Saada is 240 kilometers north of the capital Sanaa.[4] Northwest of its capital, Saada city, the terrain of the governorate becomes increasingly mountainous and reaches elevations of 2,050 meters in the far west. Between these mountains and Saada city, the terrain is peppered with basins and wadis, ultimately dropping to form arid plains in the east. Rainfall varies greatly according to location. The western mountains of Razih receive as much as 1,000 mm per year, while arid regions east of the governorate's capital can get as little as 50 mm. Given the scarce amounts of arable land in these arid areas, most of the governorate's population lives in the wetter west.[2]
Saada Governorate is divided into the following 16 districts. These districts are further divided into sub-districts, and then further subdivided into villages:
Farming, and trading are the main economic activities in the governorate. Additionally arid land is used for raising livestock. The governorate is also home to Suq al-Talh, the largest weapons market in Yemen.[2]
^ abcd"Sa‘da in the North Yemeni Context" Salmoni, Barak A., Bryce Loidolt, and Madeleine Wells. Regime and Periphery in Northern Yemen: The Huthi Phenomenon, pp. 19–44. JSTOR. Accessed 10 August 2021.
^Freeman, Jack (2009). "The al Houthi Insurgency in the North of Yemen: An Analysis of the Shabab al Moumineen". Studies in Conflict & Terrorism. 32 (11): 1008–1019. doi:10.1080/10576100903262716. ISSN1057-610X.
