Overview
The Republic of Yemen is a west Asian country on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, bordering Saudi Arabia to the north and Oman to the north east. The country was divided between the Ottoman and British empires in the 1800s. After the First World War North Yemen existed as a separate state and in 1962, following an Egyptian-inspired revolution, it became the Yemen Arab Republic. South Yemen remained a British Protectorate, known as the Aden Protectorate, until 1967, when it became an independent state. The two Yemeni-states united to form the current Yemen in 1990.
Yemen was impacted by the Arab Spring uprising and, since 2011, has been in a state of constant political crisis. Since 2014 the country has been in a civil war, between government forces and Houthi rebels (each with their supporters from outside the country). The war has resulted in an on-going humanitarian crisis, with a severe famine, affecting millions, and a cholera outbreak.
What it means to be a Christian in Yemen
Islam is Yemen’s official religion and its legal system is based on Shari’a law. Christians make up only a tiny fraction of the population and converting to Christianity from Islam is a crime punishable by death. Christians will often meet secretly in homes, or in small groups outdoors for worship.
