What is the official language of Yemen?

Yemen is a country at the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is the second-largest Arab sovereign state in the peninsula, occupying 527,970 square kilometres (203,850 square miles).

It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, the Gulf of Aden and Guardafui Channel to the south, and the Arabian Sea and Oman to the east. Yemen's territory encompasses more than 200 islands, including Socotra, one of the largest islands in the Middle East. Yemen is a member of the Arab League, United Nations, Non-Aligned Movement and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.

Modern Standard Arabic is the official language of Yemen, while Yemeni Arabic is used as the vernacular. In al Mahrah Governorate in the far east and the island of Socotra, several non-Arabic languages are spoken. Yemeni Sign Language is used by the deaf community.

More Info: en.wikipedia.org

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12 Comments

deborahpmercer

James Webb - that isn't just horribly Islamophobic, it's also utterly illogical!

Catherine Gillespie Mullins

I teach in a school with a high Arabic speaking population. Many of our students are from Yemen.

Gery Tillmanns

Not a difficult question considering the choices.

Sybilla

James Webb, you seem to ignore or you have forgotten the great advances some of the Islamic nations gave to the Western world. Have you heard of the Islamic Golden Age? During the dark ages of medieval Europe, incredible scientific advances were made in the Muslim world. Geniuses in Baghdad, Cairo, Damascus and Cordoba took on the scholarly works of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, Greece, India and China, developing what we would call "modern" science. The new disciplines that emerged – algebra, trigonometry and chemistry- were accompanied by major advances in medicine, astronomy, engineering and agriculture. Arabic texts replaced Greek as the fonts of wisdom, helping to shape the scientific revolution of the Renaissance. What the medieval scientists of the Muslim world articulated so brilliantly is that science is universal, the common language of the human race. The 1001 Inventions exhibition at London's Science Museum tells some of the stories of this forgotten age.

Jim Mascair

Considering where it is located, if it was not the official language, they would certainly have to speak it fluently.

Char

James Webb, I have friends who are Islamic.. The USA has no language as really English is a foreign language the true language of this country is Spanish and Native tongue of several kind who were made to switch to English .. The Spanish speaking South West joined this country and many of you still try to force it your English which as I said is foreign England is where English came from not America. Now want to talk barbaric? Natives had a saying gun in one hand Bible in the other really sad the poor children feared you as you feared demons behind every tree .. Those poor natives who had Thanksgiving with your people? Trump a bit back took away their sovereignty and you want to talk that way about Mohammed how are you different?