Colony of Aden on 1 April 1937. On 18 January 1963, the colony was reconstituted as the State of Aden ( "Wilāyat ʿAdan") within the new Federation of South Arabia. The federation in turn became the People's Republic of South Yemen on 30 November 1967, marking the end of British rule. The hinterland of the Colony of Aden was separately governed as the Aden Protectorate. On 19 January 1839, the British East India Company landed Royal Marines at Aden to occupy the territory and stop attacks by pirates against British shipping to India. The British Army considered Aden an important place due to
Colony of Aden was separated from British India to become a Crown Colony, a status that it retained until 1963. It consisted of the port city of Aden and its immediate surroundings (an area of 192 km², 75 sq. miles). The Aden Settlement, and later Aden Colony, also included the outlying islands of Kamaran ("de facto"), Perim and Kuria Muria (see map). Prior to 1937, Aden had been governed as part of British India (originally as the Aden Settlement under the Bombay Presidency, and then as a Chief Commissioner's province). Under the Government of India Act 1935 the territory was detached from British