen: description, history and population

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:41

Modern Yemen is a country in the south of the Arabian Peninsula, which has a rich cultural heritage and interesting history, as well as a very hospitable and good-natured population. But usually only the most provocative stories make it to the front pages of the Western media. Few have heard anything about Yemen other than that it is the poorest country in the Arab world, Al-Qaeda's base in the Arabian Peninsula and the birthplace of Osama bin Laden.

Yemen is one of the first civilizations in the world, the history of which dates back to the first millennium BC. There are four ancient cities on the territory of the country: Sana with its unique architecture, Shibam, known as the "Manhattan of the Desert", Socotra, which is rich in biological species, and Zabid, which is an important historical and archaeological site. Socotra Island from 1967 to 1990 is located on the territory of South Yemen. In those years it was a separate state, whichlater merged with the Arab Republic.

Where is South Yemen?

The geographical area in the south of the Arabian Peninsula, washed by the waters of the seas of the Indian Ocean, at different times was part of various administrative-territorial entities. Today this area is part of the state of Yemen. If the name is used as the name of an independent state formation, we are talking about South Yemen, which was liberated from British colonial rule in 1967. Prior to this, the area had been a British Dependent Territory since 1839.

Administrative divisions

South Yemen is divided into six provinces, or governorates: Hadhramaut, Abyan, Aden, Lahj, Mahra, Shabwa. The capital was the city of Aden, located on the shores of the Gulf of Aden. The former capital of South Yemen is still of great economic importance today. This is a transit port, the location of an airport of international importance, a military airfield, and a developed oil refining center. Ship repair, textile and fish processing enterprises are located in the city. Aden is located on one of the busiest sea routes of the Mer and is a transit point between the routes of the Red and Mediterranean Seas, the Indian Ocean, the Persian Gulf.

Government

The legislature of South Yemen was the Supreme People's Council, elected for five years. The head of state is a collective Presidium, formed for a period of five years. The executive body was the CouncilMinisters. There were local representative bodies (councils, executive bureaus). The judicial system was represented by the supreme Supreme Court, provincial and district courts. The only political party was the Yemeni Socialist Party. This is a leftist opposition party.

In different years of the existence of the republic (PDRY), the head of state was Qahtan Mohammed al-Shaabi, Abdel Fattah Ismail, Haidar Abu Bakr al-Attas, Ali Nasser Mohammed, Ali Salem al-Beid, Salem Rubeyya Ali. The first president of South Yemen was Qahtan Mohammed ash-Shaabi, he also headed the Liberation Front, and proclaimed "faith in the Arab socialist unity" of the United Arab Republic (Egypt) and Yemen, did not recognize the Federation of South Arabia under the protectorate of Great Britain.

Historical background

Even during the Napoleonic wars, Great Britain was interested in the historical region in the south of the Arabian Peninsula - Hadhramaut. The British occupied the island of Ceylon, the port of Aden and South Africa to resist the spread of French influence. The British colony was regarded as an important stronghold on the way to India. Aden was also of interest to the colonialists as a coal base for ships sailing to the Indian Ocean. The city was taken in 1839. The local population resisted, but the British could not be stopped.

Aden brought back the once-lost prosperity with the opening of the Suez Canal. But this improvement in the economic situation in the capital had no effect.to areas that were even a small distance from the city. The British simply created a buoy zone that would protect an important sea junction. The colonialists were not bothered by the ongoing feuds and conflicts as long as they did not affect British interests. On the contrary, Great Britain has established treaty relations with some provinces of South Yemen in exchange for money and weapons.

Anti-British movement

In 1958-1959, under the British protectorate, the Federation of South Arabia existed in this territory, at the same time the anti-British movement began to intensify. Such a policy was pursued by Gamal Abdel Nasser, an Egyptian statesman who invited Yemen to join the alliance of Arab countries, which would jeopardize the existence of the protectorate in Aden. In response, the British authorities decided to unite part of the principalities under the English crown.

National Front

In 1963, the National Front for the Liberation of the Arabian South was formed, which proclaimed the need for an armed struggle against the colonial regime and the creation of a united Yemen. So, North and South Yemen did not have significant contradictions between themselves, but fought against Great Britain. October 14, 1963 is considered the beginning of the liberation struggle. Then there was a clash between the detachment of the movement of South Yemen and the British.

The British underestimated the National Front. Initially, a three-week campaign was planned, but everything stretched out for six months. Two thousand were drawnmilitary personnel instead of the original thousandth contingent. The British were faced with a new type of enemy, who sought not to conquer and hold territory, but to destroy as many enemy units as possible. The colonialists did not expect the guerrilla movement to become a well-planned military resistance.

The victory of resistance

Practically the entire Republic of South Yemen by 1967 was in the hands of the National Front. This was facilitated by the temporary closure of the Suez Canal. The British essentially lost their last chance to defend their colony. With uncontrolled violence against British troops, the withdrawal of troops has begun.

