Taiz

Taiz (Arabic: تعز Taʿizz‎) is a city in the Yemeni Highlands, near the famous Mocha port on the Red Sea, lying at an elevation of about 1,400 metres above sea level and Sabir Mountain that neighbors it rises the 3,006 metres above the city. It is the capital of Taiz Governorate. With a population of over 600,000 in 2005, it is the third largest city in Yemen after the capital Sana'a and the southern port of Aden. When Yemen was at peace, it was considered to be the cultural capital of Yemen.

During the 2011 Yemeni Revolution, a battle in Taiz between supporters and opponents of Ali Abdullah Saleh led to a rebel victory. As part of the 2015 Yemeni Civil War, the city is currently enduring an ongoing military confrontation between Houthis and the government forces of Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi. The city is effectively under siege and the United Nations has warned of an "extreme and irreversible" food shortage if fighting continues.

History

Overview

In 130 CE the Jewish quarter was established in the city.

Taiz Governorate

Taiz (Arabic: تعز‎ Taʿizz) is a governorate of Yemen. The governorate's capital is Taiz, which is the third largest city in Yemen. Other major towns include Al Sawa, Juha and the famous coffee port of Mocha. It has a total population of just over three million and an area of 10,677 km². Taiz city is the major centre of Islamic learning in Yemen and was the nation's capital between 1948 and 1962. However, it is not as old as nearby Ibb and Jibla. Today it is the most important commercial centre in Yemen owing to its proximity to the richest farmland in the nation and to the important Red Sea port of Mokha. It also has an international airport, Taiz International Airport, with numerous services within Yemen and to neighbouring countries.

Geography

For such a small area, Taiz governorate has an extraordinarily diverse geography. The western half of the governorate is part of the Tihamah coastal plain and has an exceedingly hot, humid and arid climate. The eastern half, however, is very mountainous, with the major peak being 3,070-metre-high Jebel Saber, near Taiz city. These mountains trap the moisture created by an upper-level wind reversal between April and October, so that in the eastern half of the governorate annual rainfall increases from 200 millimetres (8 inches) in the foothills to probably more than 1,000 millimetres (40 inches) near Jebel Saber. Temperatures in the highlands remain high during the daytime, but at the highest elevations they can fall dramatically to -5°C (23°F) overnight.