Located in southwestern Yemen on the coast of the Red Sea, Mokha, founded in the fourteenth century, has historically been an important port city. Prominent among its commercial activities has been the export of coffee arabica, grown in the Yemen Highlands. Due to its prominence, the city has also been subject to a shifting history of control; it was long held under Ottoman control, prior to its surrender to imam Muhammad al-Mu'ayyad in 1636. Though prospering for two centuries, it was again brought under Ottoman control in 1849 until the end of the empire. Subsequent clashes for the control of the city have been said to have contributed to its eventual decline, as well as the relocation of plantations and trading operations to the northern port city of Aden in 1839. Though much of the port city's architecture went to ruin during it's decline, efforts were made to reconstruct the port in the 1980s.

Sources: "Mocha", Britannica Online.  Britannica.com. Accessed April 19, 2016. http://www.britannica.com/place/Mocha-Yemen