The highest point in Yemen is Jabal an Nabi Shu'ayb (3,760 m).

Yemen is situated on one of world's busiest shipping lanes.

Local legend says that Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, was founded by Shem, a son of Noah.

Ancient civilizations in Yemen included the Himyar and Saba.

Queen Bilquis, known as the Queen of Sheba, was a ruler of Saba.

Mareb, the capital of Saba, was famous for its irrigation system and Great Dam.

Over three thousand years ago Yemen was an important region trading in spices and tree resins such as frankincense.

The Greeks and Romans travelled to and from India via the ports of Yemen.

The Romans knew Yemen as Arabia Felix - referring to the country's prosperity.

Yemen came under the control of Ethiopians in the fourth century and Persians in the later sixth century.

Many of the people of the region converted to Islam around 628 AD.

Jibla was the capital of Queen Arwa who ruled Yemen from 1067 until 1138.

The medieval town of Zabid was famous for its [Islamic] university.

The Portuguese annexed the island of Socotra in the early sixteenth century.

The Ottoman Empire controlled part of Yemen for most of the sixteenth century and the early seventeenth century.

In 1839 the port of Aden and the surrounding area came under control of the British.

Aden's importance increased when the Suez Canal opened in 1869.

The Ottomans gained control of North Yemen between the middle of the nineteenth century until the end of the First World War (1914-1918).

The Colony of Aden was a British Crown colony from 1937 until 1963.

Queen Elizabeth II visited Aden in 1954.

A revolution in 1962 led to the foundation of the Yemen Arab Republic (North Yemen).

The British withdrew from [South] Yemen in 1967.

South Yemen, consisting of Aden and the former Protectorate of South Arabia, was formed in 1967. Later, South Yemen changed its name to the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen.

An earthquake, measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale, occurred in North Yemen in 1982. Thousands of people were killed or injured and many more were made homeless.

Oil was discovered in the Marib region by a US oil company in 1984. Later, the Soviet Union found oil to the south of the Marib area.

In 1990 the Yemen Arab Republic and the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen united to form the Republic of Yemen.

A short civil war took place in 1994.

A new container terminal opened in the port of Aden in 1999.

In October 2000 seventeen US personnel were killed in Aden when the USS Cole was struck by a boat filled with explosives.

Flooding, caused by heavy rain, left over forty-five people dead in Yemen in October 2008.

A seventeen mile long bridge, linking Djibouti in Africa and Yemen in the Middle East, is under consideration by investors. (2007)

At the beginning of 2011, at a time of unrest across the Arab world, protesters demanded political reform.

Conflict in Yemen continued for a number of years with civil war beginning on 16 September 2014. After eight years of fighting the opposing sides signed a United Nations-brokered truce. The United Nations requested humanitarian aid for the country.