Taiz ( ar, تَعِزّ, Taʿizz) is a city in southwestern
Yemen
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
. It is located in the Yemeni Highlands, near the port city of
Mocha on the
Red Sea
The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; T ...
, at an elevation of about above sea level. It is the capital of
Taiz Governorate
Taiz ( ar, تَعِزّ, Taʿizz) is a governorate of Yemen. The governorate's capital is Taiz, which is the third largest city in Yemen. Today it is the most important commercial centre in Yemen owing to its proximity to the richest farmland in ...
. With a population of over 600,000 in 2005, it is the largest city in Yemen in terms of population ahead of the capital
Sana'a
Sanaa ( ar, صَنْعَاء, ' , Yemeni Arabic: ; Old South Arabian: 𐩮𐩬𐩲𐩥 ''Ṣnʿw''), also spelled Sana'a or Sana, is the capital and largest city in Yemen and the centre of Sanaa Governorate. The city is not part of the Governo ...
and the southern port city of
Aden
Aden ( ar, عدن ' Yemeni: ) is a city, and since 2015, the temporary capital of Yemen, near the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some east of the strait Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000 people. ...
.
Due to the
ongoing campaign as part of
Yemen's civil war, Taiz is a battleground and a war zone.
Once known as the "cultural capital of Yemen",
the war has bestowed a new title, "city of snipers".
History
![Cairo Castle GardenTaiz,Yemen](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/Cairo_Castle_GardenTaiz%2CYemen.jpg)
The 14th century traveller
Ibn Battuta
Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Battutah (, ; 24 February 13041368/1369),; fully: ; Arabic: commonly known as Ibn Battuta, was a Berbers, Berber Maghrebi people, Maghrebi scholar and explorer who travelled extensively in the lands of Afro-Eurasia, ...
visited Taiz:
We went on ... to the town of Taʻizz, the capital of the king of Yemen, and one of the finest and largest towns in that country. Its people are overbearing, insolent, and rude, as is generally the case in towns where kings reside. Taʻizz is made up of three quarters; the first is the residence of the king and his court, the second, called ʽUdayna, is the military station, and the third, called al-Mahálib, is inhabited by the commonalty, and contains the principal market.
Medieval
Taiz was ruled by
Turan-Shah
Shams ad-Din Turanshah ibn Ayyub al-Malik al-Mu'azzam Shams ad-Dawla Fakhr ad-Din known simply as Turanshah ( ar, توران شاه بن أيوب) (died 27 June 1180) was the Ayyubid emir (prince) of Yemen (1174–1176), Damascus (1176–1179), Ba ...
, the older brother of
Saladin
Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shadi () ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known by the epithet Saladin,, ; ku, سهلاحهدین, ; was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from an ethnic Kurdish family, he was the first of both Egypt and ...
, after he had conquered Yemen in 1173 CE. Turan-Shah built the citadel on the hill overlooking the old city. In 1175 CE, Taiz was made the capital of Yemen as it was incorporated into dominions of the
Ayyubid dynasty
The Ayyubid dynasty ( ar, الأيوبيون '; ) was the founding dynasty of the medieval Sultan of Egypt, Sultanate of Egypt established by Saladin in 1171, following his abolition of the Fatimid Caliphate, Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt. A Sunni ...
by Turan-Shah.
The second
Rasulid
The Rasulids ( ar, بنو رسول, Banū Rasūl) were a Sunni Muslim dynasty who ruled Yemen from 1229 to 1454.
History
Origin of the Rasulids
The Rasulids took their name from al-Amin's nickname "Rasul". The Zaidi Shi'i Imams of Yemen were ...
King, Almaddhafar (1288 CE), established Taiz as the second capital of the Rasulid Dynasty after
Zabid
Zabid ( ar, زَبِيد) (also spelled Zabīd, Zabeed and Zebid) is a town with an urban population of around 52,590 people on Yemen's western coastal plain. It is one of the oldest towns in Yemen, and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since ...
. In 1332
Ibn Battutah
Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Battutah (, ; 24 February 13041368/1369),; fully: ; Arabic: commonly known as Ibn Battuta, was a Berbers, Berber Maghrebi people, Maghrebi scholar and explorer who travelled extensively in the lands of Afro-Eurasia, ...
visited Taiz and described it as one of the largest and most beautiful cities of Yemen.
In 1500, the capital was moved to
Sana'a
Sanaa ( ar, صَنْعَاء, ' , Yemeni Arabic: ; Old South Arabian: 𐩮𐩬𐩲𐩥 ''Ṣnʿw''), also spelled Sana'a or Sana, is the capital and largest city in Yemen and the centre of Sanaa Governorate. The city is not part of the Governo ...
by the ruler of the
Taharid dynasty. In 1516 Taiz came under
Ottoman control.
20th century
In 1918 the Ottomans lost Taiz to the newly independent
Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen
The Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen ( ar, المملكة المتوكلية اليمنية '), also known as the Kingdom of Yemen or simply as Yemen, or, retrospectively, as North Yemen, was a state that existed between 1918 and 1962 in the nor ...
