Yemen Education

Yemen, People's Democratic Republic of (PDRY), formerly People's Republic of Southern Yemen, commonly called Southern Yemen, former country of Asia, now comprising the southern part of the Republic of Yemen, located on the southern coast of the Arabian Peninsula. Founded in 1967 as the People's Democratic Republic of Southern Yemen, it was renamed the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY) in 1970. Until 1990, the PDRY was governed by the 111-member Supreme People's Council under a constitution enacted in 1970. The council elected the head of government and head of state. The sole legal political party was the Yemen Socialist party, founded in 1978. The country's capital was Aden. On May 22, 1990, in accordance with a constitution drafted nine years earlier, the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen and the Yemen Arab Republic (YAR) established a unified state.
This article describes the history of the region from the 7th century AD through the founding of the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen and the unification in 1990. For the ancient history of the country, see YEMEN ARAB REPUBLIC. For the history since 1990, see YEMEN, REPUBLIC OF.

History
In ancient times, the southern area of what is now the Republic of Yemen was occupied by the kingdoms of Qataban and Hadhramaut. After the conversion of South Arabia to Islam in the 7th century, the Umayyad caliphs, who ruled the Islamic Empire from Damascus, and later the Abbasids from Baghdad, sent to the region governors who enjoyed varying degrees of power.

Local Dynasties
Missionary zeal of the unorthodox Ismaili Islamic sect began to be felt in Yemen at the end of the 9th century; from there it spread and exerted great influence in North Africa in the form of the Fatimid movement, endangering the power of the Abbasid dynasty. Followers of this movement, the Sulayids, ruled in San'a' and came to control Aden for a time, leading to rule by the Shiite Islamic Zurayids until the orthodox Ayyubids invaded the area in 1173-1174 and took Aden. In 1229 the Rasulids, the outstanding dynasty in southern Yemeni Islamic history, broke from the Ayyubids to rule independently. Their capital, Ta'izz, was famous for its monarchs' diverse artistic and intellectual achievements. Aden flourished as a trade center under their rule. The Rasulid dynasty broke down in the 15th century; it was then replaced by the Tahirids, with the Kathiris in the Hadhramaut.

The Ottoman Turks
In the 15th century the Portuguese came to Arabia, blockading the Red Sea trade routes and disrupting the economic status quo, but failing to take the city of Aden. This brought other trouble, as the Mamelukes and then, in 1517, the Ottomans found it necessary to defend Yemen against the Portuguese. The Ottomans occupied Aden, and the Yemenis were pushed back to the mountains. Eventually, the Ottomans made their base in the town of Mocha, which then replaced Aden as the area's chief port.

British Rule
Aden began to develop again under the British, who captured it from the sultan of Lahij in 1839. After the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, it became a major coaling station on the route to India. Over the next century British authorities established treaty relationships with the tribes in the surrounding area, and when the Aden Protectorate was created in 1937, it included some of what is now the southern region of the Republic of Yemen. Neighboring Yemen claimed sovereignty over some of the territories annexed by Britain, and border clashes were common in the 1950s. In 1958 six of the south Yemeni chieftains formed a British-sponsored federation; by 1965 the Federation of South Arabia included all of the region's 17 states.

Independence
In 1967 the British withdrew under pressure from an armed nationalist movement, and the federation became independent as the People's Republic of Southern Yemen. The National Liberation Front, which had forced the British out, became the only recognized party. Its leader, Qahtan Muhammad al-Shaabi, was installed as president, but he was ousted in 1969 and replaced by Salem Ali Rubayi. In 1970 the country was renamed the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen. A number of foreign-owned properties were nationalized, and close ties were established with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Rubayi's government agreed to merge with the Yemen Arab Republic (the former Imamate of Yemen) in 1972, but tensions between the two states prevented the agreement from being carried out and even led to a short war in 1979. Rubayi was deposed and executed in 1978; his successor, Abdel Fattah Ismail, was in turn replaced by Ali Nasser Muhammad al-Hasani in 1980. A brief but violent civil war in January 1986 ended in 12 days, and Hasani fled into exile. Former premier Haydar Bakr al-Attas was elected president in October 1986. The country formally united with the Yemen Arab Republic to form the Republic of Yemen in May 1990, and al-Attas was named premier of the new state.

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