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Yemen

American  
[yem-uhn, yey-muhn] / ˈyɛm ən, ˈyeɪ mən /

noun

  1. Formerly Southern Yemen.  Republic of Yemen, a country in southern Arabia, formed in 1990 by the merger of the Yemen Arab Republic and the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen. 207,000 sq. mi. (536,130 sq. km). Sanʿa. Aden.

  2. Also called North Yemen.  a former country in southwestern Arabia: since 1990 a part of the Republic of Yemen. Sanʿa.

  3. Also called South Yemen.  a former country in southern Arabia: since 1990 a part of the Republic of Yemen. Aden.


Yemen British  
/ ˈjɛmən /

noun

  1. Official name: Yemen Republic.  a republic in SW Arabia, on the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden: formed in 1990 from the union of North Yemen and South Yemen: consists of arid coastal lowlands, rising to fertile upland valleys and mountains in the west and to the Hadhramaut plateau in the SE: the north and east contains part of the Great Sandy Desert. Official language: Arabic. Official religion: Muslim. Currency: riyal. Capital: San`a. Pop: 25 408 288 (2005 est). Area (including territory claimed by Yemen along the undemarcated eastern border with Saudi Arabia): 472 099 sq km (182 278 sq miles) See also North Yemen South Yemen

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Yemen Cultural  
  1. Now the Republic of Yemen. Yemen is at the mouth of the Red Sea, in the southwestern corner of the Arabian Peninsula, bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north and Oman to the east; formerly divided into North Yemen (the Yemen Arab Republic) and the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen.


Discover More

Northern Yemen became an independent country after World War I.

The two Yemens were reunified as a result of the democratic reforms of the Soviet Union and its satellite countries in 1990.

Southern Yemen won independence from Britain in 1967 and became the world's only communist Arab state.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Riots returned to Egypt, Algeria, Yemen, and Morocco during the 2008-09 global financial crisis, when rice prices tripled and wheat prices more than doubled in world markets.

From Barron's • Apr. 10, 2026

The genus also incorporates an older species, S. longimanus, first described in Yemen in 1903 and previously assigned to a different genus.

From Science Daily • Apr. 6, 2026

Kidnapping had occurred before the civil war, but the scale and nature of it changed dramatically after 2014, when Yemen when Yemen in effect fractured under rival governments.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 30, 2026

Israel said it had shot down two missiles coming from Yemen.

From BBC • Mar. 29, 2026

People in Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain, and Libya, by pushing for democracy, are arguing, in effect, for the right to argue.

From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith