Armenia

Armenia (ⁱ/ɑːrˈmiːniə/, /-ˈmiːnjə/;^[19] Armenian: Հայաստան, tr. Hayastan, IPA: [hɑjɑsˈtɑn]^{[lower-alpha 1]}), officially the Republic of Armenia (Armenian: Հայաստանի Հանրապետություն, tr. Hayastani Hanrapetut’yun), is a sovereign state in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located in Western Asia,^[20]^[21] it is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia to the north, the de facto independent Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and Azerbaijan to the east, and Iran and the exclave of Nakhchivan to the south.

Armenia is a unitary, multi-party, democratic nation-state with an ancient cultural heritage. Urartu was established in 860 BC and by the 6th century BC it was replaced by the Satrapy of Armenia. In the 1st century BC the Kingdom of Armenia reached its height under Tigranes the Great. Armenia became the first state in the world to adopt Christianity as its official religion.^[22] In between the late 3rd century to early years of the 4th century, the state became the first Christian nation.^[23]^[24]^[25] The official date of state adoption of Christianity is 301 AD.^[26] The ancient Armenian kingdom was split between the Byzantine and Sasanian Empires around the early 5th century. Under the Bagratuni dynasty, the Bagratid Kingdom of Armenia was restored in the 9th century. Declining due to the wars against the Byzantines, the kingdom fell in 1045 and Armenia was soon after invaded by the Seljuk Turks. An Armenian principality and later a kingdom Cilician Armenia was located on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea between the 11th and 14th centuries.

Between the 16th century and 19th century, the traditional Armenian homeland composed of Eastern Armenia and Western Armenia came under the rule of the Ottoman and Iranian empires, repeatedly ruled by either of the two over the centuries. By the 19th century, Eastern Armenia had been conquered by the Russian Empire, while most of the western parts of the traditional Armenian homeland remained under Ottoman rule. During World War I, Armenians living in their ancestral lands in the Ottoman Empire were systematically exterminated in the Armenian Genocide. In 1918, after the Russian Revolution, all non-Russian countries declared their independence from the Russian empire, leading to the establishment of the First Republic of Armenia. By 1920, the state was incorporated into the Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, and in 1922 became a founding member of the Soviet Union. In 1936, the Transcaucasian state was dissolved, transforming its constituent states, including the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic, into full Union republics. The modern Republic of Armenia became independent in 1991 during the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

The Republic of Armenia recognizes the Armenian Apostolic Church, the world's oldest national church, as the country's primary religious establishment.^[27]^[28] The unique Armenian alphabet was invented by Mesrop Mashtots in 405 AD.

Armenia is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union, the Council of Europe and the Collective Security Treaty Organization. Armenia supports the de facto independent Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, which was proclaimed in 1991.

Etymology

Main article: Name of Armenia

The native Armenian name for the country is Hayk’. The name in the Middle Ages was extended to Hayastan, by addition of the Persian suffix -stan (place).

The name has traditionally been derived from Hayk (Հայկ), the legendary patriarch of the Armenians and a great-great-grandson of Noah, who, according to the 5th-century AD author Moses of Chorene, defeated the Babylonian king Bel in 2492 BC and established his nation in the Ararat region.^[29] The further origin of the name is uncertain. It is also further postulated^[30]^[31] that the name Hay comes from one of the two confederated, Hittite vassal states—the Ḫayaša-Azzi (1600–1200 BC).

The exonym Armenia is attested in the Old Persian Behistun Inscription (515 BC) as Armina ( ). The ancient Greek terms Ἀρμενία (Armenía) and Ἀρμένιοι (Arménioi, "Armenians") are first mentioned by Hecataeus of Miletus (c. 550 BC – c. 476 BC).^[32] Xenophon, a Greek general serving in some of the Persian expeditions, describes many aspects of Armenian village life and hospitality in around 401 BC. He relates that the people spoke a language that to his ear sounded like the language of the Persians.^[33] According to the histories of both Moses of Chorene and Michael Chamchian, Armenia derives from the name of Aram, a lineal descendant of Hayk.^[34]^[35]

Historical Armenia 150 b.c.

History

Main article: History of Armenia

Antiquity

Main articles: Prehistoric Armenia, Prehistory of the Armenians, Satrapy of Armenia, Roman Armenia, Persian Armenia, Marzpanate Armenia and Lesser Armenia

A reconstruction of Herodotus' world map c. 450 BC, with Armenia shown in the center.

The Kingdom of Armenia at its greatest extent under Tigranes the Great, who reigned between 95 and 66 BC.

Armenia lies in the highlands surrounding the mountains of Ararat. There is evidence of an early civilization in Armenia in the Bronze Age and earlier, dating to about 4000 BC. Archaeological surveys in 2010 and 2011 at the Areni-1 cave complex have resulted in the discovery of the world's earliest known leather shoe,^[36] skirt,^[37] and wine-producing facility.^[38]

Several bronze-era states flourished in the area of Greater Armenia, including the Hittite Empire (at the height of its power), Mitanni (South-Western historical Armenia), and Hayasa-Azzi (1500–1200 BC). The Nairi people (12th to 9th centuries BC) and the Kingdom of Urartu (1000–600 BC) successively established their sovereignty over the Armenian Highland. Each of the aforementioned nations and tribes participated in the ethnogenesis of the Armenian people.^[39]^[40]^[41]^[42] A large cuneiform lapidary inscription found in Yerevan established that the modern capital of Armenia was founded in the summer of 782 BC by King Argishti I. Yerevan is the world's oldest city to have documented the exact date of its foundation.

During the late 6th century BC, the first geographical entity that was called Armenia by neighboring populations was established under the Orontid Dynasty within the Achaemenid Empire, as part of the latters' territories. The kingdom became fully sovereign from the sphere of influence of the Seleucid Empire in 190 BC under King Artaxias I and begun the rule of the Artaxiad dynasty. Armenia reached its height between 95 and 66 BC under Tigranes the Great, becoming the most powerful kingdom of its time east of the Roman Republic.

In the next centuries, Armenia was in the Persian Empire's sphere of influence during the reign of Tiridates I, the founder of the Arsacid dynasty of Armenia, which itself was a branch of the eponymous Arsacid dynasty of Parthia. Throughout its history, the kingdom of Armenia enjoyed both periods of independence and periods of autonomy subject to contemporary empires. Its strategic location between two continents has subjected it to invasions by many peoples, including the Assyrians (under Ashurbanipal, at around 669–627 BC, the boundaries of the Assyrian Empire reached as far as Armenia & the Caucasus Mountains),^[43] Medes, Achaemenid Persians, Greeks, Parthians, Romans, Sassanid Persians, Byzantines, Arabs, Seljuks, Mongols, Ottomans, successive Iranian Safavids, Afsharids, and Qajars, and the Russians.

The Armenian pagan Temple of Garni, probably built 1st century AD, is the only "Greco-Roman colonnaded building" in Armenia and the entire former Soviet Union.^[44]

Religion in ancient Armenia was historically related to a set of beliefs which, in Persia, led to the emergence of Zoroastrianism. It particularly focused on the worship of Mihr (Avestan Mithra) and also included a pantheon of native Aryan gods, such as Aramazd, Vahagn, Anahit, and Astghik. The country used the solar Hayk Armenian calendar, which consisted of 12 months.

