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Updates: 

Sorin Cosoveanu provided data from the Final Results  of the 2004 census. I've updated the table accordingly.

Stefan Helders directed me to a preliminary report of the 2004 census . It shows a new governorate named Raymah. Loren Muehlius sent me a map of the current governorates, based on a shapefile downloaded from the Yemen Ministry of Public Health and Population . The map shows that Raymah was split from San`a'. The Spring 2004 issue of the Yemen Economic Update from the World Bank says, "the Cabinet approved in January 2004, a draft law on setting up a new governorate at Al-Raima to be composed of five districts." Other sources imply that the capital would be Jebin. Here is the new set of divisions.

ISO 3166-2 has come out in a second edition, dated 2007-12-15. It gives a code for San`a' city, as shown below.

I found a source  for the areas of the governorates. It says that they were measured from topographic maps using a GIS.

Yemen Gateway, an independent organization devoted to the study of Yemen, reports  that a presidential decree was issued on 1998-07-29, creating two new governorates: Amran and Al-Dali'. The decree required the approval of parliament to take effect. I have no evidence that the parliamentary approval was ever secured. All the same, the new governorates seem to be operating. A little more information can be found on the Yemen Times Press Review pages for 1998-08-09  and 1998-08-16 . ISO 3166-2 Newsletter number I-4, dated 2002-12-10, lists the two new governorates. FIPS Publication Change Notice No. 9, affecting FIPS PUB 10-4, dated 2004-10-01, assigns FIPS codes to the two new governorates. It also changes the FIPS codes of the old governorates from which the new ones were formed. Details are below under Primary subdivisions and Change history.

Country overview:  

Short name	YEMEN
ISO code	YE
FIPS code	YM
Language	Arabic (ar)
Time zone	+3
Capital	Sanaa

 

In 1900, modern Yemen consisted of the Turkish vilayet of Yemen along the Red Sea, and a collection of territories on the Gulf of Aden and Arabian Sea which were in the British sphere. The border between them was delimited starting in 1902. This border remained in place through several changes in government, until 1990, when the two countries merged.

Other names of country: 

1. Arabic: al-Jamhuriya al-Yamaniya (formal)
2. Danish: Yemen
3. Dutch: Jemen, Republiek Jemen (formal)
4. English: Republic of Yemen (formal)
5. Finnish: Jemen
6. French: Yémen m
7. German: Jemen m
8. Icelandic: Jemen
9. Italian: Yemen m
10. Norwegian: Jemen, Republikken Jemen (formal)
11. Portuguese: Iémen, Iémene, Iêmen m (Brazil), Yémen, República f do Iémen m (formal)
12. Spanish: Yemen, República f Árabe del Yemen m (formal)
13. Swedish: Jemen, Yemen

Origin of name: 

from Arabic for right-hand, its position relative to Mecca as seen from Africa

Primary subdivisions: 

Yemen is divided into twenty governorates and one municipality.

Governorate	HASC	ISO	Cd	Population	Area(km.²)	Area(mi.²)	Capital
Abyan	YE.AB	AB	12	433,819	16,450	6,350	Zinjibar
`Adan	YE.AD	AD	24	589,419	760	290	Aden
Al Bayda'	YE.BA	BA	14	577,369	9,270	3,580	Al Bayda
Al Dali'	YE.DL	DA	30	470,564	4,000	1,540	Al Dali'
Al Hudaydah	YE.HU	HU	18	2,157,552	13,250	5,120	Al Hudaydah
Al Jawf	YE.JA	JA	16	443,797	39,500	15,250	Al Hazm Al Jawf
Al Mahrah	YE.MR	MR	28	88,594	67,310	25,990	Al Ghaydah
Al Mahwit	YE.MW	MW	27	494,557	2,330	900	Al Mahwit
Amran	YE.AM	AM	29	877,786	7,900	3,050	Amran
Dhamar	YE.DH	DH	20	1,330,108	7,590	2,930	Dhamar
Hadramawt	YE.HD	HD	19	1,028,556	167,280	64,590	Al Mukalla
Hajjah	YE.HJ	HJ	17	1,479,568	8,300	3,200	Hajjah
Ibb	YE.IB	IB	11	2,131,861	5,350	2,070	Ibb
Lahij	YE.LA	LA	25	722,692	12,650	4,880	Lahij
Ma'rib	YE.MA	MA	26	238,522	17,450	6,740	Ma'rib
Raymah	YE.RM		31	394,448			Jabin
Sa`dah	YE.SD	SD	22	695,033	12,370	4,780	Sa`dah
San`a'	YE.NA	SN	23	919,215	13,850	5,350	San`a'
San`a' [City]	YE.SA	SA	13	1,747,834	380	150	San`a'
Shabwah	YE.SH	SH	21	470,635	39,000	15,060	`Ataq
Ta`izz	YE.TA	TA	15	2,393,425	10,010	3,860	Ta`izz
21 divisions				19,684,603	455,000	175,680
Governorate: except for San`a' [City], which is a municipality. HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes. ISO: Codes from ISO 3166-2. Cd: Governorate code from MOPHP. Population: 2004-12 census, final results. Area: Area of Raymah is included in San`a'.

