The 2000 Treaty of Jeddah resolved a border dispute between Saudi Arabia and Yemen dating back to Saudi boundary claims made in 1934. [1] [2]
The long-running dispute arose from the 1934 Treaty of Taif between Yemen and the newly-formed Saudi Arabia and the subsequent demarcation of the boundary three years later. Ambiguity in the placement of the border led to competing claims by Saudi Arabia and Yemen for the remainder of the twentieth century, complicated by traditional pre-colonial claims, crude border-marker placement and uncertainty as to the exact mountain peak named in the original treaty text. [2] Two wars were fought over the border: in 1934 and in 1969. By the mid-1990s, governments of both nations acknowledged the need for a clear and mutually-agreed border, first with a Memorandum of Understanding dated February 1995, and then with a meeting at Lake Como, Italy that created the provisional "Como Line" in the summer of 1997. [3]
However, progress would stall over the next three years, in part as the nations contested the exact placement of the maritime portion of the border as it met the Red Sea. This led to a series of border clashes, including confrontation between Yemeni and Saudi Arabian armed forces over Duwaimah Island (located south of the Farasan Islands) in July 1998. [4]
In May 2000, Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia attended Yemen for the first time to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the unification of North and South Yemen. Shortly after this meeting, and a series of intensive diplomatic talks, the two governments finally signed the Treaty of Jeddah in the Saudi port city on 12 June 2000 to take effect the following month. The signatories of the treaty were the Foreign Ministers of both nations as well as Yemeni Deputy Prime Minister Abd al-Rahman Bagammal. The treaty gave exact coordinates for the land and maritime border and included provisions for the pastoral rights of shepherds, placement of armed forces and future natural wealth extraction along the border. [2] [5]
In 2003, Saudi Arabia began construction of a border wall with Yemen citing organised smuggling and security concerns. Following international diplomatic pressure and accusations that this violated the 20km buffer zone reserved for grazing in the 2000 treaty, Saudi Arabia agreed to halt construction and both sides to uphold the treaty in February 2004. [6] However, Saudi Arabia would subsequently complete the wall between 2009-2010. The border has become increasingly patrolled and crossings restricted following the destabilising effects of the 2011 Yemeni Revolution and subsequent Saudi Arabian involvement in the ongoing Yemeni Civil War. [7]
The history of Saudi Arabia as a nation state began with the emergence of the Al Saud dynasty in central Arabia in 1727 and the subsequent establishment of the Emirate of Diriyah. Pre-Islamic Arabia, the territory that constitutes modern Saudi Arabia, was the site of several ancient cultures and civilizations; the prehistory of Saudi Arabia shows some of the earliest traces of human activity in the world.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a country situated in Southwest Asia, the largest country of Arabia, by the Arabian Peninsula, bordering the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea, north of Yemen. Its extensive coastlines on the Persian Gulf and Red Sea provide great leverage on shipping through the Persian Gulf and the Suez Canal. The kingdom occupies 80% of the Arabian Peninsula. Most of the country's boundaries with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Oman, and the Republic of Yemen are undefined, so the exact size of the country remains unknown. The Saudi government estimate is at 2,217,949 square kilometres, while other reputable estimates vary between 2,149,690 and 2,240,000 sq. kilometres. Less than 7% of the total area is suitable for cultivation, and in the early 1960s, population distribution varied greatly among the towns of the eastern and western coastal areas, the densely populated interior oases, and the vast, almost empty deserts.
The foreign relations of Yemen are the relationships and policies that Yemen maintains with other countries. It is a member of the United Nations, the Arab League, and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Yemen participates in the nonaligned movement. The Republic of Yemen accepted responsibility for all treaties and debts of its predecessors, the YAR and the PDRY. Additionally, Yemen has acceded to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and has stressed the need to render the Middle East region free of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction.
Jeddah, also spelled Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda, is a city in the Hejaz region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the country's commercial center. Established in the 6th century BC as a fishing village, Jeddah's prominence grew in 647 when the Caliph Osman made it a major port for Indian Ocean trade routes, channelling goods to Mecca, and to serve Muslim travelers for Islamic pilgrimage. Since those times, Jeddah has served as the gateway for millions of pilgrims who have arrived in Saudi Arabia, traditionally by sea and recently by air. With a population of about 4,697,000 people as of 2021, Jeddah is the largest city in Makkah Province, the largest city in Hejaz, the second-largest city in the Saudi Arabia, and the ninth-largest in the Middle East. Jeddah Islamic Port, on the Red Sea, is the thirty-sixth largest seaport in the world and the second-largest and second-busiest seaport in the Middle East.