Christianity spread into the country as early as AD 40. King Tiridates III (238–314) made Christianity the state religion in 301,^[45]^[46] partly, in defiance of the Sassanids, it seems,^[47] becoming the first officially Christian state, ten years before the Roman Empire granted Christianity an official toleration under Galerius, and 36 years before Constantine the Great was baptized. Prior to this, during the latter part of the Parthian period, Armenia was a predominantly Zoroastrian land.^[47]

After the fall of the Armenian kingdom in 428, most of Armenia was incorporated as a marzpanate within the Sassanid Empire. Following an Armenian rebellion in 451, Christian Armenians maintained their religious freedom, while Armenia gained autonomy.

Middle Ages

Main article: Medieval Armenia

The Etchmiadzin Cathedral, Armenia's Mother Church traditionally dated 303 AD, is considered the oldest cathedral in the world.^[48]^[49]^[50]

After the Marzpanate period (428–636), Armenia emerged as the Emirate of Armenia, an autonomous principality within the Arabic Empire, reuniting Armenian lands previously taken by the Byzantine Empire as well. The principality was ruled by the Prince of Armenia, and recognized by the Caliph and the Byzantine Emperor. It was part of the administrative division/emirate Arminiya created by the Arabs, which also included parts of Georgia and Caucasian Albania, and had its center in the Armenian city, Dvin. The Principality of Armenia lasted until 884, when it regained its independence from the weakened Arab Empire under King Ashot I Bagratuni.

The re-emergent Armenian kingdom was ruled by the Bagratuni dynasty and lasted until 1045. In time, several areas of the Bagratid Armenia separated as independent kingdoms and principalities such as the Kingdom of Vaspurakan ruled by the House of Artsruni in the south, Kingdom of Syunik in the east, or Kingdom of Artsakh on the territory of modern Nagorno Karabakh, while still recognizing the supremacy of the Bagratid kings.

The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, 1198–1375.

In 1045, the Byzantine Empire conquered Bagratid Armenia. Soon, the other Armenian states fell under Byzantine control as well. The Byzantine rule was short lived, as in 1071 Seljuk Turks defeated the Byzantines and conquered Armenia at the Battle of Manzikert, establishing the Seljuk Empire.^[51] To escape death or servitude at the hands of those who had assassinated his relative, Gagik II, King of Ani, an Armenian named Roupen, went with some of his countrymen into the gorges of the Taurus Mountains and then into Tarsus of Cilicia. The Byzantine governor of the palace gave them shelter where the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia was eventually established on 6 January 1198 under King Leo I, a descendant of Prince Roupen.

Cilicia was a strong ally of the European Crusaders, and saw itself as a bastion of Christendom in the East. Cilicia's significance in Armenian history and statehood is also attested by the transfer of the seat of the Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church, the spiritual leader of the Armenian people, to the region.

The Seljuk Empire soon started to collapse. In the early 12th century, Armenian princes of the Zakarid noble family drove out the Seljuk Turks and established a semi-independent Armenian principality in Northern and Eastern Armenia, known as Zakarid Armenia, which lasted under the patronage of the Georgian Kingdom. The noble family of Orbelians shared control with the Zakarids in various parts of the country, especially in Syunik and Vayots Dzor, while the Armenian family of Hasan-Jalalians controlled provinces of Artsakh and Utik as the Kingdom of Artsakh.

Early Modern era

Further information: Persian Armenia, Ottoman Armenia, Russian Armenia

During the 1230s, the Mongol Empire conquered the Zakaryan Principality, as well as the rest of Armenia. The Mongolian invasions were soon followed by those of other Central Asian tribes such as the Kara Koyunlu, Timurid and Ak Koyunlu, which continued from the 13th century until the 15th century. After incessant invasions, each bringing destruction to the country, with time Armenia became weakened.

In the 16th century, the Ottoman Empire and Safavid Empire divided Armenia. From the early 16th century, both Western Armenia and Eastern Armenia fell under Iranian Safavid rule.^[52]^[53] Owing to the century long Turco-Iranian geo-political rivalry that would last in Western Asia, significant parts of the region were frequently fought over between the two rivalling empires. From the mid 16th century with the Peace of Amasya, and decisively from the first half of the 17th century with the Treaty of Zuhab until the first half of the 19th century,^[54] Eastern Armenia was ruled by the successive Iranian Safavid, Afsharid and Qajar empires, while Western Armenia remained under Ottoman rule.

From 1604 Abbas I of Iran implemented a "scorched earth" policy in the region to protect his north-western frontier against any invading Ottoman forces, a policy which involved a forced resettlement of masses of Armenians outside of their homelands.^[55]

Seizure of Yerevan fortress by Russian troops in 1827 during the Russo-Persian War (1826-1828) by Franz Roubaud.

In 1813 and 1828, following the Russo-Persian War (1804-1813) and the Russo-Persian War (1826-1828) respectively, Qajar Iran was forced to irrevocably cede Eastern Armenia to Imperial Russia. (consisting of the Erivan and Karabakh khanates^[56]^[57]).^[58] By now Eastern Armenia would, after centuries of Iranian rule, fall into a Russian dominated era.

While Western Armenia still remained under Ottoman rule, the Armenians were granted considerable autonomy within their own enclaves and lived in relative harmony with other groups in the empire (including the ruling Turks). However, as Christians under a strict Muslim social system, Armenians faced pervasive discrimination. When they began pushing for more rights within the Ottoman Empire, Sultan ‘Abdu’l-Hamid II, in response, organized state-sponsored massacres against the Armenians between 1894 and 1896, resulting in an estimated death toll of 80,000 to 300,000 people. The Hamidian massacres, as they came to be known, gave Hamid international infamy as the "Red Sultan" or "Bloody Sultan."^[59]

During the 1890s, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, commonly known as Dashnaktsutyun, became active within the Ottoman Empire with the aim of unifying the various small groups in the empire that were advocating for reform and defending Armenian villages from massacres that were widespread in some of the Armenian-populated areas of the empire. Dashnaktsutyun members also formed fedayi groups that defended Armenian civilians through armed resistance. The Dashnaks also worked for the wider goal of creating a "free, independent and unified" Armenia, although they sometimes set aside this goal in favor of a more realistic approach, such as advocating autonomy.

The Ottoman Empire began to collapse, and in 1908, the Young Turk Revolution overthrew the government of Sultan Hamid. In April 1909, the Adana massacre occurred in the Adana Vilayet of the Ottoman Empire resulting in the deaths of as many as 20,000–30,000 Armenians. The Armenians living in the empire hoped that the Committee of Union and Progress would change their second-class status. Armenian reform package (1914) was presented as a solution by appointing an inspector general over Armenian issues.^[60]

World War I and the Armenian Genocide

Main article: Armenian Genocide

Armenian Genocide victims in 1915

When World War I broke out leading to confrontation between the Ottoman Empire and the Russian Empire in the Caucasus and Persian Campaigns, the new government in Istanbul began to look on the Armenians with distrust and suspicion. This was because the Imperial Russian Army contained a contingent of Armenian volunteers. On 24 April 1915, Armenian intellectuals were arrested by Ottoman authorities and, with the Tehcir Law (29 May 1915), eventually a large proportion of Armenians living in Anatolia perished in what has become known as the Armenian Genocide.

The genocide was implemented in two phases: the wholesale killing of the able-bodied male population through massacre and subjection of army conscripts to forced labour, followed by the deportation of women, children, the elderly and infirm on death marches leading to the Syrian desert. Driven forward by military escorts, the deportees were deprived of food and water and subjected to periodic robbery, rape, and massacre.^[61]^[62] There was local Armenian resistance in the region, developed against the activities of the Ottoman Empire. The events of 1915 to 1917 are regarded by Armenians and the vast majority of Western historians to have been state-sponsored mass killings, or genocide.^[63]

Turkish authorities deny the genocide took place to this day. The Armenian Genocide is acknowledged to have been one of the first modern genocides.^[64]^[65] According to the research conducted by Arnold J. Toynbee, an estimated 600,000 Armenians died during deportation from 1915–16). This figure, however, accounts for solely the first year of the Genocide and does not take into account those who died or were killed after the report was compiled on the 24th May 1916.^[66] The International Association of Genocide Scholars places the death toll at "more than a million".^[67] The total number of people killed has been most widely estimated at between 1 and 1.5 million.^[68]

Armenia and the Armenian diaspora have been campaigning for official recognition of the events as genocide for over 30 years. These events are traditionally commemorated yearly on 24 April, the Armenian Martyr Day, or the Day of the Armenian Genocide.

