Al Hudaydah

Al-Hudaydah (Arabic: الْحُدَيْدَة‎, romanized: al-ḥudayda), also transliterated as Hodeda, Hodeida, Hudaida or Hodeidah, is the fourth-largest city in Yemen and its principal port on the Red Sea. As of 2004, its population was 402,560[2] and it was the centre of the Al Hudaydah Governorate.

This article is about the city in Yemen. For the town in Syria, see Hadidah.

al-Hudaydah الْحُدَيْدَة
City
Market in Al-Hudaydah
al-Hudaydah Location within Yemen
Coordinates: 14°48′08″N 42°57′04″E
Country	Yemen
Governorate	Al Hudaydah
Occupation	Houthis (Ansar Allah), United Nations[1]
Elevation	17 m (56 ft)
Time zone	UTC+3 (Yemen Standard Time)

History

A Street in Hodaidah in 1893.

In the Islamic chronicles, the name Al-Hudaydah was first mentioned in the year 1454/55 and the city became a popular and important one in the 1520s when the Ottomans took over Yemeni Tihāmah.[3] The Malay writer Abdullah bin Abdul Kadir visited Al Hudaydah on his pilgrimage to Mecca in 1854, and describes the city in his account of the journey, mentioning that the custom of chewing khat was prevalent in the city at this time.[4]

In 1914, during the First World War German troops led by Major Freiherr Othmar von Stotzingen established "Stotzingen-Mission", a wireless station, at Al Hudaydah, which was used during the Arab Revolt to relay communications from Constantinople to German East Africa as well as broadcast propaganda to the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, British Somaliland and Abyssinia.[5]

The city was briefly occupied by Saudi forces during the Saudi–Yemeni War of 1934.[6][7]

After a disastrous fire in January 1961 destroyed much of Al-Hudaydah, it was rebuilt, particularly the port facilities, with Soviet aid. A highway to Sana'a, the capital, was completed in 1961. The city was also the site of a Soviet naval base in the 1970s and 1980s.

Al-Hudaydah has a large number of historical places. The city is not large but it has more than one hundred old mosques. Furthermore, it used to have a university, that was as old as al-Azhar.

Economy

Situated on the Red Sea, it is an important port, exporting coffee, cotton, dates and hides. It was developed as a seaport in the mid-19th century by the Ottoman Turks. As of June 2018, three quarters of humanitarian and commercial cargo entering Yemen arrived via the port of Hudaydah.[8] It serves as the entry point for Yemen's humanitarian aid and around 70% of commercial imports.[9] The port of Ros Isa is slightly north of Al Hudaydah proper, and is the terminus of the Marib–Ras Isa oil pipeline from inland Yemen, with a major storage and offloading vessel named FSO Safer moored offshore, though idled since the beginning of the Yemeni Civil War in 2015.[10][11]

In 1920, the British described Al Hudaydah's port as being a "poor harbour." With two entrances, it was only able to provide adequate storage and shelter for small boats, with larger boats and ships having to dock over two miles away. In 1908, a new pier was built, which had trouble with depth, leading most imported items to be dumped on the beach instead of delivered by dock. Coal was often available for visiting vessels. A new harbour was built 10 miles northwest of the town by the Ottoman government, with a small train line leading to Al Hudaydah, and connected to the Sana-Hodeida Railway. A French company built the rail system, which was halted upon the Italo-Turkish War breakout. In 1909, the port was bringing in less than the port at Jeddah. That year, 172 steam ships visited the port. The majority of the goods were from the United Kingdom, followed by Italy, Russia and Germany. German imports had grown from 1905 to 1909, with British shipping declining.[12] Despite struggles with a good quality harbour, the town was described as being the centre of dhow building.[13]

The city was known for producing striped coarse cotton cloth, woven by hand. The artisans making the cloth were relocated to Al Hudaydah from Zabīd and Beit el-Faki due to tribal conflict.[13] The city was also a centre for tanning and sandal making.[13]

In the late 19th-century, Al Hudaydah was a chief exporter of coffee, with that export business shifting to Aden in the early 20th-century due to more secure routes at Aden. Al Hudaydah had to transport their goods usually through Yemen and Indian ports for security reasons, making exportation to the United Kingdom troublesome. During this time period, the region imported cereal and rice from India, cotton from Manchester, England and the United States, iron and steel from Germany, and general goods from Italy and Austria. As of 1920, the city was exporting fuller's earth, hides and coffee.[12] The coffee produced in Al Hudaydah was considered some of the finest in the region.[14]

Yemeni Civil War

Main article: Yemeni Civil War (2015–present)

See also: Battle of Al Hudaydah

The port of Al Hudaydah plays a crucial role in allowing food to be imported into the country. This role has been disrupted several times over the course of the Yemeni civil war.

