Yemenis


Yemenis, Yemenites, or South Arabians are an ethnographic group indigenous to Yemen.

Social hierarchy

Yemen is notable as the most tribal nation in the Arab world, largely due to the significant influence of tribal leaders and their deep integration into various aspects of the state. Estimates vary, with approximately 200 tribes in Yemen, although some reports list more than 400.
There is a system of social stratification in Yemen that was officially abolished at the creation of the Republic of Yemen in 1962. In practice this system has not disappeared, and Yemeni society is still organized around social hierarchies. The difference between social 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 the hierarchy, there are the religious elites, also called sada. These are then followed by the strata of judges. 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 have no land and provide different kinds of services such as butchers and craftsmen. Finally, at the bottom of the hierarchy are the slaves and even further below them Al-Akhdam, which means servants.

Diaspora

The Yemeni diaspora is largely concentrated in the United Kingdom, where between Yemenis in [the United Kingdom|70,000 and 80,000] Yemenis live. Over 20,000 Yemenis reside in the United States, and an additional 2,800 live in Italy. 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. Arab Indonesians are Indonesian citizens of Arab or mixed Arab-Indonesian descent, mainly Hadharem from Yemen. The census of 2005 recorded a total of 87,227 Arab Indonesians. Around 50.000 Yemenite Jews migrated to the State of Israel. In 2015, due to the conflict in Yemen, many have migrated to the northern coasts of Djibouti, Madagascar, and Somalia in Africa.

Notable Yemenis