Further subdivisions:

See the Districts of Yemen page.

The governorates are subdivided into 333 districts, which are subdivided into 2,210 sub-districts, and then into 38,284 villages (as of 2001).

Territorial extent: 

Hadramawt includes the islands of Socotra, Perim, and Kamaran, along with Socotra's neighbors, `Abd al Kuri and The Brothers (Samha and Darsa). Yemen also owns the Hanish Islands and other islands in the Red Sea.

Origins of names: 

1. Aden: probably from Akkadian edinnu: plain
2. Hadramaut: possibly from Hebrew Hatsarmawet, Biblical person (Genesis 10:26)

Change history: 

In 1900, North Yemen was the vilayet of Yemen in the Ottoman Empire. Aden was a British possession, administered from Bombay. The rest of South Yemen, including Socotra, Perim, and Kamaran islands, was loosely under British protection in various forms.

1. 1918-11: Yemen vilayet became independent as the Imamate of Yemen.
2. 1932: Aden province split from Bombay presidency of India.
3. 1934: Yemen and Saudi Arabia concluded Treaty of Taif, delimiting some of Yemen's northern boundary and assigning some disputed territory to Asir in Saudi Arabia.
4. 1937-04-01: Aden split from India as a crown colony. The crown colony itself was only about 195 sq. km. Socotra, Perim, and Karaman were administered from Aden. The rest of the mainland was divided into the Eastern Aden Protectorate and the Western Aden Protectorate.
5. 1958-03-08: Imamate of Yemen joined a loose federation with Egypt and Syria, which had recently merged as the United Arab Republic. The federation was called the United Arab States. Yemen pulled out in 1961.
6. 1959-02-11: Federation of Arab Amirates formed from some of the sheikhdoms of Aden Protectorate.
7. 1962: Following a coup, Imamate of Yemen became Yemen Arab Republic. At about this time, its divisions were Al Hudaydah, Hajjah, Ibb, Rida', Sa`dah, San`a', and Ta`izz governorates.
8. 1963-01: Name of Federation of Arab Amirates, now including more sheikhdoms (mostly from the Western Aden Protectorate) and Aden itself, changed to Federation of South Arabia. The remaining part of the Aden Protectorate became the South Arabian Protectorate.
9. 1967-11-30: Britain pulled out of Aden. Kuriya Muriya Islands were transferred to Oman. People's Republic of Southern Yemen formed by merging Aden State and Protectorate of South Arabia. Its capital was Madinat ash Sha'b. It was divided into six governorates, identified by Roman numerals from I to VI, increasing from west to east. Roughly, governorate I corresponded to present-day `Adan and part of Lahij; governorate II to the rest of Lahij; III to Abyan; IV to Shabwah; V to Hadramawt; and VI to Al Mahrah. According to the book cited below (at 1980-03), there was also a governorate named Thamud, adjacent to Hadramawt.
10. ~1968: Capital of Southern Yemen moved from Madinat ash Sha'b to Aden. 22 directorates were established as secondary subdivisions, under the six governorates.
11. 1970-12-01: Name of People's Republic of Southern Yemen changed to People's Democratic Republic of Yemen. To avoid confusion, this was commonly known as South Yemen, and the Yemen Arab Republic as North Yemen.
12. ~1980: In North Yemen, Rida' governorate split into Al Bayda' and Dhamar. At about this stage, North Yemen was divided into eight liwa (provinces), as follows (source: Encyclopædia Britannica, 1984 edition).

Province	Population	Area(km.²)
Al-Bayda'	191,000	15,000
Al-Hudaydah	764,000	35,000
Hajjah	573,000	17,000
Ibb	859,000	13,000
Rida'	286,000	10,000
Sa`dah	477,000	18,000
San`a'	1,910,000	80,000
Ta`izz	668,000	12,000
8 provinces	5,728,000	200,000
Population: 1970 estimate

1. 1980-03: In South Yemen, Thamud governorate merged with Hadhramawt. The divisions of South Yemen as a result were as follows, according to Ismael, Tareq Y., and Jacqueline S. Ismael, The People's Democratic Republic of Yemen: Politics, Economics and Society. Frances Pinter, London, 1986.

Governorate	Num	Population	Area(km.²)	Capital
Abyan	III	311,000	21,489	Zinjibar
Aden	I	291,000	6,980	Aden
al-Mahra	VI	61,000	66,350	Ghaydah
Hadhramawt	V	492,000	155,376	Mukalla
Lahej	II	273,000	12,766	Hawatah
Shibwah	IV	162,000	73,908	Ataq
6 governorates		1,590,000	336,869
Num: official designator for governorate. Population: 1973-05-14 census. Area: approximate (desert borders undefined).

