Page 100 - A Hand book of Arabia Vol 1 (iii) Ch 4,5

CHAPTER VI

YEMEN

Area
•
Excluding the sanjak of Asir, which has practically seceded from
Ottoman rule, the vilayet or province of Yemen may be described
as bounded on the north by an indefinite line which places Loheia
and Khamir just within*its borders ; on the south by the Aden
Protectorate frontier as delimited in 1902-4 ; and on the west by
t he Red Sea. The eastern limit is vague and varies with the ebb
and flow of Ottoman politics—but long. 45° E. roughly marks the
oxt reme range of Turkish influence. If we exclude Jauf and Nejran,
which are described in this chapter but considered as outlying
districts, the province thus roughly measures from 200 to 250 miles
from N. to S. and 150 miles from E. to W., and has an area of
about 35,000 square miles.

Physical Character

Relief

Yemen may be divided into six zones :
(1) The Tihamah or littoral belt.
(~) The maritime range.
(•3) The series of intramontane plains.
(4) The Yemen ridge or main watershed.
00 The central plateau.
.^The foot-hills and plains that finally merge into the Great

The Tihamah is a level plain with a slight rise inland ;
for example, which is 20 miles from the coast, is only 600 ft.
,u'e Sea-level. This zone varies very much in width, from 30 miles
to
Siu;ym°St a mere beach line at Sheikh Sa‘Id. It is chiefly soft,
mcn^ ’-an^ s^er^e desert, but there are important oases and settle-
'['h s ln t-he larger wadis by which it is traversed from east to west.
•sand^°aS^'^ne t’*le Tihamah is in the main regular, low, and
AB*with here and there small rocky headlands and islands, the
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