The Republic of Yemen is located in the southern corner of the Arabian Peninsula, the southwestern part of Asia. Saudi Arabia borders it in the north, the Arab Sea and the Indian Ocean in the south, the Sultanate of Oman in the east, and the Red Sea in the west.
Yemen topography is very varied. To the west along the Red Sea there is a flat sandy plain about 30 to 40 kms wide and extending the length of the country. There is a similar plain with occasional extensions of mountains to the south. In the interior there is an immense plate of granite with layers of weathered sedimentary rocks interspersed with the remains of volcanic activity. This plate is tilted upwards on a northwest-southeast axis to heights of well over 3000m (the highest mountain is 3660m). The southern axis of this plate runs parallel to the south coast with the heights of the mountain gradually reducing until by the time the border with Oman is reached, the heights is no more than approximately 1000m.
The land slopes away to the northwest from these two mountain axes through high fertile plateaus. On one of these the capital Sana'a is located; Marib, the ancient capital of the Queen of Sheba is on another. As the lie of the land continues to fall towards the northeast, the landscape changes to become scrub and desert. With the exception of one important valley- Hadramawt this eastern half of the country is empty of people and devoid of cultivation.