19 North Africa & the Middle East: Urban Geography I –
Entrepôt ~ Aden (Yemen)

As seen in trading cities formerly in the British Empire

NAME – Aden, Yemen

A concept of Urban Geography is the entrepôt, also an economic term. In a series of chapters, we will examine four examples of entrepôt cities that also were pieces of the British Empire. Thus, the sub-title of our chapter is Asian trading cities formerly in the British Empire. Although we highlight British colonial cities in these chapters, the word entrepôt is French for warehouse.

An entrepôt is a point of transshipment. That is, this type of city is located advantageously where export and import take place; however, not only in terms of products arriving and products departing, but importantly as the location where imports are sorted and repackaged for export. It is very likely that an entrepôt is an ocean seaport, though it is possible that a point of transshipment could be an intersection of highways, railroads, airports, and/or rivers. Roads, railroads, and airports are modern transportation hubs, whereas an entrepôt often has a lengthy history of trade, being founded as a settlement long ago. This preceding historical advantage favors the ancient seafaring trade; thus, again we note that seaports have an advantage in becoming entrepôts. Here we will compare and contrast entrepôts in regions of the Eastern World.

Aden

These cities will vary in prominence and familiarity, while all being entrepôts. As this chapter is placed in the section of Urban Geography within NAME, we will begin with the port city Aden in the country Yemen; however, corresponding subsequent regional examples of the entrepôt will refer back to this chapter.

The city Aden now is the provisional capital of war-torn Yemen (and formerly of South Yemen), but has an ancient history. Aden’s location at the southeast corner of the Arabian Peninsula places it opposite the strait Bab-el-Mandeb to the Horn of Africa. Passage through the strait yields access to the Red Sea and countries on both of its shores. Before the European exploration of the world, these were useful avenues of trade. Upon later European travel around the cape of Africa and into the Indian Ocean, Aden was a useful port for restocking and for trade for European ships bound to and from India and Southeast Asia. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea, provided another plus for the port of Yemen. The natural harbor of Aden is sheltered by an adjacent peninsula.

History suggests that Aden had ancient fortifications, probably prior to clear evidence from the 12th century. Different rulers and nations sought to have influence in or over Aden, even including the Chinese sending treasure ships in 1421. The Portuguese and then the Ottoman Empire controlled Aden at times in the 16th century.

The British Empire acquired Aden in 1838, then in 1850 declared the city a free trade zone. After controlling the region for over a century, Britain looked to grant it independence in 1968, but the violence of the 1967 Aden Emergency prompted British troops and civilians to evacuate. Aden became the capital city of the new People’s Republic of South Yemen.

The success of Aden as an entrepôt has diminished greatly within the current country of Yemen and particularly during the civil was that began in 2015.

Cited and additional bibliography:

“‘Here There Is Nothing’: Yemen’s Aden Scarred by Grinding War.” France 24, 17 Mar. 2022, https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220317-here-there-is-nothing-yemen-s-aden-scarred-by-grinding-war.

hangga, jonata. “Sea Logistic Icon – 4805740.” The Noun Project, https://thenounproject.com/icon/sea-logistic-4805740/.

Knapp, Parker. Aden, Yemen. College of DuPage GIS class, July 2022.

Lackner, Raiman Al-Hamdani, Helen. “War and Pieces: Political Divides in Southern Yemen – European Council on Foreign Relations.” ECFR, 22 Jan. 2020, https://ecfr.eu/publication/war_and_pieces_political_divides_in_southern_yemen/.