.
Taiz remained a walled city until 1948, when
Imam Ahmed made it the second capital of Yemen, allowing for expansion beyond its fortified wall. In the 1960s, the first purified water system in Yemen was opened in Taiz. In 1962, state administrations moved back to Sana'a.
Yemeni uprising and war
During the
Yemeni Revolution
The Yemeni Revolution ( intifada), also known as the Yemeni Revolution of Dignity followed the initial stages of the Tunisian Revolution and occurred simultaneously with the Egyptian Revolution of 2011 and other Arab Spring protests in the ...
fighting
Combat ( French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent conflict meant to physically harm or kill the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed ( not using weapons). Combat is sometimes resorted to as a method of self-defense, or ...
in Taiz resulted in anti-government forces seizing control of the city from president
Ali Abdullah Saleh
Ali Abdullah Saleh al-Ahmar (, ''ʿAlī ʿAbdullāh Ṣāliḥ al-Aḥmar;'' 21 March 1947There is a dispute as to Saleh's date of birth, some saying that it was on 21 March 1942. See: However, by Saleh's own confession, he was born in 1947 al ...
.
As part of the
2015 Yemeni Civil War, on 22 March 2015, the
Houthis
The Houthi movement (; ar, ٱلْحُوثِيُّون ''al-Ḥūthīyūn'' ), officially called Ansar Allah (' ''Partisans of God'' or ''Supporters of God'') and colloquially simply Houthis, is an Islamist political and armed movement that ...
and forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh took the city in the
aftermath
Aftermath may refer to:
Companies
* Aftermath (comics), an imprint of Devil's Due Publishing
* Aftermath Entertainment, an American record label founded by Dr. Dre
* Aftermath Media, an American multimedia company
* Aftermath Services, an Americ ...
of their
coup d'état
A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...
in
Sanaa
Sanaa ( ar, صَنْعَاء, ' , Yemeni Arabic: ; Old South Arabian: 𐩮𐩬𐩲𐩥 ''Ṣnʿw''), also spelled Sana'a or Sana, is the capital and largest city in Yemen and the centre of Sanaa Governorate. The city is not part of the Governo ...
. The city became the site of
a military confrontation between
Houthis
The Houthi movement (; ar, ٱلْحُوثِيُّون ''al-Ḥūthīyūn'' ), officially called Ansar Allah (' ''Partisans of God'' or ''Supporters of God'') and colloquially simply Houthis, is an Islamist political and armed movement that ...
and the forces loyal to
Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi
Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi ( ar, عبدربه منصور هادي, translit=ʿAbd Rabbih Manṣūr Hādī Yemeni pronunciation: ; born 1 September 1945) is a Yemeni politician and former field marshal of the Yemeni Armed Forces who served as the pres ...
. The city was effectively under siege and the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
warned of an "extreme and irreversible" food shortage if fighting continued. In August 2015, Yemeni Member of Parliament Muhammad Muqbil Al-Himyari reported Houthi attacks on civilians in Taiz and appealed for help on Suhail TV (Yemen).
The 2015 confrontation expanded into a
military campaign
A military campaign is large-scale long-duration significant military strategy plan incorporating a series of interrelated military operations or battles forming a distinct part of a larger conflict often called a war. The term derives from the ...
for control of this strategic city.
Despite ceasefires and prisoner swaps, the battle continues to this day and the city has been described as a "volatile front line."
The frontline runs through the city from east to west, and journeys across the frontline that once took 5 minutes now take 5 hours.
Geography
Climate
Taiz has a
hot semi-arid climate
A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-ar ...
(
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
: ''BSh''). The average daily temperature high during August is . Annual rainfall of Taiz is around , but on
Jabal Sabir
Jabal Sabir ( ar, جَبَل صَبَر, Jabal Ṣabar), also spelled Jabal Saber, is a mountain located in south Taiz, Yemen
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It ...
it is probably around per year.
Landmarks
![Al-Muttabia Mosque, Taiz](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/Al-Muttabia_Mosque%2C_Taiz.jpg)
The city has many old quarters, with houses that are typically built with brown bricks, and
mosque
A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...
s are usually white. Most famous among the mosques are the
Ashrafiya, the
Muctabiya and the
Mudhaffar. Also memorable are the old citadel and the governor's palace that rests on top of a mountain spur above the city centre. It also has one of the best-known mountains in Yemen, ''
Jabal Saber
Jabal Sabir ( ar, جَبَل صَبَر, Jabal Ṣabar), also spelled Jabal Saber, is a mountain located in south Taiz, Yemen. It is one of the highest Sarawat Mountains, mountains in Yemen.
References
Mountains of Yemen, Sabir
{{Yem ...
'',
almost above sea level), which affords panoramic views over the city.
Economy
Historically, the mountainous city of Taiz was known for
coffee production
Coffee production is the industrial process of converting the raw fruit of the coffee plant into the finished coffee. The coffee cherry has the fruit or pulp removed leaving the seed or bean which is then dried. While all green coffee is proces ...
