ince antiquity, the region of modern-day Yemen was an important location, effectively forming a long land bridge between North Africa and Asia. 

Ancient Romans used to call it Arabia Felix, which means “Happy Arabia.” 

In 1538, Yemen became part of the Ottoman Empire. They were forced out in the 17th century but returned in the north in 1849. 

Until 1616, almost all of the coffee in the world existed in Yemen. 

Aden came under 1839, with the British colony of Aden and the Aden Protectorate established in 1839, consisting of about two-thirds of the area of present-day Yemen. This area gained independence as South Yemen on November 30th 1967 and became a Marxist socialist republic in 1970. 

In 1918 after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the other part of modern-day Yemen became the Kingdom of Yemen, which became the Yemen Arab Republic in 1962. 

The official proclamation of the unification of the Yemen Arab Republic (North Yemen) and the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen (South Yemen) took place on May 22nd 1990, with Ali Abdallah Saleh as president.