The western half of the governorate is part of the Tihamah coastal plain and has an exceedingly hot, humid and arid climate.

These districts are further divided into sub-districts, and then further subdivided into villages: In the Tihamah region, irrigated crops include cotton, sorghum and sesame.

Mangoes, papayas and bananas are the major crops of the western escarpment, and further up coffee and khat are grown.

The most common wild animals in the governorate are hyaenas, rock hyrax, rabbits, hedgehog, monkeys.

The most common wild birds are vultures, falcons, partridges, owls, pigeons, hoopoes, bulbuls.