Top 10 Interesting Facts About Yemen
Hello Friends:
In today's Article i'll be sharing 10 interesting facts about the beautiful country of yemen an arab country in western asia occupying the southern end of the arabian peninsula welcome back to ftd facts i'm sarah carvalho and i'm stoked to be here with another informative Article for you all now unfortunately many of us know of yemen from what we've seen or read in the news in recent years but what you may not know is that yemen is a beautiful nation with many cultural and historical treasures worth exploring this video has been highly requested and we love to deliver so let's get to the facts starting.
1 Yemen was historically known by its latin nickname arabia felix meaning fortunate happy or fertile so yemen actually gained this nickname because it was more fertile than most of the arabian peninsula actually part of what led yemen's wealth and importance to the ancient world was its near monopoly of the trade in cinnamon and spices now this is all thanks to the mountains of the country which invited rains that contributed to a flourishing agriculture in the region.
2 Therefore supported a stable population and agricultural industry for centuries all right let's talk about the flag so the current national flag was adopted on may 22nd 1990 pretty recent this happened upon the unification of north yemen and south yemen so just to explain a little bit yemen was previously divided as two separate nations that achieved independence at different times northern yemen was under ottoman rule until 1918 and southern yemen was under british rule until 1967.
3 Since they achieved independence separately the two territories each had their own flag but when north and south yemen agreed to join and become one they developed a common flag featuring a tri-color of pan-arab colors red on top white in the middle and black on the bottom officially the red color of the flag represents the unity of the nation and the blood that was shed by martyrs the white symbolizes the bright future of the nation and its people while the black signifies the nation's dark history next we're going to be talking about cat which is a flowering evergreen plant widely grown in yemen the juice of this plant has an amphetamine-like effect so the people of the country love to chew it in the afternoon as a tradition keeping a ball of partially chewed leaves tucked against the inside of their cheek similar to the process of chewing tobacco some also choose to smoke the dried leaves make it into tea or sprinkle it on food cat is even a huge part of the nation's business culture as chewing the plant is believed to assist in the decision-making process the plant naturally contains cathinone which triggers euphoria and excitement.
4 Yemen is well known for its city shibam surrounded by a wall and inhabiting about 7 000 people the city is famous for its ancient mud brick high-rise buildings and is one of the oldest examples of urban planning based on the idea of vertical construction so these impressive tower-like buildings date back to the 16th century and rise out of the cliff edge of wadi hadramut some being 11 stories tall this gave the city its nickname the manhattan of the desert and it was actually surprisingly designated as a unesco world heritage site in 1982. moving on to coffee so it may be impossible to think of cafe mocha as anything other than the perfect combination of espresso and chocolate milk but did you know that the origin of the mocha coffee bean is actually owed to yemen so the mocha coffee bean is actually named after al moka a port city.
5 Yemen's red sea coast the city served as a major hub of the coffee trade from the 15th to the 18th centuries now the coffee was not actually grown directly in almoca it arrived in the port city from large coffee plantations within the mountain regions of yemen the moka bean sold at almoca were famous for their distinctive earthy and chocolaty flavors and quickly became a household term for coffee drinkers around the world let's move on and talk about yemen's capital city sanat it is one of the world's most ancient cities that is still inhabited today the city's name actually means fortified place most likely because the old city is surrounded by a massive wall 20-30 feet high or six to nine meters with a population of around 3 million.
6 Sanat is also the country's largest city it is located at an average elevation of 7 500 feet or 2 200 meters above sea level making it one of the world's highest capital cities now interesting fact that you may not have known according to yemeni legends the city was established by shem the son of noah all right now we're going to move on to talking a little bit about nature so this truly spectacular tree known as the dragon blood tree is native only to the yemeni island of sokotra the appearance of the tree can be easily compared to that of an umbrella held upright now the dark red resin produced by this tree gives it its name historically the resin was used and traded by the roman empire as a color pigment and as a medicine as early as the first century bc i was shocked to find out that the tree can actually live a thousand years and is believed to have immense medicinal value and applications today local people still use it to cure a range of ailments including diarrhea fever and dysentery moving on to our next fact.
7 yemeni men have a unique way of showing off their wealth and social class and this is through the use of traditional daggers so curved knives or jambia are the symbol of male honor in yemen because people can easily recognize that you come from a good family based on the type of jambia that you carry jambia is actually derived from the arabic word for side because the dagger is usually worn on the side of a person the yemeni jambia generally has a curved double-edged blade.
