The Republic of Yemen (al Yaman in Arabic), is located in the southwestern corner of the Arabian Peninsula, commanding the junction of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. To help secure this crucial passage Britain colonized the port of Aden in 1839 and gradually expanded its rule to include all of the southern region of the country. The northern part, known in North Yemen, became independent in 1918 following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in World War I, while South Yemen achieved independence from Britain in 1967. The two halves of Yemen were merged into a single nation in 1990. Yemen has been torn by civil war intermittantly since 1993 and continuously since 2014. Shifts in control by the various factions are difficult to track. As of early 2024 five different factions controlled sections of the coast. Officially Yemen is divided into twenty governorates (muhafazat). The Arabic word for a lighthouse is mnarh or manara (منارة). Ra's is the word for a cape or headland, jazīrat is an island, and minā is a harbor. Aids to navigation in Yemen are supposed to be maintained by the Yemen Ports Authority, an expansion of the Port of Aden. Special thanks to Jürgen Klinksiek, a retired merchant seaman who contributed several photos taken from ships passing through the narrow waters of the southern Red Sea. ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. Admiralty numbers are from volume D of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals (Red Sea lights were formerly in volume E but they were moved to Volume D with new numbers in 2013). U.S. NGA List numbers are from Publication 112.
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![]() Mayyūn (Perim) High Light, Bab el Mendab, December 2012 ex-Panoramio photo copyright Bashar Allswas; used by permission |
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![]() Zubair Islands (Centre Peak) Light (destroyed about 2012), September 1997 photo copyright Jürgen Klinksiek; used by permission |
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![]() Jabal aṭ-Ṭayr Light (destroyed in 2007), Red Sea, September 1997 photo copyright Jürgen Klinksiek; used by permission |
Information available on lost lighthouses:
Notable faux lighthouses:
Adjoining pages: North: Western Saudi Arabia | East: Oman
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Posted February 16, 2006. Checked and revised November 21, 2024. Lighthouses: 21. Site copyright 2024 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.