Editing Geography of Yemen (section)

==Topography==
[[File:Koppen-Geiger Map YEM present.svg|thumb| Yemen's [[Köppen climate classification]] map<ref name="Peel">{{cite journal | author=Peel, M. C. and Finlayson, B. L. and McMahon, T. A. | year=2007 | title= Updated world map of the Köppen–Geiger climate classification | journal=Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. | volume=11 | issue=5 | pages=1633–1644 |doi=10.5194/hess-11-1633-2007 | bibcode=2007HESS...11.1633P | url=http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/11/1633/2007/hess-11-1633-2007.html | issn = 1027-5606| doi-access=free }} ''(direct: [http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/11/1633/2007/hess-11-1633-2007.pdf Final Revised Paper])''</ref> is based on native vegetation, temperature, precipitation and their seasonality.
{{legend|#FE0000|[[hot desert climate|BWh Hot desert]]}}
{{legend|#FE9695|[[cold desert climate|BWk Cold desert]]}}
{{legend|#F5A301|[[hot semi-arid climate|BSh Hot semi-arid]]}}
{{legend|#FFDB63|[[cold semi-arid climate|BSk Cold semi-arid]]}}
{{legend|#63C764|[[subtropical highland climate|CWb Subtropical highland]]}}
]]
{{multiple image |align=right |direction=vertical |width=
 |image1=Yemen-map.png |caption1=Map of Yemen
 |image2=Tihama on the Red Sea near Khaukha, Yemen.jpg |caption2=The [[Tihamah]]
 |image3=Wadi Dhar.jpg |caption3=Wadi Dhar
 |image4=Yemen landscape 03.jpg |caption4=Near [[Kawkaban]], [[Sanaa Governorate]]
 |image5=Yemen landscape 05.jpg |caption5=Agricultural terraces in the [[Jabal Haraz|Haraz]]-[[Sarawat Mountains|Sarat Mountains]]
}}

Yemen occupies the southern end of the [[Arabian Plate]].<ref name="Hadden2012">{{citation |last=Hadden |first=R. L. |title=The Geology of Yemen: An Annotated Bibliography of Yemen's Geology, Geography, and Earth Science |location=[[Alexandria, Virginia|Alexandria, VA]] |publisher=[[Army Geospatial Center]], [[United States Army Corps of Engineers|U.S. Army Corps of Engineers]] |url=https://purl.fdlp.gov/GPO/gpo31923 |year=2012}}</ref>

The country's mountainous interior is surrounded by narrow coastal plains to the west, south, and east and by upland desert to the north along the border with Saudi Arabia. The [[Tihamah]] is a nearly {{convert|419|km|mi|adj=on}} long, semidesert coastal plain that runs along the [[Red Sea]] and is part of the [[Arabian Peninsula coastal fog desert]] [[ecoregion]]. The highland regions are interspersed with [[wadi]]s, or river valleys, that are dry in the winter months (Yemen has no permanent rivers.) Most notable is the [[Wadi Hadhramaut]] in eastern Yemen, the upper portions of which contain alluvial soil and floodwaters and the lower portion of which is barren and largely uninhabited. Both the eastern plateau region and the desert in the north are hot and dry with little vegetation.<ref name=cp/>

In the northeastern [[Empty Quarter]], sands highlight the region, being the largest expanse of sand in the world. It receives little to no rain for extensive periods of time. Little vegetation grows here either. The central highlands are drier than the western highlands because of rain-shadow influences, but still receives sufficient rain in wet years for extensive cropping. Its [[diurnal temperature variation]]s are among the highest in the world: ranges from {{convert|30|°C|°F|abbr=on|lk=on}} in the day to {{convert|0|°C|°F|abbr=on}} at night are normal. Water storage allows for irrigation and the growing of wheat and barley while the western highlands are famous for [[sorghum]], [[coffee]], and some tropical fruits like bananas and mangos.