8 The steel blade is stored in a sheath made of wood covered with metal or cloth there are usually various ornaments on the sheath which adds to its beauty and represents status the handle is actually the most important part of the jumbia the best ones are typically made of rhino horn however conservation efforts and policies banning poaching rhinos and exporting their horns meant that the handles are now curved out of bull horns and other animal bones okay let's get a little bit into the history i was surprised to learn that both ethiopia and yemen claim that the queen of sheba was a native of their country so in ethiopia her name was makeda and there is mention of this in the bible in yemen her name was bilkis and there is mention of this in the quran now both countries agree that she was better known as the queen of sheba she ruled a rich ancient kingdom.
9 The legends are told about the wise beautiful african or arabian queen depending on which country tells the story which country can actually lay claim to the queen of sheba well that still remains to be verified scientifically we can't say for sure where the queen of sheba originated from the fact is that archaeologists still don't have concrete proof to give a definitive answer but who knows maybe she was even from both countries which would explain why there are mentions of her in both places but that's just kind of my own opinion either way it's all pretty exciting and adds to the mystery behind the true origin of the captivating queen of sheba.
10 Ethiopia and yemen hold hopes that one day her tomb will be discovered but until then both countries offer excursions to sites that are believed to have been the center of the queen's majestic rule and moving on to our final fact today we are going to talk about a beautiful palace perched atop a rock at the famous wadi dahir valley is better known as the imam's rock palace it is an iconic symbol of yemen so what makes the building so attractive is its exemplary representation of yemeni architecture it almost seems to grow out of the rocks on which it is constructed and has magnificently painted windows and edges that make it stand out even from afar the daad al-hajar is a palace that was built in the 1930s by yaya muhammad hamidin an islamic spiritual leader ruling in yemen at the time now the palace was originally built as a summer residence for imam yaya interestingly there are five stories in the building with three stories visible from above the rocks and two stories built and carved out into the rock itself i have no idea how they did it but it's amazing now unfortunately imam yaya was assassinated in 1948 leaving the palace to be restored and set up as a museum today it is open to the public for all to visit and appreciate its exterior and interior beauty if you ever have the chance to check it out guys it is definitely a must see all right friends that takes us.
If you enjoyed this Article i hope you did i have another similar Article below that you just have to check out so click on that link in the Article alright guys that's a wrap i'm gonna start working on my next Article for you i'm excited to see where it takes us next so be sure to join us here again on Countries facts see you.
1 Yemen was historically known by its latin nickname arabia felix meaning fortunate happy or fertile so yemen actually gained this nickname because it was more fertile than most of the arabian peninsula actually part of what led yemen's wealth and importance to the ancient world was its near monopoly of the trade in cinnamon and spices now this is all thanks to the mountains of the country which invited rains that contributed to a flourishing agriculture in the region.
2 Therefore supported a stable population and agricultural industry for centuries all right let's talk about the flag so the current national flag was adopted on may 22nd 1990 pretty recent this happened upon the unification of north yemen and south yemen so just to explain a little bit yemen was previously divided as two separate nations that achieved independence at different times northern yemen was under ottoman rule until 1918 and southern yemen was under british rule until 1967.
3 Since they achieved independence separately the two territories each had their own flag but when north and south yemen agreed to join and become one they developed a common flag featuring a tri-color of pan-arab colors red on top white in the middle and black on the bottom officially the red color of the flag represents the unity of the nation and the blood that was shed by martyrs the white symbolizes the bright future of the nation and its people while the black signifies the nation's dark history next we're going to be talking about cat which is a flowering evergreen plant widely grown in yemen the juice of this plant has an amphetamine-like effect so the people of the country love to chew it in the afternoon as a tradition keeping a ball of partially chewed leaves tucked against the inside of their cheek similar to the process of chewing tobacco some also choose to smoke the dried leaves make it into tea or sprinkle it on food cat is even a huge part of the nation's business culture as chewing the plant is believed to assist in the decision-making process the plant naturally contains cathinone which triggers euphoria and excitement.
4 Yemen is well known for its city shibam surrounded by a wall and inhabiting about 7 000 people the city is famous for its ancient mud brick high-rise buildings and is one of the oldest examples of urban planning based on the idea of vertical construction so these impressive tower-like buildings date back to the 16th century and rise out of the cliff edge of wadi hadramut some being 11 stories tall this gave the city its nickname the manhattan of the desert and it was actually surprisingly designated as a unesco world heritage site in 1982. moving on to coffee so it may be impossible to think of cafe mocha as anything other than the perfect combination of espresso and chocolate milk but did you know that the origin of the mocha coffee bean is actually owed to yemen so the mocha coffee bean is actually named after al moka a port city.
