Protectorate of South Arabia
The British protectorate of southern Arabia consisted of the states of Mahra , Kathiri , Qu'aiti and the exclave Upper Yafa in southern Yemen . The protectorate was created on January 18, 1963 for those states that did not want to join the South Arabian Federation under British protection . On November 30, 1967, the Protectorate of South Arabia, together with the neighboring South Arab Federation, became independent from Great Britain . Both areas formed the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen , which merged with the Yemeni Arab Republic to form the Republic of Yemen in 1990 .