| People's Democratic Republic of Yemen جمهورية اليَمَنْ الديمُقراطية الشَعْبِيّة Jumhūrīyat al-Yaman ad-Dīmuqrāṭīyah ash-Sha'bīyah |
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| Capital | Aden | ||||
| Language(s) | Arabic | ||||
| Government | Socialist Republic | ||||
| President | |||||
| - 1967–1969 | Qahtan al-Shaabi | ||||
| - 1969–1978 | Salim Rubai Ali | ||||
| - 1978 | Ali Nasir Muhammad | ||||
| - 1978–1980 | Abdul Fattah Ismail | ||||
| - 1980–1986 | Ali Nasir Muhammad | ||||
| - 1986–1990 | Haidar Abu Bakr al-Attas | ||||
| Prime Minister | |||||
| - 1969 | Faysal al-Shaabi | ||||
| - 1969–1971 | Muhammad Ali Haitham | ||||
| - 1971–1985 | Ali Nasir Muhammad | ||||
| - 1985–1986 | Haidar Abu Bakr al-Attas | ||||
| - 1986–1990 | Yasin Said Numan | ||||
| Historical era | Cold War | ||||
| - Independence declared | 30 November 1967 | ||||
| - UN membership | 14 December 1967 | ||||
| - Constitution adopted | 31 October 1978 | ||||
| - Unification | 22 May 1990 | ||||
| Area | |||||
| - 1990 | 332,970 km2 (128,560 sq mi) | ||||
| Population | |||||
| - 1990 est. | 2,585,484 | ||||
| Density | 7.8 /km2 (20.1 /sq mi) | ||||
| Currency | South Yemeni dinar | ||||
| Calling code | +969 | ||||
| ISO 3166-1=YD, ISO 3166-3=YDYE | |||||
The People's Democratic Republic of Yemen — also referred to as South Yemen, Democratic Yemen or Yemen (Aden) — was a socialist republic in the present-day southern and eastern Provinces of Yemen. It united with the Yemen Arab Republic, commonly known as North Yemen, on May 22, 1990, to form the current Republic of Yemen.
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In 1838, Sultan Muhsin bin Fadl of the nearby state of Lahej ceded 194 km² (75 sq. miles) including Aden to the British. On 19 January 1839, the British East India Company landed Royal Marines at Aden to occupy the territory and stop attacks by pirates against British shipping to India. It then became an important trading hub between British India and the Red Sea, and following the opening of the Suez canal in 1869, it became a coaling station for ships en route to India. Aden was ruled as part of British India until 1937, when the city of Aden became the Colony of Aden. The Aden hinterland and Hadhramaut to the east formed the remainder of what would become South Yemen and was not administered directly by Aden but were tied to Britain by treaties of protection with local rulers of traditional polities that, together, became known as the Aden Protectorate. Economic development was largely centred in Aden, and while the city flourished, the states of the Aden Protectorate stagnated.
In 1963, Aden and much of the Protectorate were joined to form the Federation of South Arabia with the remaining states that declined to join, mainly in Hadhramaut, forming the separate Protectorate of South Arabia. Both of these polities were still tied to Britain with promises of total independence in 1968. Two nationalist groups, the Front for the Liberation of Occupied South Yemen (FLOSY) and the National Liberation Front (NLF), began an armed struggle on 14 October 1963 against British control and, with the temporary closure of the Suez Canal in 1967, the British began to withdraw. Southern Yemen became independent as the People's Republic of South Yemen on 30 November 1967, and the National Liberation Front consolidated its control in the country.
In June 1969, a radical Marxist wing of NLF gained power and on 1 December 1970, reorganized the country into the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen. Subsequently, all political parties were amalgamated into the National Liberation Front, renamed the Yemeni Socialist Party, which became the only legal party. The People's Democratic Republic of Yemen established close ties with the Soviet Union, the People's Republic of China, Cuba, East Germany, and the Palestinian Liberation Organization.
