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Yemenis

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Nationals of Yemen For a specific analysis of the population of Yemen, see Demographics of Yemen. Ethnic group
Yemenis
Arabic: يمنيون
Flag of Yemen
Total population
Yemen : 31,461,438
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
 Eritrea71,000
 Madagascar60,000
 Turkey40,000
 Ethiopia37,500
 Jordan32,000
 Malaysia20,000
 Canada8,115
 Pakistan5,000
 Djibouti5,000
 Netherlands3,777
 Oman?
 Bahrain?
 Hungary?
 Iraq? (likely over 100)
Languages
Arabic:
Yemeni Arabic (majority) · Standard Arabic · Judeo-Yemeni (historically)
Non-Arabic:
Turkish · Somali
Religion
Predominantly Islam  · significant minorities of Judaism
Related ethnic groups
Other Arabs

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.

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 India, 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. 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.

Genetic studies

Yemen, located in the southwestern corner of the Arabian Peninsula, serves as a crossroads between Africa and Eurasia. The genomes of present-day Yemenis provide insights into the region's complex history, as DNA can reveal patterns of human migration and interaction over millennia. Despite its historical significance, Yemeni populations have been underrepresented in genetic studies until recent years. Researchers have posed several questions about Yemen's genetic history, including whether its populations retain genetic traces of the first Out-of-Africa migrations, how subsequent population movements have influenced its gene pool, and the relative contributions of ancient (Pleistocene) versus recent (Holocene) population events. Additionally, Yemen's unique geographic position raises questions about its influence on the genetic structure of its inhabitants.

Studies have begun to shed light on these questions. A 2008 investigation examined regional differences in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) across Yemen. This study revealed varying distributions of sub-Saharan, West Eurasian, and South Asian mtDNA lineages, with western Yemeni populations showing closer genetic ties to Middle Eastern and North African groups, while eastern populations from Hadramawt exhibited stronger affinities with East Africa. Notably, Yemenis display the highest frequency of the West Eurasian R0a haplogroup detected to date, suggesting that southern Arabia might have been a site of its initial expansion. Sub-Saharan haplogroup M1 was primarily found in southwestern Yemen near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, whereas non-African M haplotypes occurred at low frequencies in western Yemen and were more common in Hadramawt. These findings highlight the stratification and diverse origins of the Yemeni gene pool, shaped by gene flow from West Eurasian, Northeast African, and South Asian populations.

A 2019 study, based on high-coverage whole-genome sequencing of 46 Yemeni individuals and genome-wide genotyping of 169 Yemenis, further explored Yemen's genetic diversity. The research indicated limited genetic structure correlating with geography, reflecting continuous movement of people across the region. Admixture analysis revealed widespread African ancestry introduced in the past 800 years, with some individuals in Hudayda and Hadramawt possessing up to 20% African ancestry. In contrast, populations from Marib appeared genetically isolated from African gene flow, retaining ancestry comparable to the Bronze Age Near East. This study highlighted differences in genetic trajectories between northern and southern regions of the Near East, with Yemen avoiding the steppe ancestry that influenced the Levant and instead experiencing African admixture.

More recent research published in 2024 used genome-wide data from Yemeni and neighbouring populations to investigate the genetic history of Arabia. Principal Component Analysis showed that Yemenis form a genetic continuum with other Arabian and Levantine populations, distinct from East African and Indian groups. Admixture and haplogroup analyses suggested ancient gene flow from Arabia and the Levant around 5220 BP, as well as more recent African influence, particularly in coastal Yemen. These findings underscored the role of the Levant and Arabia in shaping Yemeni genetic diversity while highlighting the impacts of later African migration.

The findings, in that recent research, provide a detailed yet complementary understanding of the genetic landscape across Yemen and its likely ancestral sources. As per the study, this aligns with prior research by Vyas et al., which documented gene flow between Yemen, Arabia, and the Levant. Moreover, the study identifies patterns of Neanderthal introgression in Yemenis, resembling those found in Bedouin and other populations in Southwest Asia.

The research also reveals that the minimal northern Arabian-Levantine ancestry found in the southern Yemeni region of Aden has been diluted by genetic contributions from East Africa. Evidence from Al-Bayda demonstrates a gradient where northern Arabian-Levantine genetic influences converge with southern East African ones. Additionally, the study challenges traditional assumptions that cultural and linguistic ties between Yemen and the Levant resulted from multiple waves of south-to-north migrations following events such as the collapse of the Marib Dam in the 2nd or 3rd century CE. Instead, recent findings, including those by Al Jallad, suggest an eastern Levantine origin for "classical" Arabic, supporting the idea of cultural and linguistic diffusion from the Levant to Yemen. These conclusions are further corroborated by Bayesian phylogenetic analyses by Kitchen et al., which date the origins of Semitic languages in the Levant to the Early Bronze Age.

Notable Yemenis

References and notes

  1. "Yemen Population (2022) - Worldometer". www.worldometers.info. Retrieved 2022-11-13.
  2. "Yemenis in Saudi Arabia: Less Money to Send Home, More Pressure to Leave". 3 September 2020.
  3. "The Struggle Far from Home: Yemeni Refugees in Cairo". 18 December 2020.
  4. "Hadhramis present a slice of Yemen in India's Hyderabad". 13 December 2018.
  5. "A Precarious Refuge: Yemeni Asylum-Seekers in Jordan". 14 February 2022.
  6. "Yemenis will be able to work legally in Malaysia soon - Ambassador". 14 September 2019.
  7. "CBS Statline".
  8. 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.
  9. Yemenis in the UK
  10. Rídl, J.; Edens, C.M.; Černý, V. (2010). "5". In Petraglia, M.; Rose, J. (eds.). Mitochondrial DNA Structure of Yemeni Population: Regional Differences and the Implications for Different Migratory Contributions. Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology. Springer. doi:10.1007/978-90-481-2719-1_5. Retrieved 16 January 2025. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  11. Černý, V.; Mulligan, C.J.; Rídl, J.; Zaloudková, M.; Edens, C.M.; Hájek, M.; Pereira, L. (2008). "Regional differences in the distribution of the sub-Saharan, West Eurasian, and South Asian mtDNA lineages in Yemen". American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 136 (2): 128–137. doi:10.1002/ajpa.20784. PMID 18257024. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
  12. Haber, Marc; Saif-Ali, Riyadh; Al-Habori, Molham; Chen, Yuan; Platt, Daniel E.; Tyler-Smith, Chris; Xue, Yali (19 August 2019). "Insight into the genomic history of the Near East from whole-genome sequences and genotypes of Yemenis". The Evolution of Human Populations in Arabia. doi:10.1101/749341. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
  13. ^ Henschel, A.; Saif-Ali, R.; Al-Habori, M. (2024). "Human migration from the Levant and Arabia into Yemen since Last Glacial Maximum". Scientific Reports. 14: 31704. doi:10.1038/s41598-024-81615-4. PMC 11685628. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
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