5 Yemen's red sea coast the city served as a major hub of the coffee trade from the 15th to the 18th centuries now the coffee was not actually grown directly in almoca it arrived in the port city from large coffee plantations within the mountain regions of yemen the moka bean sold at almoca were famous for their distinctive earthy and chocolaty flavors and quickly became a household term for coffee drinkers around the world let's move on and talk about yemen's capital city sanat it is one of the world's most ancient cities that is still inhabited today the city's name actually means fortified place most likely because the old city is surrounded by a massive wall 20-30 feet high or six to nine meters with a population of around 3 million.
6 Sanat is also the country's largest city it is located at an average elevation of 7 500 feet or 2 200 meters above sea level making it one of the world's highest capital cities now interesting fact that you may not have known according to yemeni legends the city was established by shem the son of noah all right now we're going to move on to talking a little bit about nature so this truly spectacular tree known as the dragon blood tree is native only to the yemeni island of sokotra the appearance of the tree can be easily compared to that of an umbrella held upright now the dark red resin produced by this tree gives it its name historically the resin was used and traded by the roman empire as a color pigment and as a medicine as early as the first century bc i was shocked to find out that the tree can actually live a thousand years and is believed to have immense medicinal value and applications today local people still use it to cure a range of ailments including diarrhea fever and dysentery moving on to our next fact.
7 yemeni men have a unique way of showing off their wealth and social class and this is through the use of traditional daggers so curved knives or jambia are the symbol of male honor in yemen because people can easily recognize that you come from a good family based on the type of jambia that you carry jambia is actually derived from the arabic word for side because the dagger is usually worn on the side of a person the yemeni jambia generally has a curved double-edged blade.
8 The steel blade is stored in a sheath made of wood covered with metal or cloth there are usually various ornaments on the sheath which adds to its beauty and represents status the handle is actually the most important part of the jumbia the best ones are typically made of rhino horn however conservation efforts and policies banning poaching rhinos and exporting their horns meant that the handles are now curved out of bull horns and other animal bones okay let's get a little bit into the history i was surprised to learn that both ethiopia and yemen claim that the queen of sheba was a native of their country so in ethiopia her name was makeda and there is mention of this in the bible in yemen her name was bilkis and there is mention of this in the quran now both countries agree that she was better known as the queen of sheba she ruled a rich ancient kingdom.
9 The legends are told about the wise beautiful african or arabian queen depending on which country tells the story which country can actually lay claim to the queen of sheba well that still remains to be verified scientifically we can't say for sure where the queen of sheba originated from the fact is that archaeologists still don't have concrete proof to give a definitive answer but who knows maybe she was even from both countries which would explain why there are mentions of her in both places but that's just kind of my own opinion either way it's all pretty exciting and adds to the mystery behind the true origin of the captivating queen of sheba.
10 Ethiopia and yemen hold hopes that one day her tomb will be discovered but until then both countries offer excursions to sites that are believed to have been the center of the queen's majestic rule and moving on to our final fact today we are going to talk about a beautiful palace perched atop a rock at the famous wadi dahir valley is better known as the imam's rock palace it is an iconic symbol of yemen so what makes the building so attractive is its exemplary representation of yemeni architecture it almost seems to grow out of the rocks on which it is constructed and has magnificently painted windows and edges that make it stand out even from afar the daad al-hajar is a palace that was built in the 1930s by yaya muhammad hamidin an islamic spiritual leader ruling in yemen at the time now the palace was originally built as a summer residence for imam yaya interestingly there are five stories in the building with three stories visible from above the rocks and two stories built and carved out into the rock itself i have no idea how they did it but it's amazing now unfortunately imam yaya was assassinated in 1948 leaving the palace to be restored and set up as a museum today it is open to the public for all to visit and appreciate its exterior and interior beauty if you ever have the chance to check it out guys it is definitely a must see all right friends that takes us.
If you enjoyed this Article i hope you did i have another similar Article below that you just have to check out so click on that link in the Article alright guys that's a wrap i'm gonna start working on my next Article for you i'm excited to see where it takes us next so be sure to join us here again on Countries facts see you.
