Yemenis
Total population
Yemen : 31,461,438[1]
Yemeni diaspora : 7,000,000
Total : 38,461,438
Regions with significant populations
 Saudi Arabia2,000,000
 Egypt700,000
 Israel435,000 (Ancestry)
 India300,000 (Ancestry)
 United States200,000
 United Arab Emirates100,000
 United Kingdom80,000
 Madagascar60,000
 Turkey40,000
 Ethiopia36,000
 Jordan32,000
 Malaysia20,000
 Eritrea18,000
 Canada8,115
 Pakistan5,000
 Djibouti5,000
 Netherlands3,777
 Bahrain?
 Hungary?
Languages
Yemeni Arabic (majority)  · Standard Arabic
Religion
Predominantly Islam  · significant minorities of Judaism

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.[2]

Diaspora

Main article: Yemeni 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 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.[3] 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

References and notes

  1. ^ "Yemen Population (2022) - Worldometer". www.worldometers.info. Retrieved 2022-11-13.
  2. ^ Hall, Bogumila. “Subaltern Rightful Struggles, Comparative ethnographies of the Bedouin villagers in the Naqab, and the akhdam slum dwellers in Sana’a.” Ph.D. diss., European University Institute, 2016.
  3. ^ Yemenis in the UK
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