The Saudi–Yemen barrier is a physical barrier constructed by Saudi Arabia along part of its 1,800-kilometer (1,100 mi) border with Yemen. It is a structure made of pipeline three metres (10 ft) high filled with concrete, acting as a "security barrier along sections of the now fully demarcated border with Yemen" and fitted with electronic detection equipment.
Adel Al-Jubeir is a Saudi diplomat who is the former Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs and the current Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs. He is the second person not belonging to the House of Saud to hold the office, after Ibrahim bin Abdullah Al Suwaiyel. He previously served as the Saudi Ambassador to the United States from 2007 to 2015, and was also a foreign policy advisor to King Abdullah.
The Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen, 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 northwestern part of what is now Yemen. Its capital was Sana'a until 1948, then Taiz. From 1962 to 1970, it maintained control over portions of Yemen until its final defeat in the North Yemen Civil War. Yemen was admitted to the United Nations on 30 September 1947.
The Saudi–Yemeni War was a war between Saudi Arabia and the Kingdom of Yemen in 1934.
The Unification of Saudi Arabia was a military and political campaign in which the various tribes, sheikhdoms, city-states, emirates, and kingdoms of most of the Arabian Peninsula were conquered by the House of Saud, or Al Saud. Unification started in 1902 and continued until 1932, when the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was proclaimed under the leadership of King Abdulaziz, creating what is sometimes referred to as the Third Saudi State, to differentiate it from the Emirate of Diriyah, the First Saudi State and the Emirate of Nejd, the Second Saudi State, also House of Saud states.
This article deals with territorial disputes between states of in and around the Persian Gulf in Southwestern Asia. These states include Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Oman
Russia–Saudi Arabia relations are the bilateral relations between Russian Federation and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The two countries are referred to as the two petroleum superpowers and account for about a quarter of the world's crude oil production between them.
Ibrahim Hassan Tali al-Asiri was a citizen of Saudi Arabia suspected of being chief bomb-maker of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. He was reported to have been responsible for making the bombs used by his brother Abdullah al-Asiri in his suicide bombing, the 2009 Christmas Day bomb plot, the 2010 cargo plane bomb plot, and the May 8th 2012 Terror Plot.
Saudi Arabia – United Arab Emirates relations refers to the current and historical relationship between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Saudi Arabia maintains an embassy in Abu Dhabi and a consulate in Dubai while the U.A.E. has an embassy in Riyadh and consulate in Jeddah. Both countries are neighbours and as part of the Middle East and Persian Gulf region, share extensive political and cultural ties.
Saudi Arabia and Yemen relations refers to the current and historical relationship between the neighbouring sovereign states of Saudi Arabia and Yemen. The two countries at one time did enjoy good relations and closely cooperated in military, economic and cultural issues. Now because of the ongoing Yemeni Civil War and the realignments of power in the Middle East with the emergence of al-Qaeda and the radicalization of some factions of Islam, Saudi Arabia has led a military intervention into Yemen.
The Foreign Ministry is the government body in the Sultanate of Oman responsible for organising and directing Oman's relations with other countries and with regional and international organisations.
Saudi Arabia–Qatar relations refers to the current and historical relationship between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the State of Qatar. Prior to 2017, the two countries maintained cordial ties. Qatar was mainly subservient to Saudi Arabia in matters relating to foreign policy. Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani's assumption of power saw Qatar reclaim its sovereignty in foreign affairs, often diverging from Saudi Arabia on many geopolitical issues. In 1996, the Qatari government launched Al Jazeera in a bid to consolidate soft power. One of the most watched news stations in the Arab world, Al Jazeera proved to be a wedge in the two's bilateral relations as it routinely criticized Saudi Arabia's ruler. The network also provided a platform for Islamist groups which are considered a threat to Saudi Arabia's monarchy.
The Jordan–Saudi Arabia border is 731 km (454 mi) in length and runs from the Gulf of Aqaba in the south-west to the tripoint with Iraq in the north-east.
The Saudi Arabia–United Arab Emirates border is 457 km (284 mi) in length and runs from the Persian Gulf coast in the west to the tripoint with Oman in the east.
The Oman–Saudi Arabia border is 658 km in length and runs from the tripoint with the United Arab Emirates in the north to the tripoint with Yemen in the south-west.
The Saudi Arabia–Yemen border is 1,307 km in length and runs from the Red Sea coast in the west to the tripoint with Oman in the east.