The United Arab States (UAS, Arabic: اتحاد الدول العربية) was a short-lived confederation between the United Arab Republic and the Kingdom of Yemen from 1958 to 1961.
The United Arab Republic was a sovereign state formed by the union of Egypt and Syria in 1958. The same year, the Kingdom of Yemen, which had already signed a defense pact with Egypt, entered a loose confederation with the UAR called the United Arab States on March 8. One reason for this decision was because North Yemen had felt threatened by its considerably larger and more powerful northern neighbor Saudi Arabia and saw the confederation as a source of security. However, unlike the constituent countries of the United Arab Republic, North Yemen remained an independent sovereign state, maintaining its UN membership and separate embassies throughout the whole period of confederation.
