| Summary: | Yemen is on the southwestern corner of the Arabian Peninsula. Yemenis are a Muslim and Arabic-speaking people who are mainly Arabs. Most Yemenis live in small, widely dispersed farming villages and towns, but it is no longer possible to make a living just by farming. Many Yemenis depend on income from males working abroad, particularly in Saudi Arabia. Islamic Yemen has two major sects. In the northern and eastern parts of Yemen are members of the Shia sect and in the southern and coastal regions are Shafis, or orthodox Sunnis. These two regions also differ in other respects; for example, tribal organization is more important in the northern and eastern parts of Yemen. This file contains one document, a cultural summary that was originally published in the Encyclopedia of World Cultures, 1994. The cultural summary includes information on history, settlement patterns, economy, kinship, marriage, family, sociopolitical organization, and religion.
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