Discover the Only Country in the World That Starts with Y

Did you know that there are only two letters in the alphabet that don’t start any country names? That’s right, there are no countries in the world that start with W or X. There are a few letters that only have one country that starts with them, including O for Oman and Q for Qatar. There is also only one country that starts with a Y.

Yemen is currently the only country that starts with the letter Y.

Fun Facts About Yemen

Yemen was the first place where coffee was cultivated commercially. For a long time, it was the only source of the coffee bean! Eventually, the plants were introduced to other places in the world. It was also the area where frankincense and myrrh were plentiful in the ancient world. At that time, the country was not yet formed. 

The Republic of Yemen wasn’t established until 1990 when the two countries of North and South Yemen were united. Before this, there were many different governments and attempts to gain power in the area.

Where Is Yemen?

The Republic of Yemen is on the continent of Asia. It’s on the southwestern end of the Arabian Peninsula. Yemen borders Saudi Arabia to the north, Oman to the east, and the Gulf of Aden and the Red and Arabian Seas on its’ southwest border. The territory also includes over 100 islands, including the largest and most important — Socotra. 

Size and Climate

Yemen is about twice the size of the state of Michigan and about the same size as Kenya. It has around 1,200 miles of coastline on its southwest border. Yemen is a pretty hot country. In the summertime, it can reach up to 129°F in some places. The southern coastal parts are hot and humid year-round, and they experience very little rain. The center of the country is made up of highlands, and they stay warm in the summer and experience frosts in the winter. The northern parts of the country stay hot and dry year-round and also experience little rain.

Most people agree that the best time to visit Yemen is any time from fall to spring. During this time there is less rain and it’s not as hot as it can be during the summer. Of course, it depends on which area you’re planning to visit, but they are all more comfortable from October through April.

Culture and People

The people of Yemen are mainly Arab and practice Islam. The religion of Islam has two sects: the Sunnis and the Shiites. Most of the Yemenis are Sunni Muslims, however, there are also some Shiite Muslims who live there as well. 

Yemen is the second poorest country in the Middle East. It has a poverty rate of 55% of the population living below the poverty line, with 18.4% living in extreme poverty. Around one-third of the population is illiterate, and around one-fifth are unemployed. The high unemployment rates along with the lack of jobs are a large reason why the country is so impoverished. Along with these reasons, there is also a lot of corruption occurring in the country from business people to government officials. 

Flora and Fauna in Yemen

The coastal parts of Yemen have tropical plants like the date palm, banana, and acacia. They grow well in the humid air and wet soil. The Arabian highlands have the most variety in terms of plants for the entire country of Yemen. The highlands are also home to most of the food crops that are grown in the country. This includes melons, nuts, and some grains.

The mountainous northeast parts of the country are where most of the coffee crop is grown. The climate there is more temperate and predictable for growing the plants. 

Unfortunately, a majority of the forest of Yemen has been cut down, however, there are still pockets of the native forest in a few places. The mountain areas are home to a wide variety of plants and animals. 

The northern bald ibis, one of the rarest birds in the Middle East, lives in the mountains of the highlands. There were panthers and other large cats, but their species are diminishing as well, likely because of human pressures. The antelope population is also threatened, along with the hamadryas baboons, which were once much more widespread across the country than they are now.

There are not many animals that live in the Rub’ al-Khali region because the dry and desert habitat makes it hard to survive. A few animals live on the outskirts of the desert like Egyptian cobras.

History

Yemen has been occupied by people since 12,000 B.C. For the first 12,500 years of humans living in the area, there were power struggles between empires like the Minaean, Sabaean, and Himyarite. They gained power and became rich off of trading frankincense and myrrh.  

In A.D. 630, Islam was brought to Yemen by its Persian governor. It spread quickly and the country experienced peace and unification for a few years. However, it wasn’t long before the country began to break apart again. Dynasties formed quickly and wars were waged. In the 9th century, Muhammad ibn Ziyād founded the Ziyāded dynasty, establishing Zabīd as the capital. It lasted from 819 to 1018. 

For the years after, there was fighting over control of the country and its different factions. After the discovery of using coffee as a beverage in the early 15th century, the area became very volatile. There was conflict between the Egyptians, Ottomans, and a few European powers that wanted to control the market on Coffea arabica. Of course, the area had been the heart of trade on other things like frankincense and myrrh for a long time, so the land was highly desirable. 

The conflict continued throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, but by the 18th century, a new trade route had been established between Europe and Asia. At that time, the conflict died down and focus was put on the other trade route. 

Coffee Crop

Sometime around the 17th century, the coffee crop was smuggled out of Yemen and transplanted. It was brought to North America and Asia, as well as other places where it would become more profitable. This had a big effect on Yemen because the large cities like Aden and Mocha shrank to small villages. 

Yemen Today

By the 19th century, Yemen was controlled by the British, which controlled Aden, and the Ottoman Empire, which controlled North Yemen. In 1869 the Suez Canal opened and put Yemen back on the map as the Red Sea trade route became the most popular track from Europe to East Asia. The British and Ottomans clashed continuously throughout the early 20th century as they fought to establish land throughout the country. 

North Yemen became an independent country after World War I when the losing Ottoman forces left the country in 1918. The Ottoman Empire ended just a few years after the war in 1922.

South Yemen didn’t become independent until 1967. North and South Yemen stayed independent for a few years and experienced a few border wars. But in 1990, oil and natural gases were discovered in North and South Yemen, leading the nations to reunite. The Republic of Yemen was established in 1990.

Despite being a single country, tensions in Yemen remain high. Many of the disagreements within the country are over religious reasons. It’s led to a humanitarian crisis in the country which remains today, causing poverty and other health issues.