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ADEN

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Originally appearing in Volume V01, Page 190 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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ADEN , a seaport and territory in See also:

Arabia, politically See also:part of See also:British See also:India, under the See also:governor of Bombay. The seaport is situated in 12° 45' N. See also:lat., and 450 4' E. See also:long., on a See also:peninsula near the entrance to the Red See also:Sea, Too m. E. of the strait of Bab-el-Mandeb. The peninsula of Aden consists chiefly of a See also:mass of barren and desolate volcanic rocks, extending five See also:miles from See also:east to See also:west, and three from its See also:northern See also:shore to See also:Ras Sanailah or Cape Aden, its most southerly point; it is connected with the mainland by a See also:neck of See also:flat sandy ground only a few feet high; and its greatest See also:elevation is See also:Jebel Shamshan, 1776 ft. above the level of the sea. The See also:town is built on the eastern See also:coast, in what is probably the See also:crater of an See also:extinct See also:volcano, and is surrounded by precipitous rocks that See also:form an admirable natural See also:defence. There are two harbours, an See also:outer, facing the town, protected by the See also:island of Sirah, but now partially choked with mud; and an inner, called Aden Back-See also:bay, or, by the See also:Arabs, Bandar Tawayih, on the western See also:side of the peninsula, which at all periods of the See also:year admits vessels See also:drawing less than 20 ft. On the whole, Aden is a healthy See also:place, although it suffers considerably from the want of See also:good See also:water, and the See also:heat is often very intense. From See also:time to time additional See also:land on the mainland has been acquired by cession or See also:purchase, and the adjoining island of See also:Perim, lying in the actual mouth of the strait, was permanently occupied in 1857. Farther inland,and along the coast, most of the Arab chiefs are under the See also:political See also:control of the British See also:government, which pays them See also:regular allowances. The See also:area of the peninsula is only 15 sq. m., but the See also:total area of British territory is returned at 8o sq. m., including Perim (5 sq. m), and that of the Aden See also:Protectorate is about 9000 sq. m. The seaport of Aden is strongly fortified. See also:Modern See also:science has converted " Steamer Point " into a seemingly impregnable position, the peninsula which the " Point " forms to the whole crater being cut off by a fortified See also:line which runs from See also:north to See also:south, just to the east of the See also:coal wharfs.

The See also:

administration is conducted by a political See also:resident, who is also the military commandant.. All See also:food requires to be imported, and the water-See also:supply is largely derived from condensation. A little water is obtained from See also:wells, and some from an See also:aqueduct 7 M. long, constructed in 1867 at a cost of £30,000, besides an irregular supply from the old -reservoirs. From its admirable commercial and military position, Aden See also:early became the See also:chief entrep$t of the See also:trade between See also:Europe and See also:Asia. It is the 'ApaOia sbbainwv of the Periplus. I.t was known to the See also:Romans as Arabia See also:Felix and Attanae, and was captured by them, probably in the year 24 B.C. In 1513 it was unsuccessfully attacked by the Portuguese under See also:Albuquerque, but subsequently it See also:fell into the hands of the See also:Turks in 1538. In the following See also:century the Turks themselves relinquished their See also:con-quests in See also:Yemen, and the See also:sultan of Sena established a supremacy over .Aden,. which was maintained until the year 1735, when the See also:sheikh of Lahej, throwing off his See also:allegiance, founded a line of See also:independent sultans. In 1837 a See also:ship under British See also:colours was wrecked near Aden, and the See also:crew and passengers grievously maltreated by the Arabs. An explanation of the See also:outrage being demanded by the Bombay government, the sultan undertook to make See also:compensation for the See also:plunder of the See also:vessel, and also agreed to sell his town and See also:port to the See also:English. See also:Captain Haines of the See also:Indian See also:navy was sent to See also:complete these arrangements, but the sultan's son refused to fulfil the promises that his See also:father had made. A combined See also:naval and miltary force was thereupon despatched, and the place was captured and annexed to British India on the 16th of See also:January 1839.

The withdrawal of the trade between Europe and the East, caused by the See also:

discovery of the passage See also:round the Cape of Good See also:Hope, and the misgovernment of. the native rulers, had gradually reduced Aden to a See also:state of See also:comparative insignificance; but about the time of its See also:capture by the British the Red Sea route to India was reopened, and See also:commerce soon began, to flow in its former channel. Aden was made a See also:free port,' and was chosen as one of the coaling stations of the See also:Peninsular and See also:Oriental Steamship See also:Company. Its importance as a port of See also:call for steamers and a coaling station has grown immensely since the opening of the See also:Suez See also:Canal. It also conducts a considerable trade with the interior of Arabia, and with the Somali coast. of See also:Africa on the opposite side of the Red Sea. The submarine cables of the Eastern See also:Telegraph Company here diverge—on the one See also:hand to India, the Far East and See also:Australia, and. on the other hand to See also:Zanzibar and the Cape. In 1839 the See also:population was less than 'coo, but in 1901 it had grownto43,974. The See also:gross See also:revenue(1901–1902) was Rs. 37,25,915. There are three See also:printing-presses, of which one is in the See also:gaol and the other two belong to a See also:European and a Parsee See also:firm of merchants. The port is visited yearly by some 1300 steamers with a See also:tonnage of 24 million tons.. The See also:principal articles of import are See also:coffee, See also:cotton-piece goods, &c., See also:grain, hides, coal, See also:opium, cotton twist and See also:yarn. The exports are, in the See also:main, a repetition of the imports.

Of the total imports nearly one-third come from the east coast of Africa, and another third from Arabia. Of the total exports, nearly one-third again go to the east coast of Africa. The Aden See also:

brigade belongs to the western See also:army See also:corps of India.

End of Article: ADEN

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