Sanaa

Sanaa also spelled Sanaʽa or Sana, is the largest city in Yemen and the centre of Sanaa Governorate. The city is not part of the Governorate, but forms the separate administrative district of “Amanat Al-Asemah”. Under the Yemeni constitution, Sanaa is the capital of the country,although the seat of the Yemeni government moved to Aden, the former capital of South Yemen in the aftermath of the Houthi occupation. Aden was declared as the temporary capital by President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi in March 2015.

Sanaa is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. At an elevation of 2,300 metres (7,500 ft),it is also one of the highest capital cities in the world and is next to the Sarawat Mountains of Jabal An-Nabi Shu’ayb and Jabal Tiyal, considered to be the highest mountains in the country and amongst the highest in the region. Sanaa has a population of approximately 3,937,500 (2012), making it Yemen’s largest city. As of 2020, the greater Sanaa urban area makes up about 10% of Yemen’s total population.

The Old City of Sanaa, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has a distinctive architectural character, most notably expressed in its multi-storey buildings decorated with geometric patterns. In the conflict that raged in 2015, bombs hit UNESCO sites in the old city.The Al Saleh Mosque, the largest in Sana’a, is located in the Old City.