22nd May: Yemen

North and South Yemen merged on this date in 1990 so today is the National Day of the Republic of Yemen.

1. The name of the country is either from the word yamin, meaning "on the right side", or yumn, meaning "felicity". The Romans called it Arabia Felix (Happy Arabia).
2. Yemen is the only country in the Arab Peninsula to be a republic. All the others are kingdoms or emirates.
3. Officially, the capital is Sana'a, also the largest city, but in 2015 the capital has been temporarily moved to the port city of Aden, after rebels captured Sana'a.
4. Archaeologists believe Yemen to be the location of the ancient kingdom of Sheba. Both the Qur'an and the Bible tell the story of the Queen of Sheba's visit to King Solomon.
5. Jabal an Nabi Shu'ayb is the highest point at 3,666 metres (12,028 ft) high, the second highest point in the Arab world. The entire country is elevated, with an average elevation of about 2,000 metres (6,600 ft). This allowed its people to remain isolated from the rest of the world except when they wanted to trade, when they would go to the lower lying coastal areas.
6. Talking of trade, in ancient times they would export as much as 3,000 tons of frankincense each year to Greece and Rome. In the 11th century, Yemenis invented Coffee as a drink, and coffee was one of its most important crops. Mocha coffee was named for a port in Yemen, Al Mukha. They still export coffee, but many of the farmers have switched to growing the stimulant drug, qat.
7. Some areas of Yemen are very fertile, especially the escarpment of the western highlands, which gets more rain than anywhere else in Arabia at around 1,000 mm (39.4 in), and has been terraced to take advantage of this and grow crops. Other parts of the country are less fortunate and get hardly any rain at all. Yemen's portion of the Rub al Khali desert in the east is one. The Tihamah ("hot lands" or "hot earth") is a very arid and flat coastal plain along the Red Sea coastline. Here, streams from the highlands evaporate before they can reach the sea.
8. This, and the growing population (24 million in 2014), and unauthorised drilling of wells to water the qat plants, contributes to a potential drinking water crisis. Sana'a could be the first capital city in the world to run out of drinking Water.
9. Yemen is home to what has been called the oldest skyscraper city in the world, or the Manhattan of the desert. Shibam, population 7,000, is famous for its high rise buildings built from mud. Some are 30 meters (100 feet) high. The city is one of the oldest and best examples of urban planning based on the principle of vertical construction and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
10. The most popular sport in the country is Football, but tribesmen on the west coast also participate in Camel jumping. Competitors tuck their robes around their waists and from a running start, leap over camels placed side by side. The one who jumps over the greatest number of camels wins.