'Handbook of Yemen' [‎7r] (18/190)

HANDBOOK OF YEMEN.
I.—AREA.
This district lies between Asir {v. " Asir Handbook")
and the Aden Protectorate, i .e. roughly, between north
latitude 17° and north latitude 13°; but neither its northern
nor its southern boundary is drawn at anything like right
angles to the Red Sea coast line, and, while the general
trend of both these boundary-lines is north-eastward,
neither runs at all straight. The northern limit, which, in the
interior, is determined by a religious criterion (the population
to the north of it is Sunni of the Shafe i school and that to
the south is Shiah of the Zeidist sect), makes a sharp elbow
almost due north after starting north-eastward from Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows.
c Ain, above Loheiah (Lahiyah). Then it resumes its
eastward direction, crossing longitude 45° east (the some
what indefinite inland or eastern limit) north-east of Sa dah.
The southern boundary, starting from Sheikh Said, runs
east-north-east to Qa'tabah, and then north-east till it
crosses the 45th meridian. It is determined by political
considerations combined with religious, but it is not a
satisfactory line of distinction, though the only one in
Arabia duly delimited according to treaty (in 1902-1905).
The total area thus enclosed is about 225 miles long,
north to south, and 150 miles broad, with a content of
about 33,750 square miles. It constitutes the major part
of the theoretical Turkish province of Yemen ; the
remainder lies m Asir, which is considered a scm^cik of the
vilayet of San ? a. The Porte lays claim to the hmteilcind,
as far back as the Red Desert (Er-Raml or Ruba el-Khali),
but since nothing to the east of the San a plateau has
ever been effectively held or administered by the Turks,
the 45th meridian may be taken as the boundary of Yemen.