Global - Technology - Review

The Republic of Yemen occupies the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, a hot and arid region of mountains and plains. Irrigation enables some agriculture, including sorghum, cotton and wheat, though the Empty Quarter on the border with Saudi Arabia is uninhabitable. Yemen has dwindling oil resources, though there are reserves of natural gas. Kidnapping of tourists and political instability have decreased the popularity of Yemen as a destination. Nevertheless the former importance of the area as a centre of the spice trade has left impressive relics of past civilizations. The Old Town area of the capital Sana’a, with its ancient mud walls, its salt market and its hundred mosques, is a World Heritage site. The city of Shibbam is famous for its mud-built skyscrapers, up to thirty metres tall and dating from the 16th Century. Another ancient city, Zabid, is the birthplace of algebra. Aden, on the coast of the Arabian Gulf is dramatically located in the crater of an extinct volcano. The Island of Socotra has a rich variety of plant and animal species, as well as a diversity of marine wildlife. Saltah, made with meat, eggs, rice or potatoes, flavoured with fenugreek, is the national dish.