First Republic of Armenia

Main article: First Republic of Armenia

The Government house of the First Republic of Armenia (1918–1920)

Although the Russian Caucasus Army of Imperial forces commanded by Nikolai Yudenich and Armenians in volunteer units and Armenian militia led by Andranik Ozanian and Tovmas Nazarbekian succeeded in gaining most of Ottoman Armenia during World War I, their gains were lost with the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. At the time, Russian-controlled Eastern Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan attempted to bond together in the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic. This federation, however, lasted from only February to May 1918, when all three parties decided to dissolve it. As a result, the Dashnaktsutyun government of Eastern Armenia declared its independence on 28 May as the First Republic of Armenia under the leadership of Aram Manukian.

The First Republic's short-lived independence was fraught with war, territorial disputes, and a mass influx of refugees from Ottoman Armenia, bringing with them disease and starvation. The Entente Powers, appalled by the actions of the Ottoman government, sought to help the newly founded Armenian state through relief funds and other forms of support.

At the end of the war, the victorious powers sought to divide up the Ottoman Empire. Signed between the Allied and Associated Powers and Ottoman Empire at Sèvres on 10 August 1920, the Treaty of Sèvres promised to maintain the existence of the Armenian republic and to attach the former territories of Ottoman Armenia to it. Because the new borders of Armenia were to be drawn by United States President Woodrow Wilson, Ottoman Armenia was also referred to as "Wilsonian Armenia." In addition, just days prior, on 5 August 1920, Mihran Damadian of the Armenian National Union, the de facto Armenian administration in Cilicia, declared the independence of Cilicia as an Armenian autonomous republic under French protectorate.^[69]

There was even consideration of possibly making Armenia a mandate under the protection of the United States. The treaty, however, was rejected by the Turkish National Movement, and never came into effect. The movement used the treaty as the occasion to declare itself the rightful government of Turkey, replacing the monarchy based in Istanbul with a republic based in Ankara.

Advance of the 11th Red Army into the city of Yerevan

In 1920, Turkish nationalist forces invaded the fledgling Armenian republic from the east. Turkish forces under the command of Kazım Karabekir captured Armenian territories that Russia had annexed in the aftermath of the 1877–1878 Russo-Turkish War and occupied the old city of Alexandropol (present-day Gyumri). The violent conflict finally concluded with the Treaty of Alexandropol on 2 December 1920. The treaty forced Armenia to disarm most of its military forces, cede all former Ottoman territory granted to it by the Treaty of Sèvres, and to give up all the "Wilsonian Armenia" granted to it at the Sèvres treaty. Simultaneously, the Soviet Eleventh Army, under the command of Grigoriy Ordzhonikidze, invaded Armenia at Karavansarai (present-day Ijevan) on 29 November. By 4 December, Ordzhonikidze's forces entered Yerevan and the short-lived Armenian republic collapsed.

After the fall of the republic, the February Uprising soon took place in 1921, and led to the establishment of the Republic of Mountainous Armenia by Armenian forces under command of Garegin Nzhdeh on April 26, which fought off both Soviet and Turkish intrusions in the Zangezur region of southern Armenia. After Soviet agreements to include the Syunik Province in Armenia's borders, the rebellion ended and the Red Army took control of the region on July 13.

Soviet Armenia

Main article: Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic

The coat of arms of Soviet Armenia depicting Mount Ararat in the center.

Armenia was annexed by Bolshevist Russia and along with Georgia and Azerbaijan, it was incorporated into the Soviet Union as part of the Transcaucasian SFSR (TSFSR) on 4 March 1922.^[70]^[71] With this annexation, the Treaty of Alexandropol was superseded by the Turkish-Soviet Treaty of Kars. In the agreement, Turkey allowed the Soviet Union to assume control over Adjara with the port city of Batumi in return for sovereignty over the cities of Kars, Ardahan, and Iğdır, all of which were part of Russian Armenia.^[70]^[71]

The TSFSR existed from 1922 to 1936, when it was divided up into three separate entities (Armenian SSR, Azerbaijan SSR, and Georgian SSR). Armenians enjoyed a period of relative stability under Soviet rule. They received medicine, food, and other provisions from Moscow, and communist rule proved to be a soothing balm in contrast to the turbulent final years of the Ottoman Empire. The situation was difficult for the church, which struggled under Soviet rule. After the death of Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin took the reins of power and began an era of renewed fear and terror for Armenians.^[72]

Armenia was not the scene of any battles in World War II. An estimated 500,000 Armenians (nearly a third of the population) served in the military during the war, and 175,000 died.^[73]

Fears decreased when Stalin died in 1953 and Nikita Khruschev emerged as the Soviet Union's new leader. Soon, life in Soviet Armenia began to see rapid improvement. The church, which suffered greatly under Stalin, was revived when Catholicos Vazgen I assumed the duties of his office in 1955. In 1967, a memorial to the victims of the Armenian Genocide was built at the Tsitsernakaberd hill above the Hrazdan gorge in Yerevan. This occurred after mass demonstrations took place on the tragic event's fiftieth anniversary in 1965.

Armenians gather at Theater Square in central Yerevan to claim unification of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast with the Armenian SSR.

During the Gorbachev era of the 1980s, with the reforms of Glasnost and Perestroika, Armenians began to demand better environmental care for their country, opposing the pollution that Soviet-built factories brought. Tensions also developed between Soviet Azerbaijan and its autonomous district of Nagorno-Karabakh, a majority-Armenian region separated by Stalin from Armenia in 1923. About 484,000 Armenians lived in Azerbaijan in 1970.^[74] The Armenians of Karabakh demanded unification with Soviet Armenia. Peaceful protests in Yerevan supporting the Karabakh Armenians were met with anti-Armenian pogroms in the Azerbaijani city of Sumgait. Compounding Armenia's problems was a devastating earthquake in 1988 with a moment magnitude of 7.2.^[75]

Gorbachev's inability to alleviate any of Armenia's problems created disillusionment among the Armenians and fed a growing hunger for independence. In May 1990, the New Armenian Army (NAA) was established, serving as a defence force separate from the Soviet Red Army. Clashes soon broke out between the NAA and Soviet Internal Security Forces (MVD) troops based in Yerevan when Armenians decided to commemorate the establishment of the 1918 First Republic of Armenia. The violence resulted in the deaths of five Armenians killed in a shootout with the MVD at the railway station. Witnesses there claimed that the MVD used excessive force and that they had instigated the fighting.

