Yemen

An Islamic country since the mid 7th century, Yemen was part of the Ottoman Empire from the 16th century. During the 19th century, the port of Aden was developed as a British military base. After World War II, civil war between royalist and republican forces ended with British withdrawal and the partition of the country in 1967. South Yemen declared itself independent as the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen, and the North became the Yemen Arab Republic. In 1990, the countries reunited to form the Republic of Yemen; the South briefly seceded in 1994 but was defeated in a short civil war. Since 2004, there has been civil war in Yemen, which spread into Saudi Arabia in 2009