The major communist powers assisted in the building of the PDRY's armed forces. Strong support from Moscow resulted in Soviet naval forces gaining access to naval facilities in South Yemen.
Unlike East Germany and West Germany or North Korea and South Korea, the northern Yemen Arab Republic (YAR) and the PDRY remained relatively friendly, though relations were often strained. In 1972 a small proxy border conflict was resolved with negotiations, where it was declared unification would eventually occur.
However, these plans were put on hold in 1979, as the PDRY funded Red rebels in the YAR, and war was only prevented by an Arab League intervention. The goal of unity was reaffirmed by the northern and southern heads of state during a summit meeting in Kuwait in March 1979.
In 1980, PDRY president Abdul Fattah Ismail resigned and went into exile in Moscow, having lost the confidence of his sponsors in the USSR.[1] His successor, Ali Nasir Muhammad, took a less interventionist stance toward both North Yemen and neighbouring Oman. On January 13, 1986, a violent struggle began in Aden between Ali Nasir's supporters and supporters of the returned Ismail, who wanted power back. Fighting lasted for more than a month and resulted in thousands of casualties, Ali Nasir's ouster, and Ismail's death. Some 60,000 people, including the deposed Ali Nasir, fled to the YAR. Ali Salim al-Beidh, an ally of Ismail who had succeeded in escaping the attack on pro-Ismail members of the Politburo, then became General Secretary of the Yemeni Socialist Party.[2]
In May 1988, the YAR and PDRY governments came to an understanding that considerably reduced tensions including agreement to renew discussions concerning unification, to establish a joint oil exploration area along their undefined border, to demilitarize the border, and to allow Yemenis unrestricted border passage on the basis of only a national identification card.
The only recognised political party in South Yemen was the Yemeni Socialist Party, which ran the country and the economy along lines they described as Marxist, modeled on the Soviet Union.
The constitution prescribed universal suffrage.
The Supreme People's Council was appointed by the general command of the National Liberation Front in 1971.
In Aden, there was a structured judicial system, with a supreme court.
Education was paid for through general taxation.
There was no housing crisis in South Yemen. Surplus housing built by the British meant that there were few homeless people in Aden, and people built their own houses out of adobe and mud in the rural areas.
Finally in 1988, the South Yemen Olympic team made its debut in Seoul. Sending only eight athletes, the country won no medals. This was the only time the country went to the Olympics until unification in 1990.
Following independence, South Yemen was divided into six governorates (Arabic sg. muhafazah), with roughly natural boundaries, each given a name by numeral. From 1967 to 1978 they were named officially by numerals only, from 1979 to 1990 - by new official names. The islands: Kamaran (until 1972, when it was seized by North Yemen), Perim (Meyun), Socotra, Abd-el-Kuri, Samha (inhabited), Darsah and others uninhabitated from the Socotra archipelago were district (mudiriyah) of the First/Aden Governorate being under Prime-Minister of the state supervision.[3]
| Numeral | Name | Approximate Area (km.²) | Capital |
| I | 'Adan | 6,980 | Aden |
| II | Lahij | 12,766 | Lahij |
| III | Abyan | 21,489 | Zinjibar |
| IV | Shabwah | 73,908 | Ataq |
| V | Hadhramawt | 155,376 | Al Mukalla |
| VI | al-Mahrah | 66,350 | Al Ghaydah |
There was little industrial output, or mineral wealth exploitation, in South Yemen, until the mid-1980s, following the discovery of significant petroleum reserves in the central regions near Shibam and Mukalla. The main sources of income were agriculture, mostly fruit, cereal crops, cattle and sheep, fishing and later, oil exports.
The national budget was 13.43 million dinars in 1976, and the gross national product was USD $150 million. The total national debt was $52.4 million.
The following airlines had operated from the PDRY:[4]
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the CIA World Factbook.
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