North Yemen

North Yemen is a name given to the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen (1918–1962) and the Yemen Arab Republic (1962–1990), states that exercised sovereignty over the territory that is now the north-western part of the state of Yemen in southern Arabia.

North Yemen
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem: Royal Salute (1918–1962) Peace To The Land (1962–1978) A Nation's Will (1978–1990)

Location of North Yemen in the Arabian Peninsula

Flag of North Yemen: Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen (1918–1927)

Flag of North Yemen: Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen (1927–1962)

Flag of North Yemen:
Yemen Arab Republic (1962–1990)

Neither state ever designated itself as "North Yemen" and the term only came into general use when the Federation of South Arabia gained independence as the People's Republic of South Yemen in 1967 making such a distinction necessary. Prior to 1967, the North was known in short form simply as "Yemen." In 1970, South Yemen changed its name to the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen thus eliminating any directional reference in either of the Yemens' official names but the existence of two Yemens preserved the North Yemen and South Yemen designations in popular parlance. Alternate forms were "Yemen (Sanaa)" for North Yemen and "Yemen (Aden)" for South Yemen after their respective capital cities.

The merger of the two Yemens in 1990 ended the term's association with an independent state but "North Yemen" continues to be used to refer to the area of the former Yemen Arab Republic and its history and, anachronistically, to pre-1967 polities and events (e.g. the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen or the North Yemen Civil War).