Dhamar Governorate
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dhamar (Arabic: ذمار) is a governorate of Yemen. It is located to the south and southeast of Sana'a Governorate, to the north of Ibb Governorate, to the east of Al Hudaydah Governorate and to the northwest of Al Bayda' Governorate in the central highlands of Yemen. It has a total areas of 7,586km² and an estimated population of around one and a half million.
Dhamar is the most consistently elevated governorate in Yemen, with most of the land lying at over 2,500 metres (8,200 feet). The climate, though, remains hot during the day, with typical maxima of between 25 and 30°C (77 and 86°F), but frosts are very common at night during the winter months. During January 1986, temperatures are believed to have fallen as low as -12°C (10°F). Although no reliable rain gauge exists within the governorate, it is estimates that annual rainfall would range between 400 and 500 millimetres (16 to 20 inches) concentrated exclusively in the summer months, especially in July and August but also in March and April. Occasionally, floods can prove disastrous though casuing extensive erosion, notably in early April 2006.
Dhamar is a major agricultural region, being located midway between two of Yemen's three largest cities (Sana'a and Ta'izz). It produces to some degree almost all the crops grown in the Yemeni highlands. Dhamar town itself is notable as the only town in the former Yemen Arab Republic not to be walled: rather it is merely a town on open plains.
Dhamar Governorate is the important seat for the Zaydi religious sect which has long had a major influence in Yemen. The pre-Islamic kingdoms of Saba’, Qataban and Himyar had their capitals within the present area of Dhamar, and the Himyarite kingdom with its capital at Yarim set up the numerous terraces that allow for highly intensive agriculture throughout the region.
