The largest island, also called Socotra, is about 95% of the landmass of the archipelago. It lies some 240 kilometres (150 mi) east of the Horn of Africa and 380 kilometres (240 mi) south of the Arabian Peninsula. The island is very isolated and through the process of speciation, a third of its plant life is found nowhere else on the planet. It has been described as the most alien-looking place on Earth. The island measures 132 kilometres (82 mi) in length and 49.7 kilometres (30.9 mi) in width.
An army tank fires during a firefight against militants linked to al Qaeda near the southern Yemeni city of Zinjibar May 30, 2012. (Photo by Reuters/Yemen's Defence Ministry)
A girl carries a rifle as she attends a rally by followers of the Shi'ite Houthi movement commemorating the death of Imam Zaid bin Ali in Sanaa, Yemen October 26, 2016. (Photo by Khaled Abdullah/Reuters)
Militants loyal to Yemen's exiled government ride on the back of a pick-up truck in the country's central city of Taiz August 19, 2015. Militia forces loyal to Yemen's exiled government fought their way deep into the central city of Taiz this week, local officials said, largely pushing out Houthi militiamen from the country's third largest city. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)
A woman plays billiards during a local championship at a sports hall in Yemen's capital Sanaa on December 16, 2019. (Photo by Mohammed Huwais/AFP Photo)
Fruit vendors chew qat, a mild stimulant, amid concerns of the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at a fruit market in Sanaa, Yemen on June 1, 2020. (Photo by Khaled Abdullah/Reuters)