In January 2011, in the wake of the Tunisian revolution and in the midst of the Egyptian revolution, Yemeni students and youth began a yearlong revolution to oust the regime of Ali Abdullah Saleh, president for the past thirty years. This revolution did not come without great cost. More than 2,000 people were killed (including protesters, military defectors and children) and more than 22,000 people were wounded.
Yemen is a country of over 20 million people located in West Asia, at the intersection of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. After a history of being one country it experienced three centuries of separation into North and South, most recently divided between the Ottoman and British empires early in the 20th century.
The country finally united again in 1990, when the north and south merged and became the Republic of Yemen. The parliament of each former nation elected the new president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, as it formed the new government.
