Hodeida

Hodeida (hōdāˈdə) [key] or Al Hudaydah äl hōdāˈdä, city (1994 pop. 298,452), W Yemen, on the Red Sea. An important port, it exports coffee, cotton, dates, and hides. It was developed as a seaport in the mid-19th cent. by the Turks. After a disastrous fire in Jan., 1961, destroyed much of the city, it was rebuilt, particularly the port facilities, with Soviet aid. A highway from Hodeida to Sana, the capital, was completed in 1961. Hodeida was the site of a Soviet naval base in the 1970s and 80s.

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