Southern Yemenis protest Yemeni central government, 2007-2009
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.