Yemen

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The Republic of Yemen or Yemen is a nation in the Middle East, composed of former North Yemen and South Yemen, in the south of the Arabian Peninsula. It borders Saudi Arabia and Oman on the north and the east. To the south is the Arabian Sea, and to the west is the Red Sea. Yemen owns the island of Socotra (217 miles) to the south off the coast of East Africa. A person or thing from Yemen is called Yemeni. Yemen's capital city is Sana'a.

Yemen is the origin land of all Arabs in the Middle East. In ancient times, Yemen was an important center of trade and power. Many powerful kingdoms were in Yemen, including the Sabaeans. Yemen was important in the trade of spices as well. It was known to the ancient Romans as Arabia Felix ("Happy Arabia" in Latin). They called it Happy Arabia because the area was so beautiful and powerful.

In the 700s, Yemenis were among the first to join the new religion Islam. Since then, Yemenis have been staunch Muslims who were in the forefront of all Islam conquests and Yemenis were the rulers of Islamic spain for more than 800 years.

Today, Yemen has over 20 million people. All of them speak Arabic.

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