Further firefights between Armenian militiamen and Soviet troops occurred in Sovetashen, near the capital and resulted in the deaths of over 26 people, mostly Armenians. The pogrom of Armenians in Baku in January 1990 forced almost all of the 200,000 Armenians in the Azerbaijani capital Baku to flee to Armenia.^[76] On 17 March 1991, Armenia, along with the Baltic states, Georgia and Moldova, boycotted a nationwide referendum in which 78% of all voters voted for the retention of the Soviet Union in a reformed form.^[77]

Restoration of independence

Main article: History of Armenia § Independent Armenia (1991-today)

Armenian soldiers during the Nagorno-Karabakh War

On 23 August 1990, Armenia declared independence, becoming the first non-Baltic republic to secede from the Soviet Union. When, in 1991, the Soviet Union was dissolved, Armenia's independence was officially recognized. Levon Ter-Petrosyan was popularly elected the first President of the newly independent Republic of Armenia on 16 October 1991. He had risen to prominence by leading the Karabakh movement for the unification of the Armenian-populated Nagorno-Karabakh.^[78]

Ter-Petrosyan led Armenia alongside Defense Minister Vazgen Sargsyan through the Nagorno-Karabakh War with neighboring Azerbaijan. The initial post-Soviet years were marred by economic difficulties, which had their roots early in the Karabakh conflict when the Azerbaijani Popular Front managed to pressure the Azerbaijan SSR to instigate a railway and air blockade against Armenia. This move effectively crippled Armenia's economy as 85% of its cargo and goods arrived through rail traffic.^[78] In 1993, Turkey joined the blockade against Armenia in support of Azerbaijan.^[79]

During the September 21, 2011 parade in Yerevan, marking the 20th anniversary of Armenia's re-independence

The Karabakh war ended after a Russian-brokered cease-fire was put in place in 1994. The war was a success for the Karabakh Armenian forces who managed to capture 16% of Azerbaijan's internationally recognised territory including Nagorno-Karabakh itself.^[80] Since then, Armenia and Azerbaijan have held peace talks, mediated by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). The status of Karabakh has yet to be determined. The economies of both countries have been hurt in the absence of a complete resolution and Armenia's borders with Turkey and Azerbaijan remain closed. By the time both Azerbaijan and Armenia had finally agreed to a ceasefire in 1994, an estimated 30,000 people had been killed and over a million had been displaced.^[81]

As it enters the 21st century, Armenia faces many hardships. It has made a full switch to a market economy. One study ranks it the 41st most economically free nation in the world, as of 2014.^[82] Its relations with Europe, the Middle East, and the Commonwealth of Independent States have allowed Armenia to increase trade.^[83]^[84] Gas, oil, and other supplies come through two vital routes: Iran and Georgia. Armenia maintains cordial relations with both countries.^[85]

Geography

Main article: Geography of Armenia

Armenia's topography is mountainous and volcanic.

Armenia map of Köppen climate classification.

Armenia is landlocked in the South Caucasus. Located between the Black and Caspian Seas, Armenia is bordered on the north and east by Georgia and Azerbaijan, and on the south and west by Iran and Turkey. Armenia lies between latitudes 38° and 42° N, and meridians 43° and 47° E.

Topography

The Republic of Armenia, covering an area of 29,743 square kilometres (11,484 sq mi), is located in the north-east of the Armenian Highland. The terrain is mostly mountainous, with fast flowing rivers and few forests. The climate is highland continental, which means that Armenia is subjected to hot summers and cold winters. The land rises to 4,090 metres (13,419 feet) above sea level at Mount Aragats, and no point is below 390 metres (1,280 ft) above sea level.^[86]

Mount Ararat, which was historically part of Armenia, is the highest mountain in the region. Now located in Turkey, but clearly visible in Armenia, it is regarded by the Armenians as a symbol of their land. Because of this, the mountain is present on the Armenian national emblem today.^[87]^[88]^[89]

Environment

Armenia has established a Ministry of Nature Protection and introduced taxes for air and water pollution and solid-waste disposal, whose revenues are used for environmental protection activities. Waste management in Armenia is underdeveloped, as no waste sorting or recycling takes place at Armenia's 60 landfills.

Despite the availability of abundant renewable energy sources in Armenia (especially hydroelectric and wind power), the Armenian Government is working toward building a new nuclear power plant at Metsamor near Yerevan.^[90]

Climate

Main article: Climate of Armenia

The climate in Armenia is markedly continental. Summers are dry and sunny, lasting from June to mid-September. The temperature fluctuates between 22 and 36 °C (72 and 97 °F). However, the low humidity level mitigates the effect of high temperatures. Evening breezes blowing down the mountains provide a welcome refreshing and cooling effect. Springs are short, while autumns are long. Autumns are known for their vibrant and colorful foliage.

Winters are quite cold with plenty of snow, with temperatures ranging between −10 and −5 °C (14 and 23 °F). Winter sports enthusiasts enjoy skiing down the hills of Tsakhkadzor, located thirty minutes outside Yerevan. Lake Sevan, nestled up in the Armenian highlands, is the second largest lake in the world relative to its altitude, at 1,900 metres (6,234 ft) above sea level.

Government and politics

Main articles: Government of Armenia and Politics of Armenia

The National Assembly in Yerevan.

Politics of Armenia takes place in a framework of a semi-presidential representative democratic republic. According to the Constitution of Armenia, the President is the head of state and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament.

The unicameral parliament (also called the Azgayin Zhoghov or National Assembly) is controlled by a coalition of four political parties: the conservative Republican party, the Prosperous Armenia party, the rule of law party and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation. The main opposition party is Raffi Hovannisian's Heritage party, which favors eventual Armenian membership in the European Union and NATO.

The Armenian government's stated aim is to build a Western-style parliamentary democracy as the basis of its form of government. It has universal suffrage above the age of eighteen.

International observers of Council of Europe and US Department of State have questioned the fairness of Armenia's parliamentary and presidential elections and constitutional referendum since 1995, citing polling deficiencies, lack of cooperation by the Electoral Commission, and poor maintenance of electoral lists and polling places. Freedom House categorized Armenia in its 2008 report as a "Semi-consolidated Authoritarian Regime" (along with Moldova, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia) and ranked Armenia 20th among 29 nations in transition, with a Democracy Score of 5.21 out of 7 (7 represents the lowest democratic progress).^[91]

Since 1999, Freedom House's Democracy Score for Armenia has been steadily on the decline (from 4.79 to 5.21).^[92] Furthermore, Freedom House ranked Armenia as "partly free" in its 2007 report, though it did not categorise Armenia as an "electoral democracy", indicating an absence of relatively free and competitive elections.^[93] However, significant progress seems to have been made and the 2008 Armenian presidential election was hailed as largely democratic by OSCE and Western monitors.^[94]

Foreign relations

Main articles: Foreign relations of Armenia, Armenia and the European Union and Armenia–Turkey relations

Embassy of Armenia in Moscow

Armenia presently maintains good relations with almost every country in the world, with two major exceptions being its immediate neighbours, Turkey and Azerbaijan. Tensions were running high between Armenians and Azerbaijanis during the final years of the Soviet Union. The Nagorno-Karabakh War dominated the region's politics throughout the 1990s.^[95] The border between the two rival countries remains closed up to this day, and a permanent solution for the conflict has not been reached despite the mediation provided by organisations such as the OSCE.

Armenia is a member of more than 40 international organisations, including the United Nations; the Council of Europe; the Asian Development Bank; the Commonwealth of Independent States; the World Trade Organization; World Customs Organization; the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation; and La Francophonie. It is a member of the CSTO military alliance, and also participates in NATO's Partnership for Peace programme.

