Yeah, Man, It's Yemen Trivia Quiz

Answer: Djibouti and Eritrea

The Bab-el-Mandeb Strait connects the Red Sea (which is itself connected to the Mediterranean Sea by the Suez Canal) and the Gulf of Aden, a branch of the Arabian Sea. This region is an important transport route between Europe and eastern Africa and southern and eastern Asia.

The Arabic name of the strait translates into English as Gateway of Grief, a name that may refer either to the dangers attendant on travelling through it, or to an Arab legend about the people who died when a major earthquake led to the separation of Asia and Africa (which are at their closest in this region).

At its narrowest point, the strait is about 30 km wide, and is further divided into two narrower channels by the volcanic island of Perim.

Answer: True

At something over 3600m elevation, Jabal an-Nabi Shu'aib is much higher than any point on the Arabian Peninsula outside of Yemen, although much of Yemen itself is between 2000 and 3000 metres above sea level. The highland plateaus of Yemen are the largest elevated area on the Arabian peninsula, with most of the country being part of these highlands.

There is only a narrow coastal strip on the western and southern borders, and early Yemenis tended to remain isolated in the highlands for the majority of the time, only coming down to the coast for purposes of trade. Yemen's major non-seaport cities are all located in the highlands.

Answer: Rub' Al Khali

The Rub' Al Khali (a name which translates into English as Empty Quarter), is the largest sand desert in the world, and covers much of the Arabian peninsula, including the northeastern portion of Yemen. Although it is called a sand desert, and certainly has massive areas of reddish-colored sand dunes (some up to 250m in height), the sand rests on an underlying bed of gypsum gravel, which is clearly seen in some regions.

In the part of the Rub' Al Khali that is in neighboring Oman, there is a notorious area of quicksand called the Umm al Samim, first described for Europeans by Sir Wilfred Thesiger in the 1940s.

Answer: False

The coastal plain, called the Tihama, is a semi-desert area, and there is little agriculture there. In fact, only about 0.6% of Yemen is dedicated to permanent agricultural crops. The western highlands have fertile soil, and get the most rainfall (mountain rain-shadow effect means that the plateau of the eastern highland region gets less rain, although in a good year there is enough for substantial crop yields), so they are where the most intensive agriculture is located.

The mountains are heavily terraced to increase the productive area, and crops include sorghum, a valuable grain crop, along with cotton and a variety of fruits, of which mangoes are the most commercially valuable.

Answer: Coffee

So important was Mocha in the coffee trade that its name has become synonymous with the very best coffee beans (and only later as describing a mixture of coffee and chocolate). The Mocha coffee bean comes from a strain of Coffea arabica which is native to Yemen. For a long time, this bean was available only from Mocha. To protect their monopoly, sellers ensured that the coffee beans were roasted before exporting, so that there was no chance of the buyers propagating the plants for themselves. If you can locate some true Mocha coffee, it is worth the effort to get a sample of a flavor that was formerly only available to royalty due to its expense.

Answer: Public bath

Also called Turkish baths, hammams are often located near mosques, to facilitate the cleansing that is required of Muslims before prayer. Typically, it will have three rooms: the sıcaklık (hot room), a warm room often including massage facilities, and the soğukluk (cool room), where the bather finishes the cleansing process under running water, and partakes of refreshments.

The Old City District (al-Qadeemah) of Sana'a is one of the oldest continuously-inhabited cities in the world, having been built inside the surrounding clay walls over 2500 years ago. Many of its buildings are multi-storied, and bear intricate geometric decorations. Sights include the Great Mosque of Sana'a (built in the 7th century, and one of the oldest in the world), the Suq al-Milh (Salt Market, but much more than that is on sale), and the gate through which the area is accessed, called the Yemen Gate, which is over 1000 years old. The Old City was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1986, a listing which specified 103 mosques, 14 hammams and over 6,000 houses.

Answer: It was first settled in the 13th century

Some sort of settlement, named after a nearby wadi (river valley), existed at Zabid in the 7th century, and it was made the capital of the Ziyadite Dynasty (818-1018), although it was destroyed and rebuilt several times during this period and later. From 1228 until 1454 the Rasulids ruled in the area, and Zabid experienced its period of greatest repute.

Its first mosque, Asa'ir, was built during the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammed, making it one of the oldest in the world. In 1993 Zabid was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, due to its archaeological and historical significance, but in 2000 it was listed as being a Site in Danger, due to the deterioration of many of its buildings.

It is now a mere remnant of its former self.

Answer: An island archipelago

The Socotra archipelago lies along the southern edge of the Gulf of Aden, marking its border with the Arabian Sea. The islands are nearly 400 km of the Yemeni mainland, and are actually closer to the coast of Africa than to Yemen. The islands have a vast assortment of plant and animal life that are found only there, including the unmistakable dragon blood tree photographed by every tourist. Over a third of the 825 plants found there are endemic, as are almost all the 34 species of reptiles 96 species of snails.

The islands are also home to nearly 200 species of birds, over 250 species of coral, around 300 species of crustaceans, and over 700 species of coastal marine fish. Socotra was added to the World Heritage List in 2008, cited for its significance in maintaining biodiversity.

Answer: Dinosaur footprints

In 2003 the first dinosaur footprints ever found on the Arabian Peninsula were discovered in some limestone rocks near Madar. The footprints seem to have been produced by a dozen different animals, eleven of them sauropods ("lizard-foot" dinosaurs with long necks and tails, related to Diplodocus and Brontosaurus) and one ornithopod ("bird-foot" dinosaurs, bipedal herbivores with three toes on each foot).

The prints were made around 150 million years ago, as were those later discovered in several other spots in the vicinity. If you want to visit the site, wear your walking gear, as the footprints are about 3km off the main road.

Answer: Eritrea

The Hanish Islands were claimed by the Ottoman Empire until 1923, at which time they came under the control of the Italian colony of Eritrea until 1941, when they became a British protectorate. Ethiopia and Yemen disputed rights to the islands during the 1970s and 1980s; when Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia it tried to re-establish control over the islands.

The conflict actually led to military confrontation, on the island of Al-Hanīsh al-Kabīr (Greater Hanish), between 15 and 17 December of 1995, and the deaths of between 5 and 30 people, depending on which sources you use for figures.

The maritime boundary was finally settled in 1999, giving Yemen control over the three largest islands (including Jabal Zugar and Al-Hanīsh al-Kabīr), and Eritrea control over the smaller islands close to their coast.

There are still disagreements over fishing rights in the area.