1. ~1984: In North Yemen, Al Jawf, Al Mahwit, and Ma'rib governorates split from other governorates.
2. 1990-05-22: The two Yemens merged to form Republic of Yemen.
3. ~1994: San`a' city split from San`a' governorate.
4. 1998-07-29: Amran governorate (HASC code YE.AM, ISO code YE-AM) was formed from parts of Al Mahwit, Hajjah, and San`a' governorates. Al-Dali' governorate (HASC code YE.DL, ISO code YE-DA) was formed from parts of Ibb, Lahij, and Ta`izz governorates. However, the corresponding update to the FIPS standard implies that the governorates that ceded territory were Al Bayda' (former FIPS code YM07), Al Jawf (YM09), Hajjah (YM12), Ibb (YM13), Lahij (YM06), and Ta`izz (YM17). The table below shows the subdivisions at that time.

Governorate	HASC	ISO	FIPS	Old	Population	Area(km.²)	Area(mi.²)	Capital
Abyan	YE.AB	AB	YM01	YS03	416,271	16,450	6,350	Zinjibar
`Adan	YE.AD	AD	YM02	YS01	564,335	760	290	Aden
Al Bayda'	YE.BA	BA	YM20	YE01	505,751	9,270	3,580	Al Bayda
Al Dali'	YE.DL	DA	YM18			4,000	1,540	Al Dali'
Al Hudaydah	YE.HU	HU	YM08	YE02	1,754,493	13,250	5,120	Al Hudaydah
Al Jawf	YE.JA	JA	YM21	YE11	169,440	39,500	15,250	Al Hazm Al Jawf
Al Mahrah	YE.MR	MR	YM03	YS06	112,615	67,310	25,990	Al Ghaydah
Al Mahwit	YE.MW	MW	YM10	YE08	402,992	2,330	900	Al Mahwit
Amran	YE.AM	AM	YM19			7,900	3,050	Amran
Dhamar	YE.DH	DH	YM11	YE09	1,049,120	7,590	2,930	Dhamar
Hadramawt	YE.HD	HD	YM04	YS05	871,202	167,280	64,590	Al Mukalla
Hajjah	YE.HJ	HJ	YM22	YE03	1,265,845	8,300	3,200	Hajjah
Ibb	YE.IB	IB	YM23	YE04	1,963,975	5,350	2,070	Ibb
Lahij	YE.LA	LA	YM24	YS02	632,674	12,650	4,880	Lahij
Ma'rib	YE.MA	MA	YM14	YE10	183,053	17,450	6,740	Ma'rib
Sa`dah	YE.SD	SD	YM15	YE05	484,063	12,370	4,780	Sa`dah
San`a'	YE.SN	SN	YM16	YE06	1,907,968	13,850	5,350	San`a'
San`a' [City]	YE.SA	SA			973,548	380	150	San`a'
Shabwah	YE.SH	SH	YM05	YS04	375,541	39,000	15,060	`Ataq
Ta`izz	YE.TA	TA	YM25	YE07	2,198,871	10,010	3,860	Ta`izz
20 divisions					15,831,757	455,000	175,680
Governorate: except for San`a' [City], which is a municipality. HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes. ISO: Codes from ISO 3166-2. FIPS: Codes from FIPS PUB 10-4. Old: FIPS codes used before the union of North and South Yemen. Population: 1994-12-16 census

1. ~2000: Socotra and neighboring islands transferred from `Adan to Hadramawt.
2. 2004-02: Raymah governorate split from San`a' (former HASC code YE.SN).

Other names of subdivisions: 

The Arabic definite article Al is sometimes omitted at the beginning of a name.

1. `Adan: Aden (variant)
2. Al Bayda': Albaidah, Al Baidha, Al-Baydha, Al Beida, Baidaa (variant)
3. Al Dali': Ad Dali', Aldalee, Al Dhale’, al-Dhalea, Al-Dhaleh, Al-Dhalia, Dala'a, Dhala, Dhali' (variant)
4. Al Hudaydah: Al Hodeida, Al-Hodeidah, Al Hudaidah, Hodiedah, Hudaidah (variant)
5. Al Jawf: Al Jouf, Aljowf, Jawf (variant)
6. Al Mahrah: Al Ghaydah (obsolete); Al-Mahara, Almaharah, al-Mahra, Mahra (variant)
7. Al Mahwit: Almahweet, Mahweet (variant)
8. Amran: 'Amran (variant)
9. Hadramawt: Hadhramaut, Hadhramawt, Hadhramout, Hadramaut, Hadramawt, Hadramout (variant)
10. Hajjah: Hajja (variant)
11. Lahij: Laheg, Lahej, Lahj (variant); Tuban (obsolete)
12. Ma'rib: Mareb (variant)
13. Raymah: Raima, Raimah (variant)
14. Sa`dah: Sa'ada, Saadah, Sa'da, Saidah (variant)
15. San`a': Sana'a (variant)
16. San`a' [City]: Amanat al Asimah (variant)
17. Shabwah: 'Shabwa, Shibwah (variant)
18. Ta`izz: Taez, Taiz (variant)