Turkey also has a long history of poor relations with Armenia over its refusal to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide. Turkey was one of the first countries to recognize the Republic of Armenia (the 3rd republic) after its independence from the USSR in 1991. Despite this, for most of the 20th century and early 21st century, relations remain tense and there are no formal diplomatic relations between the two countries due to Turkey's refusal to establish them for numerous reasons. During the Nagorno-Karabakh War and citing it as the reason, Turkey illegally closed its land border with Armenia in 1993. It has not lifted its blockade despite pressure from the powerful Turkish business lobby interested in Armenian markets.^[95]

On 10 October 2009, Armenia and Turkey signed protocols on normalisation of relationships, which set a timetable for restoring diplomatic ties and reopening their joint border.^[96] The ratification of those had to be made in the national parliaments. In Armenia it passed through the required by legislation approval of the Constitutional Court and was sent to the parliament for the final ratification. The President had made multiple public announcements, both in Armenia and abroad, that as the leader of the political majority of Armenia he assured the ratification of the protocols if Turkey also ratified them. Despite this, the process stopped, as Turkey continuously added more preconditions to its ratification and also "delayed it beyond any reasonable time-period".

Due to its position between two unfriendly neighbours, Armenia has close security ties with Russia. At the request of the Armenian government, Russia maintains a military base in the northwestern Armenian city of Gyumri^[97] as a deterrent against Turkey. Despite this, Armenia has also been looking toward Euro-Atlantic structures in recent years. It maintains good relations with the United States especially through its Armenian diaspora. According to the US Census Bureau, there are 427,822 Armenians living in the country.^[98]

Because of the blockades by Azerbaijan and Turkey, Armenia continues to maintain solid relations with its southern neighbor Iran especially in the economic sector. Economic projects such a gas pipeline going from Iran to Armenia are in time being developed.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at Armenian Genocide memorial in Yerevan

Armenia is also a member of the Council of Europe, maintaining friendly relations with the European Union, especially with its member states such as France and Greece. A 2005 survey reported that 64% of Armenia's population would be in favor of joining the EU.^[99] Several Armenian officials have also expressed the desire for their country to eventually become an EU member state,^[100] some predicting that it will make an official bid for membership in a few years. In 2004 its forces joined KFOR, a NATO-led international force in Kosovo. It is also an observer member of the Eurasian Economic Community and the Non-Aligned Movement.

A former republic of the Soviet Union, Armenia is an emerging democracy and as of 2011 was negotiating with the European Union to become an associate partner. Legally speaking, it has the right to be considered as an prospective EU member provided it meets necessary standards and criteria, although officially such plan does not exist in Brussels.^[101]^[102]^[103]^[104] The Government of Armenia, however, has joined the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia^[105] and the Eurasian Economic Union.^[106]^[107]

Armenia is included in the European Union's European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) which aims at bringing the EU and its neighbours closer.

Human rights

Main article: Human rights in Armenia

Armenia faces considerable human rights problems. Armenia is classified "partly free" by Freedom House, which gives it "freedom rating" of 46.^[108]

Military

Main article: Armed Forces of Armenia

Armenian Army BTR-80s.

Armenian soldiers at the 2010 Moscow Victory Day Parade.

The Armenian Army, Air Force, Air Defence, and Border Guard comprise the four branches of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia. The Armenian military was formed after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and with the establishment of the Ministry of Defence in 1992. The Commander-in-Chief of the military is the President of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan. The Ministry of Defence is in charge of political leadership, currently headed by Colonel General Seyran Ohanyan, while military command remains in the hands of the General Staff, headed by the Chief of Staff, who is currently Colonel General Yuri Khatchaturov.

Active forces now number about 81,000 soldiers, with an additional reserve of 32,000 troops. Armenian border guards are in charge of patrolling the country's borders with Georgia and Azerbaijan, while Russian troops continue to monitor its borders with Iran and Turkey. In the case of an attack, Armenia is able to mobilise every able-bodied man between the age of 15 and 59, with military preparedness.

The Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe, which establishes comprehensive limits on key categories of military equipment, was ratified by the Armenian parliament in July 1992. In March 1993, Armenia signed the multilateral Chemical Weapons Convention, which calls for the eventual elimination of chemical weapons. Armenia acceded to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) as a non-nuclear weapons state in July 1993.

Armenia is member of Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) along with Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. It participates in NATO's Partnership for Peace (PiP) program and is in a NATO organisation called Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC). Armenia has engaged in a peacekeeping mission in Kosovo as part of non-NATO KFOR troops under Greek command.^[109] Armenia also had 46 members of its military peacekeeping forces as a part of the Coalition Forces in Iraq War until October 2008.^[110]

Administrative divisions

Main article: Administrative divisions of Armenia

Yerevan

Geghard monastery, Kotayk Province.

Armenia is divided into ten provinces (marzer, singular marz), with the city (kaghak) of Yerevan (Երևան) having special administrative status as the country's capital. The chief executive in each of the ten provinces is the marzpet (marz governor), appointed by the government of Armenia. In Yerevan, the chief executive is the mayor, appointed by the president.

Within each province are communities (hamaynkner, singular hamaynk). Each community is self-governing and consists of one or more settlements (bnakavayrer, singular bnakavayr). Settlements are classified as either towns (kaghakner, singular kaghak) or villages (gyugher, singular gyugh). As of 2007, Armenia includes 915 communities, of which 49 are considered urban and 866 are considered rural. The capital, Yerevan, also has the status of a community.^[111] Additionally, Yerevan is divided into twelve semi-autonomous districts.

Province		Capital		Area (km²)	Population †
Aragatsotn	Արագածոտն	Ashtarak	Աշտարակ	2,756	132,925
Ararat	Արարատ	Artashat	Արտաշատ	2,090	260,367
Armavir	Արմավիր	Armavir	Արմավիր	1,242	265,770
Gegharkunik	Գեղարքունիք	Gavar	Գավառ	5,349	235,075
Kotayk	Կոտայք	Hrazdan	Հրազդան	2,086	254,397
Lori	Լոռի	Vanadzor	Վանաձոր	3,799	235,537
Shirak	Շիրակ	Gyumri	Գյումրի	2,680	251,941
Syunik	Սյունիք	Kapan	Կապան	4,506	141,771
Tavush	Տավուշ	Ijevan	Իջևան	2,704	128,609
Vayots Dzor	Վայոց Ձոր	Yeghegnadzor	Եղեգնաձոր	2,308	52,324
Yerevan	Երևան	–	–	223	1,060,138

† 2011 census
Sources: Area and population of provinces.^[112]

Economy

Main article: Economy of Armenia

A proportional representation of Armenia's exports, 2009.

The economy relies heavily on investment and support from Armenians abroad.^[113] Before independence, Armenia's economy was largely industry-based – chemicals, electronics, machinery, processed food, synthetic rubber, and textile – and highly dependent on outside resources. The republic had developed a modern industrial sector, supplying machine tools, textiles, and other manufactured goods to sister republics in exchange for raw materials and energy.^[45] Recently, the Intel Corporation agreed to open a research center in Armenia, in addition to other technology companies, signalling the growth of the technology industry in Armenia.^[114]

Agriculture accounted for less than 20% of both net material product and total employment before the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. After independence, the importance of agriculture in the economy increased markedly, its share at the end of the 1990s rising to more than 30% of GDP and more than 40% of total employment.^[115] This increase in the importance of agriculture was attributable to food security needs of the population in the face of uncertainty during the first phases of transition and the collapse of the non-agricultural sectors of the economy in the early 1990s. As the economic situation stabilized and growth resumed, the share of agriculture in GDP dropped to slightly over 20% (2006 data), although the share of agriculture in employment remained more than 40%.^[116]

Yerevan is the economic and cultural centre of Armenia.

Armenian mines produce copper, zinc, gold, and lead. The vast majority of energy is produced with fuel imported from Russia, including gas and nuclear fuel (for its one nuclear power plant); the main domestic energy source is hydroelectric. Small deposits of coal, gas, and petroleum exist but have not yet been developed.

