Yemen Northern Southern
Yemen History, Government, Economics and Their Influence on Global and Local Issues
Yemen Twentieth Century History
Prior to 1990, Yemen was divided into two countries: Northern Yemen, also known as Yemen Arab Republic, and Southern Yemen, also known as The People's Democratic Republic of Yemen. The following is a brief history of twentieth century Yemen. The Imams gained control over Northern Yemen during the seventh century and maintained their control until the twentieth century. While the Imams had control, Northern Yemen became a part of the Ottoman Empire. During this time, the Turkish governed the major cities while the Imams were left in charge of only the small villages. Turkish forces withdrew from Northern Yemen during 1918. The control by the Imams became greater. In 1962, Northern Yemen was declared as the Yemen Arab Republic by Imam Badr. When the Yemen Arab Republic was formed, many people opposed it and a civil war broke out. Egypt helped theYemen Arab Republic by supplying troops and supplies. Jordan and Saudi Arabia supported the ones who opposed of the newly formed republic. The two sides fought until 1967. At that time Egypt withdrew their troops from the area. The British began controlling Southern Yemen during the year 1839. Southern Yemen remained under British control until 1937. At that time, Aden was made a crown colony. In 1965, tribal states within the Aden colony joined the Federation of South Arabia. During this time, two terrorist groups were trying to gain control of Southern Yemen. As a result, the British withdrew out of Southern Yemen. The two terrorist groups, the Front for the Liberation of Occupied South Yemen, and the National Liberation Front, continued to fight until Federal Rule from Britain collapsed. After the collapse of British rule, the terrorist parties fought each other until the National Liberation Front gained control of Southern Yemen. On November 30, 1967, the area known as South Arabia became independent and changed its name to the People's Republic of South Yemen. However, this was later changed on December 1, 1970, to the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen. On May 22, 1990, Northern Yemen and Southern Yemen unite to become the Republic of Yemen. Ali Abdullah Saleh became the first president of the Republic of Yemen. In 1993 political unrest began between the northern and southern leaders. A civil war broke out in May of 1994. As Nunez and Barnum point out in their article Republic of Yemen, “Almost all of the actual fighting in the 1994 civil war occurred in the southern part of the country despite air and missile attacks against cities and major installations in the north. Southerners sought support from neighboring states and received billions of dollars of equipment and financial assistance, mostly from Saudi Arabia, which felt threatened by a united Yemen. The United States strongly supported Yemeni unity, but repeatedly called for a cease-fire and a return to the negotiating table. Various attempts, including by a UN special envoy, were unsuccessful to effect a cease-fire.” Eventually Southern Yemen leaders seceeded and on May 21,1994 the the Democratic Republic of Yemen was established. Security threats remain in Yemen today. According to Fares (2007), “Terrorism, border protection, and weapons proliferation are the most important security challenges facing Yemen today.” Education System of Yemen In the 1960's, Yemen endorsed the principals of equal rights, justice and equality. They vowed to ensure education and training opportunities for all. As indicated in the article Education in Republic of Yemen “The National Report” (2004), “At present Yemen owns a perfect educational system, which begins from the kindergartens and basic education through the secondary education to the higher and university education, vocational and technical training and institutes for preparation and training teachers.” It goes on to say that Yemen not only has made efforts to educate their youth, but they also have made efforts to educate those who are aged. Yemen holds the values that illiteracy is one of the main problems that will hinder social, economical and political development. Yemen's poor economic situation is one of the causes of extremely low female participation in education. Illiteracy rates for men range around 30%. Illiteracy rates for women range higher than 67%. Nearly half of primary school age girls attend school. Economic System of Yemen As stated in the CIA - The World Factbook -- Yemen. (2007, February), “Yemen is one of the poorest countries in the Arab world. Their economic stability depends mostly on oil. Oil revenues probably increased in 2006 as a result of higher prices. Yemen was on a supported structural adjustment program designed to modernize and streamline the economy, which led to substantial foreign debt relief and restructuring. However, government dedication to the program waned in 2001 for political reasons. Yemen is struggling to control excessive spending and rampant corruption. Yemen is dependent on foreign aid to finance its budget deficits and development projects. In November, Yemen secured $4.7 billion in assistance from Arabian Gulf and Western donors.” Since 1990, Yemen economy has depended on resources from agriculture and fisheries. The main agriculture items are coffee and oats. Natural resources include petroleum, fish, rock salt, marble, small deposits of coal, gold, lead, nickel, copper, and fertile soil. Industrial resources include crude oil production and petroleum refining, production of cotton, textiles, leather goods, handcrafts, aluminum products and cement. Exports include crude oil, coffee and fish.
Conclusion
Based on the information gathered, the most important challenge that Yemen faces today is the fight against terrorism. Fares (2007) indicates that “The terrorist threats remain the most important security challenges facing the country at the present time. The terrorism may come in different forms, whether the work of suicide bombings or kidnapping. It may be directed against the citizens or against installations and public interests, or foreigners or tourists.”
Also, the importance of education is a great challenge. Although education opportunities are available, many people are not taking advantage of them. Women and girls education rates are very low compared to men and boys. The importance of education for females is an issue that needs to be addressed.
References
CIA - The World Factbook -- Yemen. (2007, February). CIA World Fact Book,
Retrieved July 5, 2008, from Academic Search Complete database.
Fares, A. (2007, December). Terrorism threats are top security challenge for yemen, interior
minister. Retrieved on July 6, 2008 from http://www.yobserver.com/front-
page/10013386.html
Nunez, M. & Barnum, K. (2000). Republic of yemen. Retrieved on July 10, 2008 from
http://www.humboldt.edu/~go1/hist334/yemen.html
Republic of Yemen Ministry of Education (2004, August 8-11). Education in republic of yemen
“the national report”. Presented to the forty seventhsession of the international
conference at education. Retrieved on July 11, 2008 from ibe.unesco.org/International/.../English/Natreps/reports/yemen_eng.pdf
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