ABSTRACT
South Yemen occupies a wedge-shaped territory at the southwest corner of the Arabian Peninsula, with its apex at the Bab al-Mandab, the strait separating the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. The nomadic peoples of South Yemen must thus rely upon browsers-camels and goats-capable of assimilating leaves and twigs, while sheep and cows must be kept close to sources of cultivated fodder. When the British established themselves in Aden, they conceived of the hinterland as divided among tribes living in well-defined territories, whose chiefs were the sovereign rulers of both land and people. Save in the modern city of Aden, solidarity among agnatic kinship groups was everywhere the binding social factor. While Aden developed into a European-style city, traditional modes of building persisted elsewhere. A distinctive combination of topographical and climatic characteristics sets limits on the abundance and nature of flora and fauna the land can support and consequently on the scope of human activity.
