Showing posts with label Arabian peninsula. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Arabian peninsula. Show all posts

November 30 - National Days in Yemen and Benin

 Posted on November 30, 2021


This is an update of my post published on November 30, 2010:



Above, Yemen's flag
Below, Benin's flag



1. On which two continents are Yemen and Benin located?

2. Which two European countries colonized Yemen and Benin?

3. What do Yemen and Benin celebrate on this date?



Answers: 

1. Yemen is on the Arabian Peninsula, in the “Near East” portion of Asia; Benin is on the southern side of the "bulge" of Africa.

Yemen in red

Benin's location

2. The U.K. colonized southern Yemen; France colonized Benin. 

3. Yemen celebrates its Nov. 30, 1967, independence from the U.K.; Benin celebrates the Nov. 30, 1975, renaming to Republic of Benin. The former name, Dahomey, was the name of just a portion of the nation, so a more neutral name was chose. Benin is the name of the body of water next to the country.


Yemeni kids, above.
The kids below live in Benin.



By the way:

Yemen's main national holiday is on May 22, which is Unity Day, celebrating the 1990 joining of North and South Yemen. 

Benin's main national holiday is August 1, celebrating its independence from France in 1960.


These are a few of my favorite things...
...about Yemen and Benin.

  • Yemen is the only nation on the Arabian peninsula to have a pure republic form of government. The other nations have kings (or sultans) of some sort.

  • More than 200 islands, located in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, are part of Yemen. Most of the islands are volcanic in origin.


    Socotra Island, part of Yemen, has...
    ...weird trees!


  • I read that almost everybody in Yemen wears ceremonial daggers or swords on a daily basis. I can't help wondering if “almost everybody” really means “almost every adult man”? 

  • Shibam, in Yemen, is called the oldest skyscraper city of the world and also “the Manhattan of the desert.” Its many-storied buildings are made of mud bricks. With some buildings 100 feet tall, these are the tallest mud buildings in the world.




  • A memorial about the slave trade has been erected on the beach of Benin. Called The Door of No Return, it shows that slavery was a one-way trip into horror for most people.



  • The cathedral in Cotonou, Benin, may be one of the most unusually colored churches in the world.


  • Get a glimpse here of some of the animals you can see at Benin's Pendjari National Park.

  • Grand Popo is one of the most picturesque beaches of Benin.




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August 6 – Anniversary of Sheikh Zayed's Accession in the United Arab Emirates

Posted on August 6, 2018

This year, 2018, has been declared the "Year of Zayed," because it has been 100 years since the birth of Sheikh Zayed, the Founding Father of the United Arab Emirates.

Today is the anniversary, not of Zayed's birth, but of the day in 1966 when he assumed leadership of Abu Dhabi, one of the seven emirates that now make up the UAE - and the capital. The British had made much of the Arab peninsula into a protectorate but decided to back away from their commitment of administration and protection in the late 1960s. A matter of money and resources - the U.K. just couldn't afford to continue the protectorate. 

The United Arab Emirates shown above in red.

Below, you can see that the UAE and the rest of the
Arabian peninsula are basically located between
Africa and India.

Of course, a discussion of money and resources, when it has anything to do with the UAE, has to mention petroleum! The UAE has the seventh largest oil reserves in the world and also substantial natural gas reserves. Because of the wealth that comes from this sort of resource, Zayed was able to invest in healthcare, education, and infrastructure for the brand new country, and now the UAE is the most diversified of the nations in that region. Business and tourism have boomed. 

Above and below, the capital city,
Abu Dhabi.



And the nation's largest city, Dubai, is famously fabulous, with indoor skiing, beautiful beaches, the tallest building in the world, and loads of tourist attractions:








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November 19 – Oman's Sultan's Birthday

Posted on November 19, 2016


In Oman, patriotism has a two-day celebration in November. Yesterday, Oman celebrated its 1650 independence from Portugal, and today the nation celebrates the birthday of Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said.

Born in 1940, Qaboos has been the sultan since he was 30 years old. I assumed that he became sultan when his father died or relinquished the crown, but actually Qaboos led a coup that removed his father from power!

That sounds bad, huh? I mean, why would Qaboos steal his father's crown and exile him to the United Kingdom?

Actually, it was a good move. Qaboos's father was Sultan Said bin Taimur. And Said may have suffered from sort of mental disorder near the end of his life. He apparently became a bit of a hermit, withdrawing from people and doing little to help his nation. When young Qaboos returned from the U.K., where he had gone to school and served in the British armed forces, Said put him under house arrest and arranged for his son to be able to see and talk to only a few people. And for the last 14 months before the coup, Said didn't see or speak to his son at all – even though they lived in the same palace!

Oman has a strategic position
on the Arabian peninsula.
In the meantime, Said's nation suffered. Lots of people didn't have enough to eat. The infant mortality rate was 75%! That means that three out of every four babies born died while still an infant! Almost nobody knew how to read and write, and there were only three schools in the whole nation. Heck, there were only six miles of paved road in the whole nation!

When Qaboos took over in 1970, he used the money from oil sales to modernize and develop the country. He was able to make his nation the “most improved” country in the world, according to the United Nations. And even though it has a fairly high-income economy, it also has a thriving tourism industry and a lively trade in fish, dates, and other agricultural products – so it is less likely to suffer from being too dependent on one non-renewable resource as most of its Arabic neighbors.

Check out Oman:
Ash Sharqiyah Region

Oman has several castles and forts

Musandam Dibba

Wadi-Shab

Wahiba Sands
Above and all further photos in this post
are taken in Muscat, the capital of Oman.
Grand Mosque

Also on this date:





















































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