Ta'izz Governorate
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Ta'izz (Arabic: تعز) is a governorate of Yemen. The governorate's capital is Ta'izz, which is the third largest city in Yemen. Other major towns include Al Sawa, Juha and the famous coffee port of Mocha. It has a total population of just over three million and an area of 10,677km².
For such a small area, Ta'izz governorate has an extraordinarily diverse geography. The western half of the governorate is part of the Tihamah coastal plain and has an exceedingly hot, humid and arid climate. The eastern half, however, is very mountainous, with the major peak being 3,070-metre-high Jebel Saber near Ta'izz city. These mountains trap the moisture created by an upper-level wind reversal between April and October, so that in the eastern half of the governorate annual rainfall increases from 200 millimetres (8 inches) in the foothills to probably more than 1,000 millimetres (40 inches) near Jebel Saber. Temperatures in the highlands remain high during the daytime, but at the highest elevations they can fall dramatically to -5°C (23°F) overnight.
Agriculture reflects this diversity. In the Tihamah region, there is only irrigated agriculture, with cotton, sorghum and sesame the chief crops. Inland, whilst these crops are still significant, a much wider range of crops can be grown on rainfall and through water storage. Mangoes, papayas and bananas are the major crops of the western escarpment, and further up coffee and Khat are grown. Although wine is prohibited in Yemen because of its alcohol content, grapes are still grown to produce raisins in some areas.
Ta'izz city is the major centre of Islamic learning in Yemen and was the nation's capital between 1948 and 1962. However, it is not as old as nearby Ibb and Jibla. Today it is the most important commercial centre in Yemen owing to its proximity to the richest farmland in the nation and to the important Red Sea port of Mokha, which is clearly the best quality road in Yemen. It also has an international airport, Ta'izz International Airport, with numerous services within Yemen and to neighbouring countries.
