 Map of Yemen, showing the finalised northern border with Saudi Arabia | |
| Signed | June 12, 2000 |
|---|---|
| Location | Jeddah, Saudi Arabia |
| Signatories | |
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 Yemeni unification. 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.
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Jeddah, alternatively transliterated as Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda, is the largest city in Makkah Province, Saudi Arabia, and the country's second largest city after Riyadh, located along the Red Sea coast in the Hejaz region. Jeddah is the commercial center of the country. It is not known when Jeddah was founded, but Jeddah's prominence grew in 647 when the Caliph Uthman made it a travel hub serving Muslim travelers going to the holy city of Mecca 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.
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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 central 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 Abdulaziz, known in the West as Ibn Saud, 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.
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Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are neighbouring countries in the Middle East and Persian Gulf region, and share extensive political and cultural ties. Saudi Arabia maintains an embassy in Abu Dhabi and a consulate in Dubai of the UAE, while the UAE has an embassy in Riyadh and a consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Oman–Yemen relations refer to bilateral relations between the southern Peninsular Arab nations of Oman and Yemen. The two countries share a 294 km border. Both Oman and Yemen were part of the Persian Empire, and later the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates. Yemen has an embassy in Muscat. Oman has an embassy in Sana'a. Both countries are members of the Arab League and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
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.
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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.
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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 Qatar–Saudi Arabia diplomatic conflict refers to the ongoing struggle for regional influence between Qatar and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), both of which are members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). It is sometimes called the New Arab Cold War. Bilateral relations have been especially strained since the beginning of the Arab Spring, that left a power vacuum both states sought to fill, with Qatar being supportive of the revolutionary wave and Saudi Arabia opposing it. Both states are allies of the United States, and have avoided direct conflict with one another.
The Iraq–Kuwait border is 254 km in length and runs from the tripoint with Saudi Arabia in the west to the Persian Gulf coast in the east.
The Qatar–Saudi Arabia border is 87 km (54 mi) in length and runs from the Gulf of Bahrain coast in the west to the Persian Gulf coast in the 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 Saudi Arabia–Yemen border is 1,307 km (812 mi) in length and runs from the Red Sea coast in the west to the tripoint with Oman in the east.