In Aden, the colonialists made a last attempt to save the situation, using an acute crisis between the National Front and other internal forces. It is not known what bloody clashes between supporters of independence would have resulted in, but the National Front received the support of the army and the police, so it won. After that, the NF became a real political and military force throughout South Yemen.

The British authorities were forced to start negotiations with the leaders of the National Front, as with the leaders of an organization that could legally take power in the country after independence. The last English soldier left South Yemen on November 29, 1967. The next day, the creation of a republic was proclaimed.

New ideology

In 1972, it was decided to adopt a development program based on the USSR model. Beforethe rebels (army and police officers) demanded that "the country be rid of the communist danger", and, in general, the existence of the young state in any form was constantly under threat. This was facilitated by the regimes of Oman and Saudi Arabia, the United States and Great Britain, who believed that their interests were under threat, the activities of the right wing of North Yemen, and similar factors.

The new ideology took root with difficulty. The population was illiterate, so there was no sense in the leftist revolutionary newspapers, and the radio became the main source of information. The lack of funds affected the cinema and national television, and caused great harm to agricultural production. At the same time, the country continued to actively reform according to the socialist model.

Already by 1973, the number of schools in South Yemen had doubled (compared to 1968), much attention was paid to socialist education, energy was developing rapidly, by the eighties the factor of shortage of drinking water was practically overcome, the creation of a system water supply to Aden, the volume of agricultural production has increased, the share of the public sector has increased, and so on. But at the same time, external debt also grew.

Economy of Yemen

South Yemen chose a socialist model of development: banks, trading and insurance companies, oil refinery marketing agencies, ship service firms were nationalized (all these enterprises were mainly owned by foreign capital). was announcedmonopoly on the purchase of tea, cigarettes, cars, wheat, flour, medicines for government agencies, oil and so on, carried out agrarian reform.

Colonialism left the new authorities with a very weak economy. The country was one of the poorest in the Arab world. Agriculture provided less than 10% of GNP per capita, industry - less than 5%. The budget deficit in 1968-1969 was $3.8 million. The republic also faced other difficulties: unemployment, the cessation of transit navigation due to the closure of the Suez Canal, social fragmentation, poverty, crime, and an extremely low standard of living.

In 1979, an agreement was signed that determined the areas of cooperation between South Yemen and the USSR. The PRC helped the young state in the construction of roads, army training, Hungary and Bulgaria - in the development of agriculture, tourism, Czechoslovakia and the GDR - in construction, geology, the development of communications and transport, the modernization of the army and the training of personnel. With the assistance of the USSR, a cement plant, a fishing port, a government building, university buildings, a maternity and childhood protection center, a hospital for 300 beds, and a power plant were built.

The economy was recovering. The results of the assistance of the states of the socialist camp and internal transformations were:

• Increase in total agricultural production by almost 66% in four years;
• relatively high employment (increased by 11%);
• overcoming the problem of shortage of drinking water and building a systemwater supply of the capital;
• active development of the energy complex;
• construction of new facilities for almost 320 million dinars (a coin of South Yemen and some other Arabic-speaking countries);
• growth in retail turnover from 199.5 to 410.8 million dinars;
• increasing the share of the public sector in the economy to 63% from the initial 27%;
• increase in imports from capitalist countries (from 38% to 41%) and so on.

But the external debt was constantly growing, which by 1981 reached 1.5 billion US dollars. Other problems were the unpreparedness of the peasants for collective work (the same applied to fishing cooperatives), the consequences of the 1982 earthquake, and the drought in the early eighties. And with the beginning of perestroika in the USSR, aid from abroad ceased. In response to this, the government began to carry out the first independent reforms. For example, in 1984, the development of small private businesses was allowed.

Population and culture

In Aden, the flag of South Yemen fluttered for more than twenty years, but this did not affect the centuries-old culture of the region. The area is closely connected with the rest of the territory of the Arabian Peninsula in history and traditions. Interesting features of the southern part of Yemen that attract tourists are the ancient "clay skyscrapers" located in Hadhramawt and the "fabulous" appearance of local women.

South Yemeni girls dress up as witches. On their heads you can see huge (up to 50 cm in height) straw hats that allow you towork in the fields or herd goats under the scorching sun when the temperature reaches fifty degrees. The face is covered with a mask, the lower and upper parts of which are connected by a thin thread, giving a very peculiar look to the eyes, lined with antimony.

These are representatives of only one tribe, but there are many such in Yemen. In the past, it was the tribal division that was an important factor in the division of the country into two parts. A united Yemen today has a population of 27 million. A significant part of the population are Sunnis, and the Zaidi Houthis number about 25%.

Unification of the country

The unification of South and North Yemen into a single state took place in 1990. But in 1994, the civil war broke out again. In the South, an independent state was proclaimed - the Democratic Republic of Yemen. Soon the resistance of the rebels was crushed by the North Yemeni army. A new revolution broke out in 2011. Since 2014, conflict has continued between government forces and the paramilitary group Ansar Allah.