. The
Mocha coffee
Mocha may refer to:
Places
* Mocha Island, an island in Biobío Region, Chile
* Mocha, Chile, a town in Chile
* Mocha, Ecuador, a city in Ecuador
* Mocha Canton, a government subdivision in Ecuador
* Mocha, a segment of Kutiyana (Vidhan Sabha c ...
produced in Taiz was considered some of the finest in the region in the early 20th century.
Today, coffee remains a major part of the economy but mango, pomegranate, citrus, banana, papai, vegetables, cereals, onions, and
qat are also grown in the surrounding landscapes. Taiz is also known for its cheese. It is produced in rural areas like Araf, Awshaqh, Akhuz, Bargah, Barah, Jumah, Mukyas, Suayra, Kamb and Hajda and sold in Bab al-Kabeer and Bab Musa markets.
Industries in the city of Taiz include
cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...
-weaving, tanning and jewelry production. Taiz today is the largest industrial base in Yemen.
Transport
Taiz has many road connections with the rest of the country. The city is served by
Ta'izz International Airport
Taiz International Airport ( ar, مَطَار تَعِزّ ٱلدَّوْلِي, Maṭār Ta‘izz Ad-Dawlī, ) is a public airport located in Taiz, the capital of the Taiz Governorate, Yemen.
Airlines and destinations
As of 2021, there are no l ...
.
As of 2020, all roads to and from Ta'iz, except for one, are controlled by the
Houthi movement
The Houthi movement (; ar, ٱلْحُوثِيُّون ''al-Ḥūthīyūn'' ), officially called Ansar Allah (' ''Partisans of God'' or ''Supporters of God'') and colloquially simply Houthis, is an Islamist, Islamist political and armed move ...
.
Zoo
Like
Sana'a Zoo
Sanaa ( ar, صَنْعَاء, ' , Yemeni Arabic: ; Old South Arabian: 𐩮𐩬𐩲𐩥 ''Ṣnʿw''), also spelled Sana'a or Sana, is the capital and largest city in Yemen and the centre of Sanaa Governorate. The city is not part of the Govern ...
, this zoo held fauna caught in the wild, such as the
Arabian leopard
The Arabian leopard (''Panthera pardus nimr'') is a leopard subspecies native to the Arabian Peninsula. It has been listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List since 1996 as fewer than 200 wild individuals were estimated to be alive ...
, besides exotic animals such as
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
n
lion
The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...
s and
gazelle
A gazelle is one of many antelope species in the genus ''Gazella'' . This article also deals with the seven species included in two further genera, ''Eudorcas'' and ''Nanger'', which were formerly considered subgenera of ''Gazella''. A third f ...
s.
Notable people
*
Amat Al Alim Alsoswa
Amat Al Alim Alsoswa ( ar, امة العليم السوسوه; Ta'izz, Yemen, August 27, 1958) is a Yemeni journalist, and Yemen's first female ambassador and minister.
She served as the Assistant Secretary-General, then Assistant Administrator a ...
*
Abdel Karim al-Khaiwani
Abdel Karim al-Khaiwani ( ar, عبدالكريم الخيواني), also known as Abdul Karim Muhammed al-Khaiwani, (1965 – 18 March 2015) was a Yemeni politician, human rights activist, and journalist, columnist and editor, who was known for ...
*
Bushra al-Maqtari
Bushra al-Maqtari (; born 1979) is a Yemeni writer and activist. She came to prominence as an anti-government protest leader in her hometown of Taiz during the 2011 Yemeni Revolution. As a writer, she is best known for her 2012 novel ''Behind the S ...
*
Ali al-Muqri
Ali al-Muqri (Arabic: علي المقري) (born in Taiz) is a Yemeni novelist and writer. Two of hisnovels - ''Black Taste, Black Odour'' and ''The Handsome Jew'' - have been long-listed for the Arab Booker Prize. He has also been awarded the Fr ...
*
Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed
Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed (Arabic: مَعِيِن عبد الملك سَعِيِد الصَّبْرِي; born 1976) is a Yemeni politician who has been the prime minister of Yemen since 15 October 2018. He previously served as the minister of public ...
*
Hisham Sharaf
Hisham Sharaf Abdullah (born 1956) is a Yemeni civil engineer and politician who has served in several cabinet posts. He is currently Yemen's minister of foreign affairs, and formerly the minister of higher education and scientific research.
Ea ...
See also
*
Sarawat Mountains
The Sarawat Mountains ( ar, جِبَالُ ٱلسَّرَوَاتِ, Jibāl as-Sarawāt), also known as the Sarat, is a part of the Hijaz mountains in the western part of the Arabian Peninsula. In a broad sense, it runs parallel to the eastern c ...
**
Haraz Mountains
Jabal Haraz ( ar, جَبَل حَرَاز, Jabal Ḥarāz) is a mountainous region of Yemen, between Sanaa and Al-Hudaydah, which is considered to be within the Sarat range. In the 11th century, it was the stronghold of the Sulaihid dynasty, man ...
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Capitals of former nations
Populated places in Taiz Governorate