 Like our previous country, Algeria, Yemen is a country with an elaborate and prolific history. Civilization in this region dates back over 5000 years. Currently, Yemen is in the news due to the rule of the Houthis over the northern section of the country who are in an active war with Israel. Because of this, the Southern part of Yemen is run by the Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) composed of eight members that replaced the nation’s previous president Adrabbuh Mansur Hadi who transferred his powers to the council in 2022. In the South, the United Arab Emirates is influencing another council called the Southern Transitional Council (STC) that is fighting with the PLC over commodity wealth and is openly looking to secede to recreate South Yemen. Historically, the existence of two Yemen’s has been the norm throughout most of the region’s history. Since 2015, Saudi Arabia has been at war with the Houthis, but this conflagration was de-escalated in 2023 when Iran and Saudi Arabia signed a treaty. The status of Yemen as a nation state is in flux due to the major geo-political battles that are ongoing in the area. First, a little description of this small nation anchored in the southwest corner of the Arabian Peninsula with only the Red Sea to the west and Gulf of Aden to the south keeping the nation from touching the African continent. Because of the chaotic internal politics, being the target of warmongering with multiple nations including the United States bombing and sanctioning it, and economic mismanagement, Yemen is one of the poorest nations on the planet. The country’s economy functions on oil and agriculture with its southern section being slightly wealthier than the Houthi-controlled North. The Republic of Yemen is a Muslim nation with over 90% of the country being Arabic with a small minority that came over from Eastern Africa. Yemen is the 54th largest country in the world with over 32 million citizens. It is often ranked in the mid-100s for wealth, putting it near the bottom of established nation states. Their currency is the Yemeni Rial, and the capital of the nation is Sanaa which is also its largest city with 3.3 million residents. The city of Sanaa goes back to the book of Genesis as one of Noah’s sons, Shem, founded Sanaa (then known as Azal) under the mountains of Jabal Nuqum to the north. Like so many countries in the cradle of civilization in North Africa and the Middle East, the history of Yemen goes back a long time. THE FLAG OF YEMEN  The region that is now Yemen has gone by many names over its long history. The name “Yemen” is based off the Islamic word “YUMN” which means ‘blessing’ or ‘fortunate.’ Because of its milder climate, this land was always seen as abundant as its location near the Red Sea allowed it to be a trading hub for many other empires and was the epicenter of the very popular spice trade including two spices mentioned in the Bible, frankincense and myrrh. The Romans called Yemen “Arabia Felix” which means ‘Happy Arabia’ due to its milder climate and prosperous agriculture. The first known kingdom in the area was known as the Minaean Kingdom which started around 3000 BC. It became famous for its trading routes via the Red Sea to the West. One of its most famous eras is when the Sabean Kingdom ruled the area, the birthplace of the Queen Sheba. This kingdom established more infrastructure, developed the spice trace, and was known for elaborate architectural and irrigation projects that allowed the kingdom to expand outward. Another kingdom that existed nearby was the Qatabans who also got absorbed by the Himyarites. The Himyarite Kingdom eventually took control of the Sabean Kingdom and expanded their territory northward into Saudi Arabia. Upon expansion in the 6th Century, the Himyarites got into a war with the Aksumite Empire in Eastern Africa which eventually led to their defeat in 525. The Aksumites ruled the area for a short time till the Sasanians defeated them in 570 AD. A pattern you will see develop when talking about the Middle East are the Caliphates which developed in the 7th Century around their living prophet Muhammad. After the Sasanians fell to the Caliphates around 630 AD, the region of Yemen converted to the new religion of Islam.