Like other newly independent states of the former Soviet Union, Armenia's economy suffers from the breakdown of former Soviet trading patterns. Soviet investment in and support of Armenian industry has virtually disappeared, so that few major enterprises are still able to function. In addition, the effects of the 1988 Spitak earthquake, which killed more than 25,000 people and made 500,000 homeless, are still being felt. The conflict with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh has not been resolved. The closure of Azerbaijani and Turkish borders has devastated the economy, because Armenia depends on outside supplies of energy and most raw materials. Land routes through Georgia and Iran are inadequate or unreliable. The GDP fell nearly 60% between 1989 and 1993, but then resumed robust growth.^[115] The national currency, the dram, suffered hyperinflation for the first years after its introduction in 1993.

Nevertheless, the government was able to make wide-ranging economic reforms that paid off in dramatically lower inflation and steady growth. The 1994 cease-fire in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has also helped the economy. Armenia has had strong economic growth since 1995, building on the turnaround that began the previous year, and inflation has been negligible for the past several years. New sectors, such as precious-stone processing and jewellery making, information and communication technology, and even tourism are beginning to supplement more traditional sectors of the economy, such as agriculture.

New buildings in the Ajapnyak District of Yerevan.

This steady economic progress has earned Armenia increasing support from international institutions. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and other international financial institutions (IFIs) and foreign countries are extending considerable grants and loans. Loans to Armenia since 1993 exceed $1.1 billion. These loans are targeted at reducing the budget deficit and stabilizing the currency; developing private businesses; energy; agriculture; food processing; transportation; the health and education sectors; and ongoing rehabilitation in the earthquake zone. The government joined the World Trade Organization on 5 February 2003. But one of the main sources of foreign direct investments remains the Armenian diaspora, which finances major parts of the reconstruction of infrastructure and other public projects. Being a growing democratic state, Armenia also hopes to get more financial aid from the Western World.

A liberal foreign investment law was approved in June 1994, and a law on privatisation was adopted in 1997, as well as a program of state property privatisation. Continued progress will depend on the ability of the government to strengthen its macroeconomic management, including increasing revenue collection, improving the investment climate, and making strides against corruption. However, unemployment, which currently stands at around 15%, still remains a major problem due to the influx of thousands of refugees from the Karabakh conflict.

Armenia ranked 78th on the 2010 UNDP Human Development Index, the lowest among the Transcaucasian republics.^[117] In the 2007 Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), Armenia ranked 99 of 179 countries.^[118] In the 2008 Index of Economic Freedom, Armenia ranked 28th, ahead of countries like Austria, France, Portugal and Italy.^[82]

Exports and imports

Exports to		Imports from
Country	Percentage	Country	Percentage
Belgium	23%	Russia	15%
Russia	15%	United States	12%
United States	13%	Belgium	10%
Iran	10%	Iran	9%
Others	39%	Others	54%

Demographics

Main articles: Demographics of Armenia and Armenians

Armenia has a population of 3,238,000 (2008 est.)^[119] and is the second most densely populated of the former Soviet republics. There has been a problem of population decline due to elevated levels of emigration after the break-up of the USSR.^[120] In the past years emigration levels have declined and there is steady population growth.

The Armenian population around the world.

Armenia has a relatively large external diaspora (8 million by some estimates, greatly exceeding the 3 million population of Armenia itself), with communities existing across the globe. The largest Armenian communities outside of Armenia can be found in Russia, France, Iran, the United States, Georgia, Syria, Lebanon, Argentina, Australia, Canada, Greece, Cyprus, Israel, Poland, Ukraine and Brazil. 40,000 to 70,000 Armenians still live in Turkey (mostly in and around Istanbul).^[121]

About 1,000 Armenians reside in the Armenian Quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem, a remnant of a once-larger community.^[122] Italy is home to the San Lazzaro degli Armeni, an island located in the Venetian Lagoon, which is completely occupied by a monastery run by the Mechitarists, an Armenian Catholic congregation.^[123] Approximately 139,000 Armenians live in the de facto country of Nagorno-Karabakh where they form a majority.^[124]

Ethnic groups

Armenian children at the UN Cup Chess Tournament in 2005.

Ethnic Armenians make up 97.9% of the population. Yazidis make up 1.3%, and Russians 0.5%. Other minorities include Assyrians, Ukrainians, Pontic Greeks (here usually called Caucasus Greeks), Kurds, Georgians, and Belarusians. There are also smaller communities of Vlachs, Mordvins, Ossetians, Udis, and Tats. Minorities of Poles and Caucasus Germans also exist though they are heavily Russified.^[125]

During the Soviet era, Azerbaijanis were historically the second largest population in the country (forming about 2.5% in 1989).^[126] However, due to the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, virtually all of them emigrated from Armenia to Azerbaijan. Conversely, Armenia received a large influx of Armenian refugees from Azerbaijan, thus giving Armenia a more homogeneous character.

Languages

Main article: Languages of Armenia

Armenian is the only official language. Due to its Soviet past, Russian is still widely used in Armenia and could be considered as de facto second language. According to a 2013 survey, 95% of Armenians said they had some knowledge of Russian (24% advanced, 59% intermediate) compared to 40% who said they knew some English (4% advanced, 16% intermediate and 20% beginner). However, more adults (50%) think that English should be taught in public secondary schools than those who prefer Russian (44%).^[127]

Cities

Largest cities or towns in Armenia Armenia 2011 census^[128]^[129]^[130]^[131]^[132]^[133]^[134]^[135]^[136]^[137]^[138]
	Rank	Name	Province	Pop.	Rank	Name	Province	Pop.
Yerevan Gyumri	1	Yerevan	Yerevan	1,060,138	11	Gavar	Gegharkunik	20,765	Vanadzor Vagharshapat
	2	Gyumri	Shirak	121,976	12	Goris	Syunik	20,591
	3	Vanadzor	Lori	86,199	13	Charentsavan	Kotayk	20,363
	4	Vagharshapat	Armavir	46,540	14	Ararat	Ararat	20,235
	5	Abovyan	Kotayk	43,495	15	Masis	Ararat	20,215
	6	Kapan	Syunik	43,190	16	Ashtarak	Aragatsotn	19,615
	7	Hrazdan	Kotayk	41,875	17	Artik	Shirak	19,534
	8	Armavir	Armavir	29,319	18	Sevan	Gegharkunik	19,229
	9	Artashat	Ararat	22,269	19	Dilijan	Tavush	17,712
	10	Ijevan	Tavush	21,081	20	Sisian	Syunik	14,894

Religion

Health

Life expectancy at birth was 70 for males and 76 for females in 2006.^[149] Health expenditures were about 5.6% of GDP in 2004.^[149] Most of those expenditures were outside the private sector.^[149] Government expenditures on health were US$112 per person in 2006.^[150] Vast improvements of health services occurred in the past decade. Such improvements consisted of easier accessibility to health-care services and an Open Enrollment program which allows Armenians to freely choose their healthcare service provider.^[151]

Education

Main article: Education in Armenia

In its first years of independence, Armenia made uneven progress in establishing systems to meet its national requirements in social services.^[152] Education, held in particular esteem in Armenian culture, changed fastest of the social services, while health and welfare services attempted to maintain the basic state-planned structure of the Soviet era.^[152]

A literacy rate of 100% was reported as early as 1960.^[152] In the communist era, Armenian education followed the standard Soviet model of complete state control (from Moscow) of curricula and teaching methods and close integration of education activities with other aspects of society, such as politics, culture, and the economy.^[152] As in the Soviet period, primary and secondary education in Armenia is free, and completion of secondary school is compulsory.^[152]

