ABSTRACT

The National Liberation Front set about transforming the character of South Yemen's economy, in the face of considerable obstacles. Portuguese capture of the lion's share of the East-West trade coincided with a profound revolution in the South Arabian economy, with the introduction of coffee cultivation in the Yemeni highlands, begun during the Ottoman occupation. Throughout the British presence, the fact that Aden was a garrison town was a major factor in the regional economy. During the Turkish occupation between 1538 and 1635 Aden's population, between 50,000 and 60,000 under the Rasulids, began to dwindle and many abandoned buildings fell into ruin. Public finances were dispersed among the federal government, Aden Colony, and the various princely states, of which fifteen had conventional budgets and responsible accounting services. Agriculture, notably at Abyan and Lahej, flourished under a sophisticated bureaucratic administration, and vast wealth was devoted to the construction of mosques, schools, and other public buildings.