Al-Hudaydah ( Arabic : الْحُدَيْدَة , romanized : al-ḥudayda ), also transliterated as Hodeda , Hodeida , Hudaida or Hodeidah , is the fourth-largest city in Yemen and its principal port on the Red Sea . As of 2004, its population was 402,560 [2] and it is the centre of the Al Hudaydah Governorate . History [ edit source ] In the Islamic chronicles, the name Al-Hudaydah was first mentioned in the year 1454/55 and the city became a popular and important one in the 1520s when the Ottomans took over Yemeni Tihāmah . [3] In 1830s, Al Hudaydah was controlled by Ibrahim Pasha 's troops, which turned over its administration to sherif Husayn ibn Ali Haydar. [4] In 1849, it became part of the Yemen Eyalet . The Malay writer Abdullah bin Abdul Kadir visited Al Hudaydah on his pilgrimage to Mecca in 1854, and describes the city in his account of the journey, mentioning that the custom of chewing khat was prevalent in the city at this time. [5] A Street in Hodaida