Like much of the European and Islamic world, Yemen went through various dynasties during the Middle Ages. Some of the most famous were: The Ziyadids from around 819 to 1018 AD The Zaydi Imans who existed from the late 800s all the way until 1962 when they were finally defeated in the Republican Revolution (More on this below). Its most prosperous era after the Muslim takeover was the Rasulids who controlled a good chunk of the region from 1229 to 1454 and pushed forward many cultural and maritime advancements that were later used by the Ottomans. The division of this region into two separate entites began to occur during the Rasulid era as Shia Muslims took over the north while the Sunni Muslims ruled the south. This led to sectarian divisions that split the future nation into two entities that did not re-unify until recent times. Because of this division, Yemen is often considered one of the hubs of Islamic scholarship and study over the religion’s long history in the region. To show that history often repeats and has a personality, the Ottomans took control of Southern Yemen in 1538 but the Northern regions (Now controlled by the Houthis) could not be tamed. The Zaidi Imans kept the Ottomans out of the region till the 1800s when due to dissatisfaction with their rule by most of the population, the Ottomans were allowed in to conquer the region and establish the Yemen Vilayet (The first time this name would be used). While the Ottomans took control of North Yemen, The British in 1839 seized the region around Aden and created the maritime port, the Aden Colony, which became a key ocean transportation hub between the newly opened Suez Canal and the British East India Company. The region became part of the crown after World War I in the 1930s. After World War I, the Ottoman Empire collapsed and they gave up control of North Yemen. That region became the Kingdom of Yemen in 1918 back under the control of the Zaydi Imans. These Imans who lost power in the 1500s due to mismanagement and brutal rule only regained this power until 1962 when the Republican Revolution broke out and the Yemen Arab Republic (YAR) was formed. Getting sick of the Brits and their exploitation of their wealth and the two-tiered society, South Yemen became independent in 1967 as a separate country from the YAR. Yemen became the only Middle Eastern state to flirt with Communism. In 1970, South Yemen was taken over by Marxists and became the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen. On May 22, 1990, due to the economic problems of Southern Yemen, the Communist South united with the YAR and became the nation state of Yemen that everyone is aware of today.
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Today’s country takes us to the largest nation on the African continent, Algeria. The people that live in Algeria are genetically tied to the ancient Berbers and make up 99% of the population whether it is the one quarter who identify as indigenous or the remainder who are mixed Arab/Berber and identify as Amizagh. The Berbers are prominent in many North African countries including neighboring Morocco and Tunisia and their language and culture date back to the Egyptian Empire. Berbers were nomadic, practiced subsistence agriculture and were prominent in various trades like metalwork, pottery and weaving. Their creations were highly valued and traded, especially during the height of the Roman Empire. Algeria is 2.38 million square kilometers in size and besides being the largest country on its continent, it is the 10th largest in the world. Over 85% of Algeria is the Sahara Desert with its most prosperous and historical regions being along the Mediterranean Sea with its slightly more humid climate and milder weather that is perfect for farming. While Berber is the native and most spoken language, Arab and French are also commonly spoken inside the country. Despite the coast being a little over 10% of the country’s size, 90% of Algeria’s citizens live along it. The current population of Algeria is around 47 million. Algiers, which is located on the Mediterranean, is the largest city with 3.06 million people and is the capital of the nation. Algeria is one of the richest countries in Africa due to its massive commodity wealth in oil and natural gas. The country is considered in the upper middle compared to other nations, but it does have a wide disparity in wealth like many First World industrialized nations. Algeria is a Muslim nation and 99% of its citizens practice the Sunni form of that religion. Algeria is officially called the People’s Republic of Algeria. And despite that title, it practices its own version of democracy. The executive has a lot of power over the government, which has led to many rights violations in the past. The military will often act to repress and tamp down protestors violently if necessary. Algeria falls into a similar pattern to many of its “Western” neighbors by having a semi-authoritarian system guiding many aspects of life inside the nation. One interesting tidbit about Algeria. Algiers is famous for a UNESCO heritage site called the Casbah, a word that many people probably first heard in a CLASH song. It is often considered one of the best designed cities in the world during antiquity due to its large dense population living comfortably together and was often the model for many ancient cities during the Roman Empire. Due to Phoenician, Roman and Ottoman influence, the city has added specific details like ramparts which the Ottomans installed in the 16th Century. ALGERIAN FLAG  Because the Berbers are historically a nomadic people known more for their artistic creations and agricultural proficiency, they have been conquered many times in their history. According to historical records, seven foreign civilizations have conquered the region. In order:
