Aden, a peninsula and town on the SW. coast of Arabia, 105 miles E. of the strait of Bab-el-Mandeb, the entrance to the Red Sea. It is in 12° 47' N. lat., 45° 10' E. long., and is a British possession. The peninsula is a mass of volcanic rocks, 5 miles in length from E. to W., the highest point being 1776 feet in height. It is joined to the mainland by a narrow, level, and sandy isthmus. The town is on the eastern shore of the peninsula, stands in the crater of an extinct volcano, and is surrounded by indescribably barren, cinder-like rocks. The main crater is known as the Devil's Punch-bowl. Frequently the heat is intense; but the very dry hot climate, though depressing, is unusually healthy for the tropics. The Romans occupied it in the 1st century A.D. Up to the time of the circumnavigation of Africa, it was the chief mart of Asiatic produce for the Western nations. The Portuguese held it for a short time; but in 1838 it had sunk to be a village of 600 inhabitants. The increasing importance of the Red Sea route to India gave Aden great value as a station for England to hold. Maltreatment of ship-wrecked mariners led to English interference and fruitless negotiations with the Arab sultan. In 1839, after a few hours' contest, Aden fell into the hands of the British. In its medieval prosperity, Aden had a magnificent system of cisterns for collecting rain-water. They had fallen into utter disrepair; but some of them have been restored so as to be serviceable. The present water-supply depends partly on the distillation of sea-water, and is also drawn from these cisterns, from an aqueduct, and from wells sunk to a depth of 120 to 190 feet in the solid rock: all water must be paid for.
Aden is of very great importance to Britain, both in a mercantile and naval point of view, especially as a great coaling-station; it has a garrison and strong fortifications. The population and resources of the place have rapidly increased since 1838, and the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 gave it a great impetus. The annual value of its imports sometimes exceeds two millions, while that of its exports (coffee, gums, spices) amounts to a million and a half. It is a telegraphic station on the cable between Suez and Bombay, and on the line to Zanzibar and the Cape. To provide for its growing population, a considerable territory on the mainland has been acquired and added to the peninsula, the total area being 66 sq. mi.; and the settlement, which is politically connected with Bombay (seven days' sailing distant), had in 1891 a population of 41,910, of whom 2600 were Christians, and as many Hindus, with 2000 Jews. The bulk of the natives are Arabs and Somalis from Africa, all speaking Arabic. In the settlement there are besides Aden proper, called the Camp, or the Crater (whose population cannot for military reasons be allowed to increase much), two other centres of population—Steamer Point, which is cooler than the Crater; and the outlying town of Shaikh Othman, 10 miles towards the interior.