Yerevan State Medical University named after Mkhitar Heratsi

In the 1988–89 school year, 301 students per 10,000 population were in specialized secondary or higher education, a figure slightly lower than the Soviet average.^[152] In 1989 some 58% of Armenians over age fifteen had completed their secondary education, and 14% had a higher education.^[152] In the 1990–91 school year, the estimated 1,307 primary and secondary schools were attended by 608,800 students.^[152] Another seventy specialized secondary institutions had 45,900 students, and 68,400 students were enrolled in a total of ten postsecondary institutions that included universities.^[152] In addition, 35% of eligible children attended preschools.^[152] In 1992 Armenia's largest institution of higher learning, Yerevan State University, had eighteen departments, including ones for social sciences, sciences, and law.^[152] Its faculty numbered about 1,300 teachers and its student population about 10,000 students.^[152] The National Polytechnic University of Armenia is operating since 1933.^[152]

In the early 1990s, Armenia made substantial changes to the centralized and regimented Soviet system.^[152] Because at least 98% of students in higher education were Armenian, curricula began to emphasize Armenian history and culture.^[152] Armenian became the dominant language of instruction, and many schools that had taught in Russian closed by the end of 1991.^[152] Russian was still widely taught, however, as a second language.^[152]

On the basis of the expansion and development of Yerevan State University a number of higher educational independent Institutions were formed including Medical Institute separated in 1930 which was set up on the basis of medical faculty. In 1980 Yerevan State Medical University was awarded one of the main rewards of the former USSR – the Order of Labor red Banner for training qualified specialists in health care and valuable service in the development of Medical Science. In 1995 YSMI was renamed to YSMU and since 1989 it has been named after Mkhitar Heratsi, the famous medieval doctor. Mkhitar Heratsi was the founder of Armenian Medical school in Cilician Armenia. The great doctor played the same role in Armenian Medical Science as Hippocrates in Western, Galen in Roman, Ibn Sīnā in Arabic medicine.

Graduates of the MAB program of the Agribusiness Teaching Center

Foreign students' department for Armenian diaspora established in 1957 later was enlarged and the enrollment of foreign students began. Nowadays the YSMU is a Medical Institution corresponding to international requirements, trains medical staff for not only Armenia and neighbor countries, i.e. Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Georgia, but also many other leading countries all over the world. A great number of foreign students from India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, the USA and Russian Federation study together with Armenian students. Nowadays the university is ranked among famous higher Medical Institutions and takes its honorable place in the World Directory of Medical Schools published by the WHO.

Other educational institutions in Armenia include the American University of Armenia and the QSI International School of Yerevan. The American University of Armenia has graduate programs in Business and Law, among others. The institution owes its existence to the combined efforts of the Government of Armenia, the Armenian General Benevolent Union, U.S. Agency for International Development, and the University of California. The extension programs and the library at AUA form a new focal point for English-language intellectual life in the city. Armenia also hosts a deployment of OLPC – One Laptopschool Per child XO laptop-tablet schools.^[153]

Culture

Main article: Culture of Armenia

Armenians have their own distinctive alphabet and language. The alphabet was invented in AD 405 by Mesrop Mashtots and consists of thirty-nine letters, three of which were added during the Cilician period. 96% of the people in the country speak Armenian, while 75.8% of the population additionally speaks Russian, although English is becoming increasingly popular.

Media

Main article: Media of Armenia

Television, magazines, and newspapers are all operated by both state-owned and for-profit corporations which depend on advertising, subscription, and other sales-related revenues. The Constitution of Armenia guarantees freedom of speech and Armenia ranks 78th in the 2015 Press Freedom Index report compiled by Reporters Without Borders, between Lesotho and Sierra Leone.^[154] As a country in transition, Armenia's media system is under transformation.^[155]

Frequent attacks on journalists of non-state sponsored media is a serious threat to Armenia's press freedom. The number of assaults has recently declined, but the physical integrity of journalists remain at stake.^[156]

Music and dance

Main article: Music of Armenia

Djivan Gasparyan (left), Sirusho (middle) and Charles Aznavour (right) are among most popular musicians of Armenia.

Armenian music is a mix of indigenous folk music, perhaps best-represented by Djivan Gasparyan's well-known duduk music, as well as light pop, and extensive Christian music.

Instruments like the duduk, the dhol, the zurna, and the kanun are commonly found in Armenian folk music. Artists such as Sayat Nova are famous due to their influence in the development of Armenian folk music. One of the oldest types of Armenian music is the Armenian chant which is the most common kind of religious music in Armenia. Many of these chants are ancient in origin, extending to pre-Christian times, while others are relatively modern, including several composed by Saint Mesrop Mashtots, the inventor of the Armenian alphabet. Whilst under Soviet rule, Armenian classical music composer Aram Khatchaturian became internationally well known for his music, for various ballets and the Sabre Dance from his composition for the ballet Gayane.

Traditional Armenian dance.

The Armenian Genocide caused widespread emigration that led to the settlement of Armenians in various countries in the world. Armenians kept to their traditions and certain diasporans rose to fame with their music. In the post-Genocide Armenian community of the United States, the so-called "kef" style Armenian dance music, using Armenian and Middle Eastern folk instruments (often electrified/amplified) and some western instruments, was popular. This style preserved the folk songs and dances of Western Armenia, and many artists also played the contemporary popular songs of Turkey and other Middle Eastern countries from which the Armenians emigrated.

Richard Hagopian is perhaps the most famous artist of the traditional "kef" style and the Vosbikian Band was notable in the 1940s and 1950s for developing their own style of "kef music" heavily influenced by the popular American Big Band Jazz of the time. Later, stemming from the Middle Eastern Armenian diaspora and influenced by Continental European (especially French) pop music, the Armenian pop music genre grew to fame in the 1960s and 1970s with artists such as Adiss Harmandian and Harout Pamboukjian performing to the Armenian diaspora and Armenia; also with artists such as Sirusho, performing pop music combined with Armenian folk music in today's entertainment industry.

Other Armenian diasporans that rose to fame in classical or international music circles are world-renowned French-Armenian singer and composer Charles Aznavour, pianist Sahan Arzruni, prominent opera sopranos such as Hasmik Papian and more recently Isabel Bayrakdarian and Anna Kasyan. Certain Armenians settled to sing non-Armenian tunes such as the heavy metal band System of a Down (which nonetheless often incorporates traditional Armenian instrumentals and styling into their songs) or pop star Cher. In the Armenian diaspora, Armenian revolutionary songs are popular with the youth. These songs encourage Armenian patriotism and are generally about Armenian history and national heroes.

Art

Ancient Armenian Khachkars (cross-stones).

Yerevan Vernissage (arts and crafts market), close to Republic Square, bustles with hundreds of vendors selling a variety of crafts on weekends and Wednesdays (though the selection is much reduced mid-week). The market offers woodcarving, antiques, fine lace, and the hand-knotted wool carpets and kilims that are a Caucasus specialty. Obsidian, which is found locally, is crafted into assortment of jewellery and ornamental objects. Armenian gold smithery enjoys a long tradition, populating one corner of the market with a selection of gold items. Soviet relics and souvenirs of recent Russian manufacture – nesting dolls, watches, enamel boxes and so on – are also available at the Vernisage.

Queen Zabel’s Return to the Palace, Vardges Sureniants, (1909).

Across from the Opera House, a popular art market fills another city park on the weekends. Armenia’s long history as a crossroads of the ancient world has resulted in a landscape with innumerable fascinating archaeological sites to explore. Medieval, Iron Age, Bronze Age and even Stone Age sites are all within a few hours drive from the city. All but the most spectacular remain virtually undiscovered, allowing visitors to view churches and fortresses in their original settings.

