Yemenis

Yemenis or Yemenites (Arabic: يمنيون) are the nationals of Yemen.

Social hierarchy

There is a system of social stratification in Yemen that was officially abolished at the creation of the Republic of Yemen in 1962 but, in practice, this system has not disappeared and Yemeni society is still organized around hierarchical ranks. The difference between ranks is manifested by descent and occupation and is consolidated by marriages between people of the same ranks.

There are five status groups. At the top of hierarchy, there are the religious elites, also called sada. These are then followed by the strata of judges (quad). The third hierarchical status is the qaba’il, who are the peasants who belong to tribes and who live mainly from agriculture and trading. The fourth group is called the mazayanah. This group is composed of people who had no land and provide different kinds of services such as butchers and craftsmen. Finally, at the bottom of the hierarchy are the slaves (a’bid) and even further below them Al-Akhdam, which means servants.

Diaspora

The Yemeni diaspora is largely concentrated in the United Kingdom, where between 70,000 and 80,000 Yemenis live. Over 20,000 Yemenis reside in the United States, and an additional 2,812 live in Italy. Other Yemenis also reside in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain, as well as India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Madagascar and the former USSR. A smaller number of modern-day Pakistanis are of Yemeni descent, their original ancestors having left Yemen for the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia over four centuries ago. 350,000 Yemenite Jews live in Israel. In 2015, due to the conflict in Yemen, many have migrated to the northern coasts of Djibouti, Madagascar and Somalia.

Notable Yemenis

• Adam Saleh, Yemeni-American YouTuber
• Tawakkol Karman, Yemeni Nobel Laureate, journalist, politician, and human rights activist
• Anwar al-Awlaki, Yemeni-American imam
• Ali al-Jifri, Yemeni Islamic scholar
• Naseem Hamed, Yemeni-British Boxer
• Shoshana Damari, Yemeni-Israeli singer
• Ofra Haza, Yemeni-Israeli singer
• Zohar Argov, Yemeni-Israeli singer
• Haim Moshe, Yemeni-Israeli singer
• Yahya Saree, Yemeni spokesperson of Houthi movement
• Saadaldeen Talib, politician

References and notes

1. Yemen
2. Yemeni diaspora
3. Saudi-led intervention in the Yemeni civil war
4. Afro-Yemenis
5. Yemeni Americans
6. Yemenis in the United Kingdom
7. Yemen national football team
8. Yemeni civil war (2014–present)
9. Demographics of Yemen
10. Turks in Yemen
11. Yemeni unification
12. Yemen Arab Republic
13. Yemeni Armed Forces
14. List of Yemeni detainees at Guantanamo Bay
15. Yemeni–Ottoman conflicts
16. South Yemen
17. Yemeni civil war
18. Flag of Yemen
19. Emblem of Yemen
20. Sanaa