Federation of South Arabia

The Federation of South Arabia (FSA; Arabic: اتحاد الجنوب العربي Ittiḥād al-Janūb al-‘Arabī) was a federal state under British protection in what would become South Yemen. Its capital was Aden.^[1]

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Federation of South Arabia اتحاد الجنوب العربي Ittiḥād al-Janūb al-‘Arabī
1962–1967
Flag Emblem
Status	British protectorate
Capital	Aden
Common languages	Arabic English South Arabian
Government	Federal monarchy
High Commissioner
• 1963	Sir Charles Johnston
• 1963–1964	Sir Kennedy Trevaskis
• 1964–1967	Sir Richard Turnbull
• 1967	Sir Humphrey Trevelyan
Chief Minister
• 1963	Hassan Ali Bayumi
• 1963–1965	Zayn Abdu Baharun
• 1965	Abdul-Qawi Hassan Makkawi
• 1965–1966	Ali Musa al-Babakr
• 1966–1967	Salih al-Awadli
Historical era	Cold War
• Established	4 April 1962
• Independence	30 November 1967
Currency	South Arabian dinar
Preceded by Succeeded by Colony of Aden Federation of the Emirates of South Arabia Upper Aulaqi Sultanate South Yemen

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Originally formed on April 4, 1962 from 15 states of the Federation of Arab Emirates of the South. On January 18, 1963, the Royal Colony of Aden joined it. After the annexation of the Upper Aulaki Sultanate in June 1964, the federation included 17 states.

On July 23, 1962, negotiations began in London between the British Minister of Colonies, Duncan Sandys, and the ministers of the Federation of South Arabia and the Colony of Aden. The parties raised the issue of the constitutional status of Aden and the conditions for its entry into the federation. Numerous parties and organizations in Aden protested against these negotiations, declaring that the colonial ministers did not have the right to decide the fate of the population of Aden and that only the national government of Aden, created by general elections, would be competent to decide the question of a union with the federation. To achieve all this, it was necessary to eliminate its dependence on England. Representatives of the opposition, led by the Aden Trade Union Congress, said that any union concluded against the will of the people of Aden would be dissolved at the first opportunity. On the day the London negotiations began, a protest strike was declared in Aden. The Aden Trade Union Congress called for this strike, despite the fact that Aden had had a law prohibiting strikes since 1960, and violators were subject to imprisonment.^[2][3]

On August 16, 1962, negotiations ended with the signing of an agreement, according to which Aden, while remaining under British sovereignty, was to become part of the Federation of South Arabia on March 1, 1963. The agreement provided that the federation agreement, signed on February 11, 1959, will remain in force, and the new agreement will be only an addition to it.^[4] During these negotiations, agreement was also reached to introduce minor changes to the constitutional status of Aden once it became part of the federation.^[5]

In 1965, the British temporarily removed the government of the Federation of South Arabia and imposed direct colonial rule.^[6]

In 1966, the federation team took part in the Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica. The Federation was dissolved following independence along with the Protectorate of South Arabia and the formation of the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen on November 30, 1967.

The Federation issued its own Adeni postage stamps from 1963 to 1966. Most of its issues were part of the omnibus issues common to all the Commonwealth territories, but it did issue its own definitive stamps on 1 April 1965. The set of 14 included 10 values, from 5 to 75 fils, each depicting the arms of the Federation in a single color, while the top four values (100 fils, 250 fils, 500 fils, and 1 dinar), featured the flag of the Federation.

The stamps referred to above are those listed in the Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalog. A number of other stamps have also been issued and are listed in Stanley Gibbons and other widely used stamp catalogs. It is possible, or even likely, that some of the stamps of South Arabia were not issued primarily for postal use.

• United Nations Security Council Resolution 188