In June 2018, pro-Hadi government forces with the backing of the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia entered the port of Al Hudaydah, in an effort to dislodge Houthi forces.[8][15] Due to the risk of a humanitarian crisis if the port is besieged, the United Nations attempted to secure an agreement with the Houthis to place the port under UN control, but was unsuccessful until December 13, 2018 on which date, there was an announcement by the UN general secretary Antonio Guterres that the two sides to the civil war have reached an agreement on a ceasefire.[8][16]

Climate

Al Hudaydah has a hot desert climate (Köppen climate classification: BWh).

Climate data for Al Hudaydah
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average high °C (°F)	29.9 (85.8)	30.6 (87.1)	31.9 (89.4)	34.5 (94.1)	36.5 (97.7)	37.7 (99.9)	38.3 (100.9)	38.1 (100.6)	36.8 (98.2)	34.8 (94.6)	32.1 (89.8)	30.5 (86.9)	34.3 (93.8)
Daily mean °C (°F)	25.3 (77.5)	25.9 (78.6)	27.2 (81.0)	29.5 (85.1)	31.6 (88.9)	32.9 (91.2)	33.5 (92.3)	33.2 (91.8)	31.9 (89.4)	30.0 (86.0)	27.4 (81.3)	25.6 (78.1)	29.5 (85.1)
Average low °C (°F)	20.7 (69.3)	21.2 (70.2)	22.5 (72.5)	24.6 (76.3)	26.7 (80.1)	28.1 (82.6)	28.7 (83.7)	28.4 (83.1)	27.1 (80.8)	25.2 (77.4)	22.8 (73.0)	20.8 (69.4)	24.7 (76.5)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	5 (0.2)	5 (0.2)	4 (0.2)	2 (0.1)	6 (0.2)	1 (0.0)	4 (0.2)	13 (0.5)	12 (0.5)	7 (0.3)	4 (0.2)	4 (0.2)	67 (2.8)
Source: Climate-Data.org[17]

See also

• Hodeida International Airport

References

1. "Parties to Conflict in Yemen Have Accepted Plan for Redeployment of Forces from Hodeidah Port, Special Envoy Tells Security Council | Meetings Coverage and Press Releases". www.un.org.
2. "Al-Ḥudaydah | Yemen". Encyclopedia Britannica.
3. "Al-Ḥudaydah". britannica. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
4. Ché-Ross, Raimy (July 2000). "Munshi Abdullah's Vogage to Mecca: A Preliminary Introduction and Annotated Translation". Indonesia & the Malay World. 28 (81): 196.
5. Waugh, Sir Telford (1937). Royal Central Asian Journal Volume XXIV part II. p. 313.translating the German account given in the German journal, Orient Rundschau
6. David Bidwell (2012). Dictionary Of Modern Arab History. Routledge. p. 294. ISBN 9781136162916.
7. Massimiliano Fiore (2016). Anglo-Italian Relations in the Middle East, 1922–1940. Routledge. pp. 32–3. ISBN 9781317180944.
8. Nissenbam, Dion. "U.S. Deepens Role in Yemen Fight, Offers Gulf Allies Airstrike-Target Assistance". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on June 13, 2018. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
9. Hasson, Nir; Khoury, Jack (2018-11-07). "Israeli Panel Approves 640 New Settler Homes in East Jerusalem". Haaretz. Retrieved 2018-11-08.
10. "Report: Houthis Seeking Help to Prevent Massive Oil Spill off Yemen from Leaking FSO". World Maritime News. 17 December 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
11. "Experts fear deserted oil tanker off Yemen could explode". The Guardian. 23 July 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
12. Prothero, G.W. (1920). Arabia. London: H.M. Stationery Office. p. 70.
13. Prothero, G.W. (1920). Arabia. London: H.M. Stationery Office. p. 99.
14. Prothero, G.W. (1920). Arabia. London: H.M. Stationery Office. p. 83.
15. Nissenbaum, Dion; Stancati, Margherita (13 June 2018). "Yemeni Forces, Backed by Saudi-Led Coalition, Launch Assault on Country's Main Port". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 13 June 2018. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
16. "Truce breakthrough in Yemen talks". December 13, 2018 – via www.bbc.com.
17. "Climate: Al Hudaydah". Climate-Data.org. Retrieved November 3, 2017.