Yemen learning maps — reviewed 18 October 2026

Scope
Twenty-one governorates and the separate capital municipality (22 first-level
areas), twenty selected cities and towns, and three selected coastal waters.
Socotra is a separate governorate, including offshore islands. Sana’a city
(YE-SA) is distinct from the surrounding Sana’a Governorate (YE-SN).
Administrative reference geometry is not a current-control map, a border
survey, an access assessment or a maritime claim. Coastlines are generalised.
City coordinates identify selected centres, not whole built-up areas.

Administrative source and licence
geoBoundaries gbOpen, YEM ADM1, boundaryID YEM-ADM1-18629408, representing 2017.
22 units; source OpenStreetMap / Wambacher. Retrieved 18 October 2026.
https://www.geoboundaries.org/api/current/gbOpen/YEM/ADM1/
https://github.com/wmgeolab/geoBoundaries/raw/9469f09/releaseData/gbOpen/YEM/ADM1/geoBoundaries-YEM-ADM1_simplified.geojson
https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright
Open Data Commons Open Database License (ODbL) 1.0:
https://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/1-0/

Source snapshot: scripts/yemen-admin1-source.geojson.
Source metadata: scripts/yemen-admin1-metadata.json.
The adapted administrative database public/yemen-governorates.geojson is
made available under ODbL 1.0, with curated labels, six-decimal coordinates
and standard polygon winding. The original geometry and reproducible build
are provided in the repository. Public use should credit OpenStreetMap
contributors and geoBoundaries and retain the ODbL notice.

Marine and context land
Natural Earth 1:10m geography marine polygons and admin-0 countries,
retrieved 18 October 2026; public domain.
https://www.naturalearthdata.com/about/terms-of-use/
https://github.com/nvkelso/natural-earth-vector/blob/master/geojson/ne_10m_geography_marine_polys.geojson
https://github.com/nvkelso/natural-earth-vector/blob/master/geojson/ne_10m_admin_0_countries.geojson

Snapshots: scripts/yemen-marine-source.geojson and
scripts/yemen-context-land-source.geojson. Targets are the Red Sea, Gulf of
Aden and Arabian Sea, clipped to [41.4 E,11.3 N,55 E,19.2 N]. Land is removed
using both context coastlines and the administrative polygons, buffered by
50 metres to avoid selectable land slivers. The waters database incorporates
administrative geometry in its coastal cutout and is likewise available
under ODbL 1.0. The underlying Natural Earth sources remain public domain.
The targets are selected portions, not full seas or EEZ boundaries.
No seasonal wadi is invented as a permanent river.

Cities, names and reproduction
Curated coordinates, labels, geographic hints and learning notes:
scripts/yemen-map-places.json. Coast-adjacent city membership is validated
against the actual governorate geometry; no town is moved to fit a coast.

Run: node scripts/build-yemen-maps.mjs
This regenerates all three public GeoJSON files, the atlas pack and names.
Heritage coordinate evidence: scripts/yemen-sight-coordinates-source.json.