Many peoples have lived on the Arabian Peninsula. In ancient times the Sabaeans, the Minaeans, and the Himyarites built up powerful kingdoms in southwestern Arabia. The Arabs traded with Egypt, China, and India.
In the 600s Muhammad started Islam. Soon all of Arabia was united under the religion. Then the Arabs spread Islam beyond the peninsula by conquering other lands. The Muslim leaders who followed Muhammad ruled a large Islamic empire. At first they ruled from Arabia. Later, however, they ruled from other parts of the empire.
In the 1500s the Ottoman Turks made Arabia part of their empire. However, they never gained firm control of the peninsula. The Arabs revolted repeatedly against the Ottomans. The Saʿud family controlled the middle part of Arabia.
Meanwhile, the British took control of most of the southern and eastern coasts of Arabia. The local Arabian rulers united with the British against the Ottomans. They defeated the Ottomans in the early 1900s. Then the peninsula gradually became free from British rule. By 1971 the peninsula was made up entirely of independent countries. In 1990 the countries of North Yemen and South Yemen were united to form the Republic of Yemen.
