ADEN, irden or Wen. A peninsula and town near the southwestern end of Arabia, situated in lat. 12° N., and long. 45° 5' E., and connected with the mainland by a narrow sandy isthmus (Map: Asia, 0 7). In a broader sense the name of Aden is applied to the whole British territory in that part of Arabia, which includes, besides the peninsula and the isthmus, also ,a small strip of territory on the mainland with a total area of about 75 square miles. The penin sula proper is of volcanic origin and reaches in the peak of Jebel Shan-shan an altitude of 1775 feet above the sea. The climate of the region is healthful, but the scarcity of rain makes the cultivation of the soil impossible, so that all the necessaries of life have to be imported. Water is obtained partly from the wells within the crater in which the town of Aden is situated, and partly from the hills, where it is collected dur ing the rainfall and conducted into cisterns. The town of Aden is strongly fortified. The most populous settlements are Steamer Point and Shaikh Othman on the mainland. There are two harbors, but only one of them. Aden Back Bay, on the western side of the peninsula, is of any commercial importance. Owing to its favorable location, Aden was of considerable importance already in Roman times, when it was an entrepot for the trade between the Roman Empire and the east. In the beginning of the sixteenth century
it was taken by the Portuguese, who were suc ceeded by the Turks in 1535. From the seven teenth century until the British occupation, Aden was under the rule of the Sultan of Sena and some native chiefs. In 1839 it was captured by the British as a punishment for the maltreat ment to which the crew of a shipwrecked British vessel had been subjected by the natives in 1837. Together with the island of Perim, Aden con stitutes a dependency of the Bombay presidency, and is now regarded as a very important coaling station. The population of Aden, which was at one time reduced by internal disorder to less than 1000, is now over 41,000, and the import trade amounted to over $16,000,000 in 1898-99, while the value of the exports for the same year was about $13,000,000. The chief articles of export are coffee, gums, hides, skins, piece goods, and tobacco. The administration of the territory is in the hands of a political Resident, who is also the military commander. An extensive territory in Arabia, officially reckoned a British protector ate, the Somali coast, and the island of Socotra are administrated from Aden. Consult: F. M. Hunter, A(107, (London, 1877).