The Saudi Arabia–Yemen border is 1,307 km (812 mi) in length and runs from the

Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...

coast in the west to the

tripoint A triple border, tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geography, geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or Administrative division, subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints ...

with

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

in the east.

Description

The border starts in the west on the Red Sea coast just north of

Midi Musical Instrument Digital Interface (; MIDI) is an American-Japanese technical standard that describes a communication protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, ...

. An irregular line then proceeds to the north-east and then east to the vicinity of Al Bugal, first through a coastal plain and then through the

Sarawat Mountains The Sarawat Mountains (), also known as the Sarat in singular case, is a mountain range in the western part of the Arabian Peninsula. In a broad sense, it runs parallel to the eastern coast of the Red Sea, and thus encompasses the mountains of ...

. A series of straight lines then proceeds eastwards through the Rub al Khali desert, dipping south so as to include Al Wadiah within Saudi Arabia, before further straight line segments proceed to the north-east and then eastwards to the Omani tripoint.

History

Ottoman Empire era

Historically there was no clearly defined boundary in this part of the

Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

; at the start of the 20th century the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

controlled the western coast as far south as

North Yemen North Yemen () is a term used to describe the Kingdom of Yemen (1918-1962), the Yemen Arab Republic (1962-1990), and the regimes that preceded them and exercised sovereignty over that region of Yemen. Its capital was Sanaa from 1918 to 1948 an ...

, Britain controlled

Aden Aden () is a port city located in Yemen in the southern part of the Arabian peninsula, on the north coast of the Gulf of Aden, positioned near the eastern approach to the Red Sea. It is situated approximately 170 km (110 mi) east of ...

(South Yemen), with the interior consisting of loosely organised Arab groupings, occasionally forming emirates, the most prominent of which was the Emirate of Nejd and Hasa ruled by the al-Saud family. Madawi Al-Rasheed. ''A History of Saudi Arabia''. Cambridge, England, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2002. Pp. 40. Britain and the Ottoman Empire theoretically divided their realms of influence in Arabia via the so-called '

Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB color model, RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB color model, RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between Violet (color), violet and cyan on the optical spe ...

' and ' Violet lines' in 1913–14, however these agreements were rendered null and void following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire after the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Early 20th century

During the

, an

Arab Revolt The Arab Revolt ( ), also known as the Great Arab Revolt ( ), was an armed uprising by the Hashemite-led Arabs of the Hejaz against the Ottoman Empire amidst the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I. On the basis of the McMahon–Hussein Co ...

, supported by Britain, succeeded in removing the Ottomans from the Arabian Peninsula; in the period following this

Ibn Saud Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud (; 15 January 1875Ibn Saud's birth year has been a source of debate. It is generally accepted as 1876, although a few sources give it as 1880. According to British author Robert Lacey's book ''The Kingdom'', ...

managed to expand his kingdom considerably, eventually proclaiming the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932. In the south-west the Idrisid Emirate of Asir had taken advantage of the Ottoman withdrawal and declared independence in 1917, only to be annexed by the Saudis in 1926–30. More successful was the

Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen The Kingdom of Yemen (), officially the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen () and also known simply as Yemen or, retrospectively, as North Yemen, was a state that existed between 1918 and 1970 in the northwestern part of the modern country of Yemen ...

(later known as the Yemen Arab Republic or North Yemen) further south, which declared independence in 1918. North Yemen and Saudi Arabia had no defined frontier and disputed ownership of border territories (notably Asir, Jizan and

Najran Najran ( '), is a city in southwestern Saudi Arabia. It is the capital of Najran Province. Today, the city of Najran is one of the fastest-growing cities in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. As of the 2022 census, the city population was 381,431, wi ...

, claimed by North Yemen as part of ' Greater Yemen'); these tensions culminated in a border war in 1934, in which Saudi Arabia won control over most of the disputed territories. By the Treaty of Taif, signed 12 May 1934, a partial border was drawn that extended inland to the vicinity of Najran, being demarcated on the ground in the following two years. This treaty was renewable every 20 years. On 25 November 1935 British officials met with Ibn Saud in an attempt to finalise a frontier between the new kingdom and Britain's Arabian protectorates, including

Aden colony Aden Colony () was a crown colony of the United Kingdom from 1937 to 1963 located in the southern part of modern-day Yemen. It consisted of the port city of Aden and also included the outlying islands of Kamaran, Perim and the Khuriya Muriya ...

. The conference proved abortive however and the issue remained unresolved. Aden later gained independence (as South Yemen, later the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen) in 1967, with the border issue still unresolved. In 1969 Saudi Arabia and South Yemen fought the brief Al-Wadiah War over the remote border town of Al-Wadiah, which ended in Saudi Arabia retaining sovereignty over the town.

Later 20th century

It appears that the Treaty of Taif was renewed as scheduled in 1974, though the details of the renewal remained uncertain, largely as Yemen did not wish to be seen to be renouncing its traditional claim to Asir, Jizan and Najran. Following the unification of Yemen in 1990, the upcoming need to renew the Treaty of Taif, and also the discovery of oil in the border region, prompted the reinstigation of boundary negotiations in 1992. Negotiations stalled due to the Yemen Civil War in 1994, but were renewed the following year, resulting in the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on 26 February 1995. This re-affirmed the terms of the Taif Treaty and allowed for further discussions over the rest of the border.

21st century

In 2000 the Treaty of Jeddah was signed, which finalised the entire border at its current position. From May 2022 to June 2023, Saudi Arabian border guards killed hundreds of Ethiopian migrants and asylum seekers. The killings are still continuing.

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...

has qualified these killings as crimes against humanity.

Border barrier

From 2003 Saudi Arabia began constructing a barrier along the border, citing terrorism concerns. There have been numerous clashes along the border following the Houthi takeover in Yemen, prompting Saudi Arabia to militarily intervene in Yemen in 2015.

Settlements near the border

Saudi Arabia

* Muwassam * Al Hathirah * At Tuwal * Hujayrah * Wa'lan * Al Quful * Ajam * Khushaym * Al Aridah * As Sayyabah * Ad Da'ir * Marwah * Qaryat al Yahya * Al Mijazah * Al Mufajah *

* Al Wuday'ah

Yemen

* Hard Wadi Sulayman * Al Wuqaysh * Al Minzalah * Al Malahit * Al Hassamah * Ad Daya'ah

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saudi Arabia-Yemen border Borders of Saudi Arabia Borders of Yemen International borders