Historic Town of Juban
Juban District – the largest district of the governorate (1,186 km²)
Explore landmarkThe Yemen Guide | Ad Dali Governorate
A mountainous governorate holding a unique position among fertile valleys and towering mountains, covering 4,099 square kilometres across nine districts.
Ad Dali was part of the great land of Himyar; Jabal Uqram within it bears witness to a great Himyarite civilisation that founded its kingdom in Shuka, as confirmed by the many Himyarite inscriptions found in the region. Emirates and kingdoms succeeded one another in ruling it; in the nineteenth century it became an arena of conflict between the Ottomans and the British, and Prince Ali Muqbil bin Abd al-Hadi al-Halimi ruled it independently in 1868. After Yemeni unification in May 1990 it was declared an independent governorate, after its nine districts had been divided among Taiz, Lahij, Ibb and Al-Bayda. The governorate rests on a plateau between 1,800 and 2,000 metres, giving it a moderate summer and cold winter; it is famous for coffee as its main crop and contains many valleys such as Wadi Ma’abir, al-Ghusha and Haran that irrigate its fertile lands. In the recent Yemeni war it stood out as the first governorate to defeat the Houthis in 2015, aided by its mountainous terrain and tribal cohesion.
