Federation of South Arabia

The Federation of South Arabia (FSA; 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.

History
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.

Halfway between Sheikh Othman and Little Aden, the capital of the Federation of South Arabia (FSA), Al-Ittihad, was built in the desert. The distances between the regions were great: from Mualla (Aden region) to Sheikh Othman - 8 kilometers, to Little Aden - 13 kilometers.

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 Britain. 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.

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. During these negotiations, agreement was also reached to introduce minor changes to the constitutional status of Aden once it became part of the federation.

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

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.

Chief Ministers

 * Hassan Ali Bayumi (18 January 1963 – 24 June 1963)
 * Zayn Abdu Baharun (9 July 1963 – 23 January 1965)
 * Abdul-Qawi Hassan Makkawi (7 March 1965 – 25 September 1965)
 * Ali Musa al-Babakr (25 September 1965 – 30 August 1966)
 * Salih al-Awadli (30 August 1966 – 30 November 1967)

High Commissioners

 * Sir Charles Johnston (18 January 1963 – 17 July 1963)
 * Sir Kennedy Trevaskis (17 July 1963 – 21 December 1964)
 * Sir Richard Turnbull (21 December 1964 – 22 May 1967)
 * Sir Humphrey Trevelyan (22 May 1967 – 30 November 1967)

Postage stamps


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.