The Phoenicians The Romans The Vandals/Alans The Byzantines (Eastern Roman Empire) The Umayyad/Abbasid Caliphates The Ottomans The French For Bible historians, the Phoenicians were the Canaanites in the Holy Book. They traded and conquered mostly along the Mediterranean Sea. They were the first civilization to have a light impact on the nomadic Berbers. Once the Greek and then the Roman Empire began to expand, the northern part of Algeria fell under Roman control. Roman ruins litter the landscape of Algeria including probably the best-preserved known as Tipaza. When the Roman Empire began to collapse in the 400s, a Germanic Barbarian tribe known as the Vandals took control of the Algerian region and established a short lived 100-year-old Empire which also included the islands of Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica in partnership with the Indo-Iranian tribe known as the Alans. The Vandals looted along the Mediterranean for decades and infamously participated in the sacking of Rome. The Vandal Empire came undone mostly due to demographic changes. The initial Vandal Kings murdered the upstart Catholic population but eventually, later kings became tolerant of them. Eventually, Justinian, the Byzantine King who reassembled a massive chunk of the fallen Western Roman Empire declared war after Helderic who tolerated the rising Catholic population was overthrown by the Arian faction within his Royal Family. He was eventually executed in 533. Belisarius, the commander of Justinian’s army, landed ten miles from the Vandal capital of Carthage and defeated their pieced together army. The Battle of Tricamarum was the final nail in the short-lived Vandal kingdom which came to an end in 533 AD. The Byzantines ruled the Algerian region with a light hand taking control of the prosperous coastal cities while allowing the Berbers to run the interior of the country. This all ended when the Umayyad Caliphate took control of the area around 698 AD. The Caliphate would change Algeria more than any other conqueror. Due to high taxation and many Berbers being forced into slavery, the Berbers revolted against the Umayyad Caliphate in 740. Even though many Berbers began to practice Islam, a very specific class system was established where their population was considered second class citizens as well as disagreements over foundational aspects of the religion. The Berber revolt had an incredible impact on African, Middle Eastern and European history. It led to two significant developments. The Umayyad and its predecessor, the Abbasid Caliphates never regained control of the Maghreb (Modern Day Morocco). As the Caliphate pushed north of the Pyrenees into modern day France, the Berber revolt led to the diversion of forces which allowed Charlemagne of the Franks to push the Muslims back into Spain. While the Abbasids did regain control over the Algerian region, the area of Morocco was lost forever as it split into various kingdoms. After the revolt, the Berbers ruled the region with various dynasties over the next 800 years with the most famous being the Zirids. Bringing the region into the modern day, the Spanish at the beginning of their empire conquered a few cities along the Algerian coast in the 1500s but the Ottomans expelled the Spanish in 1518 and established a regency which lasted until 1830 when it fell to the conquering French. Most people are aware of Algeria because of the over 100-year colonization of the territory by their neighbor across the Mediterranean. Algeria was a source of commodities for the French which allowed them to continue their empire. King Charles X of France began the war against Algeria in 1827 after a diplomatic incident between the two countries. Controlled by the Ottoman Turks at the time, Algeria was blockaded and eventually surrendered to the French on July 5, 1830. The colony of Algeria is one of the most brutal on record. After the French were conquered by the Germans during WW II, many Algerians helped the French win back their nation as part of the Allies. After the war ended, the French went back on its promise of independence and began brutalizing the Algerians. The dual Setif and Geulma massacres killed anywhere between 15,000 to 20,000 people. This led to the creation of the brutal Algerian National Liberation Front (FLN) which engaged in terrorist attacks and eventually started a brutal six-year war with the French. One of the best documentaries ever made, THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS (1966) gives wonderful historical account of this era. One of the best fictional movies is called OUTSIDE THE LAW (2010 which involves three brothers wrapped up in the events of that timeframe. The Algerians eventually won the war and declared independence on July 1, 1962. The French recognized Algeria as an independent country two years later. Next week, Yemen. A country that is playing a part in the current geo-political rift. |
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July 2026
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