Yemen (Republic)

Formed by the 1990 unification of North and South Yemen.

☾ The Coming of Islam

One of the earliest lands to accept Islam

Yemen was among the first regions to accept Islam, during the Prophet Muḥammad's ﷺ lifetime, when delegations embraced the faith and teachers such as Muʿādh ibn Jabal were sent to instruct its people.

☾ Religious Composition

A land divided between Shāfiʿī Sunnis and Zaydī Shiʿa

Yemen is distinctive for its long-standing division between Sunni Muslims of the Shāfiʿī school (mainly in the south and along the coast) and Zaydī Shiʿa (in the northern highlands), whose imamate ruled parts of Yemen for much of a millennium; a small Ismāʿīlī community also remains.

Demographic shares are approximate; Chronicle describes religious composition and does not adjudicate contemporary conflict.

At a glance