Aden

Main port and commercial centre of Yemen, on a rocky peninsula at the southwest corner of Arabia, commanding the entrance to the Red Sea; population (2004) 590,400. The city's economy is based on oil refining, fishing, shipping, and light industries, including boatbuilding. A British territory from 1839, Aden became part of independent South Yemen in 1967; it was the capital of South Yemen until 1990.

History
After annexation by Britain, Aden and its immediate hinterland (121 sq km/47 sq mi) were developed as a ship-refuelling station following the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869. It was a colony 1937–63 and then, after a period of transitional violence among rival nationalist groups and British forces, was combined with the former Aden protectorate (290,000 sq km/112,000 sq mi) to create the Southern Yemen People's Republic in 1967, which was renamed the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (1970–90). In 1990 unification took place between North Yemen (the Yemen Arab Republic) and South Yemen. In May 1994 South Yemen (calling itself The People's Democratic Republic of Yemen) declared independence, but its attempt to break away ended with the capture of Aden by government forces in July 1994.