Located in the southwestern part of the Arabian Peninsula, the area of the region is 195,000 square kilometers, it used to have a population of about thirteen million people prior to the Yemeni unification.

This coup d'état marked the beginning of the North Yemen Civil War that pitted YAR troops, assisted by the United Arab Republic (Egypt), against Badr's royalist forces, supported by Saudi Arabia and Jordan.

The goal of unity was reaffirmed by the northern and southern heads of state during a summit meeting in Kuwait in March 1979.

North Yemen was a republic governed nominally under a constitution adopted in 1970, suspended in 1974, and largely restored between 1978 and the late 1980s.

During that period, policy making remained in the hands of a relatively progressive military elite that worked closely with a variety of civilians that included a large and growing group of technocrats, the major tribal leaders, and other traditional conservative notables.