Protectorate of South Arabia محمية الجنوب العربي
1963–1967
Flag
Map of the Protectorate of South Arabia
Status	British Protectorate
Common languages	Arabic
Historical era	Cold War
• Established	January 18 1963
• Disestablished	November 30 1967
Currency	East African shilling, then South Arabian dinar (1965-67)
Preceded by Succeeded by Aden Protectorate South Yemen

The Protectorate of South Arabia (Arabic: محمية الجنوب العربي) consisted of various states located at the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula under treaties of protection with Britain. The area of the former protectorate became part of South Yemen after the Aden Emergency and is now part of the Republic of Yemen.

History

The Protectorate of South Arabia was designated on 18 January 1963 as consisting of those areas of the Aden Protectorate that did not join the Federation of South Arabia, and it broadly, but not exactly, corresponded to the division of the Aden Protectorate which was called the Eastern Aden Protectorate.

The protectorate included the Hadhrami states of Kathiri, Mahra, and Qu'aiti except the three Wahidi Sultanates in the Eastern Aden Protectorate, with Upper Yafa in the Western Aden Protectorate. The Protectorate of South Arabia was dissolved on 30 November 1967 and its constituent states quickly collapsed, leading to the abolition of their monarchies. The territory was absorbed into the newly independent People's Republic of South Yemen, which became part of the Republic of Yemen in 1990.

States

Flag	Name	Established	Joined	Notes
	Mahra Sultanate	15th century	1886	easternmost state, bordering to Oman
	Kathiri State	14th century	1888	northernmost state, bordering to Saudi Arabia
	Qu'aiti State	1858	1888	central state
	Upper Yafa	circa 1800	1903	Exclave, consisted of five Sheikhdoms: Al-Busi, Al-Dhubi, Al-Hadrami, Al-Muflihi, and Al-Mausata
	Sheikhdom of al-Hawra	19th century	1890
	Sheikhdom of al-`Irqa	19th century	1890

Former states of the British Aden Protectorate were united in the 1960s to form the People's Republic of South Yemen, which became independent on 30 November 1967. South Yemen later merged with North Yemen to form the modern state of Yemen in 1990.^[1][2]

List of rulers

State	Ruler	Deposed	House	Reign	Ref(s)
Kathiri	Husayn ibn Ali	2 October 1967	Al Kathiri	Last reigning Sultan (1949–1967)	[2]
Mahra	Abdullah ibn Ashur	16 October 1967	Al Mahri	Last reigning Sultan (1966–1967)	[2]
Qu'aiti	Ghalib II	17 September 1967	Al Qu'aiti	Last reigning Sultan (1966–1967)	[3][4]
Upper Yafa	Muhammad ibn Salih	29 November 1967	Harharah[5]	Last reigning Sultan (1948–1967)	[2]