The National Art Gallery in Yerevan has more than 16,000 works that date back to the Middle Ages, which indicate Armenia's rich tales and stories of the times. It houses paintings by many European masters as well. The Modern Art Museum, the Children’s Picture Gallery, and the Martiros Saryan Museum are only a few of the other noteworthy collections of fine art on display in Yerevan. Moreover, many private galleries are in operation, with many more opening every year, featuring rotating exhibitions and sales.

On April 13, 2013, the Armenian government announced a change in law to allow freedom of panorama for 3D works of art.^[157]

Sport

Main articles: Sport in Armenia and Chess in Armenia

The Tsaghkadzor Olympic Sports complex.

The Armenia national football team in Dublin, Ireland.

A wide array of sports are played in Armenia, the most popular among them being wrestling, weightlifting, judo, association football, chess, and boxing. Armenia's mountainous terrain provides great opportunities for the practice of sports like skiing and climbing. Being a landlocked country, water sports can only be practiced on lakes, notably Lake Sevan. Competitively, Armenia has been successful in chess, weightlifting and wrestling at the international level. Armenia is also an active member of the international sports community, with full membership in the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). It also hosts the Pan-Armenian Games.

Prior to 1992, Armenians would participate in the Olympics representing the USSR. As part of the Soviet Union, Armenia was very successful, winning plenty of medals and helping the USSR win the medal standings at the Olympics on numerous occasions. The first medal won by an Armenian in modern Olympic history was by Hrant Shahinyan (sometimes spelled as Grant Shaginyan), who won two golds and two silvers in gymnastics at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki. To highlight the level of success of Armenians in the Olympics, Shahinyan was quoted as saying:

"Armenian sportsmen had to outdo their opponents by several notches for the shot at being accepted into any Soviet team. But those difficulties notwithstanding, 90 percent of Armenians athletes on Soviet Olympic teams came back with medals."^[158]

Armenia first participated at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona under a unified CIS team, where it was very successful, winning three golds and one silver in weightlifting, wrestling and sharp shooting, despite only having 5 athletes. Since the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Armenia has participated as an independent nation.

Armenia participates in the Summer Olympic Games in boxing, wrestling, weightlifting, judo, gymnastics, track and field, diving, swimming and sharp shooting. It also participates in the Winter Olympic Games in alpine skiing, cross-country skiing and figure skating.

World number 2 Chess Champion Levon Aronian.

Football is also popular in Armenia. The most successful team was the FC Ararat Yerevan team of the 1970s who won the Soviet Cup in 1973 and 1975 and the Soviet Top League in 1973. The latter achievement saw FC Ararat gain entry to the European Cup where – despite a home victory in the second leg – they lost on aggregate at the quarter final stage to eventual winner FC Bayern Munich. Armenia competed internationally as part of the USSR national football team until the Armenian national football team was formed in 1992 after the split of the Soviet Union. Armenia have never qualified for a major tournament although recent improvements saw the team to achieve 44th position in the FIFA World Rankings in September 2011. The national team is controlled by the Football Federation of Armenia. The Armenian Premier League is the highest level football competition in Armenia, and has been dominated by FC Pyunik in recent seasons. The league currently consists of eight teams and relegates to the Armenian First League.

Armenia and the Armenian diaspora have produced many successful footballers, including Youri Djorkaeff, Alain Boghossian, Andranik Eskandarian, Andranik Teymourian, Edgar Manucharyan and Nikita Simonyan. Djokaeff and Boghossian won the 1998 FIFA World Cup with France, Andranik Teymourian competed in the 2006 World Cup for Iran and Edgar Manucharyan played in the Dutch Eredivisie for Ajax.

Wrestling has been a successful sport in the Olympics for Armenia. At the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Armen Nazaryan won the gold in the Men's Greco-Roman Flyweight (52 kg) category and Armen Mkrtchyan won the silver in Men's Freestyle Paperweight (48 kg) category, securing Armenia's first two medals in its Olympic history.

Traditional Armenian wrestling is called Kokh and practiced in traditional garb; it was one of the influences included in the Soviet combat sport of Sambo, which is also very popular.^[159]

The government of Armenia budgets about $2.8 million annually for sports and gives it to the National Committee of Physical Education and Sports, the body that determines which programs should benefit from the funds.^[160]

Due to the lack of success lately on the international level, in recent years, Armenia has rebuilt 16 Soviet-era sports schools and furnished them with new equipment for a total cost of $1.9 million. The rebuilding of the regional schools was financed by the Armenian government. $9.3 million has been invested in the resort town of Tsaghkadzor to improve the winter sports infrastructure because of dismal performances at recent winter sports events. In 2005, a cycling center was opened in Yerevan with the aim of helping produce world class Armenian cyclists. The government has also promised a cash reward of $700,000 to Armenians who win a gold medal at the Olympics.^[160]

Armenia has also been very successful in chess, winning the World Champion in 2011 and the World Chess Olympiad on three occasions.^[161]

Cuisine

Armenian cuisine

Main article: Armenian cuisine

Armenian cuisine is as ancient as the history of Armenia, a combination of different tastes and aromas. The food often has quite a distinct aroma. Closely related to eastern and Mediterranean cuisine, various spices, vegetables, fish, and fruits combine to present unique dishes. The main characteristics of Armenian cuisine are a reliance on the quality of the ingredients rather than heavily spicing food, the use of herbs, the use of wheat in a variety of forms, of legumes, nuts, and fruit (as a main ingredient as well as to sour food), and the stuffing of a wide variety of leaves.

The pomegranate, with its symbolic association with fertility represents that nation. The apricot is the national fruit.

Notes

↑ Standard pronunciation is in Eastern Armenian ([hɑjɑsˈtɑn]). Western Armenian: [hɑjɑsˈdɑn].

References

↑ "The Constitution of the Republic of Armenia (with amendments)". Constitutional Court of the Republic of Armenia. 5 July 1995. Retrieved 14 October 2012.
↑ Campbell, George L.; King, Gareth (2013). Compendium of the World's Languages (3rd ed.). New York: Routledge. p. 115. ISBN 9781136258466. ...Eastern Armenian is the written and spoken language of the Republic of Armenia.
↑ Dalby, Andrew (1998). Dictionary of Languages: The Definitive Reference to More Than 400 Languages. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 36. ISBN 9780231115681. ...Eastern Armenian of the Present Republic of Armenia...
↑ Asatryan, Garnik; Arakelova, Victoria (Yerevan 2002). The Ethnic Minorities in Armenia. Part of the OSCE. Archived 11 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine.
↑ "National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia – Official Web Site – parliament.am".
↑ Lang, David Marshall. Armenia: Cradle of Civilization. London: Allen and Unwin, 1970, p. 114. ISBN 0-04-956007-7.
↑ Redgate, Anna Elizabeth. The Armenians. Cornwall: Blackwell, 1998, pp. 16–19, 23, 25, 26 (map), 30–32, 38, 43 ISBN 0-631-22037-2.
↑ Redgate, A. E. (2000). The Armenians (Reprint ed.). Oxford: Blackwell. p. 5. ISBN 0631220372. However, the most easily identifiable ancestors of the later Armenian nation are the Urartians.
↑ de Laet, Sigfried J.; Herrmann, Joachim, eds. (1996). History of Humanity: From the seventh century B.C. to the seventh century A.D. (1st ed.). London: Routledge. p. 128. ISBN 9789231028120. The ruler of the part known as Greater Armenia, Artaxias (Artashes), the founder of a new dynasty, managed to unite the country...
↑ Encyclopedia Americana: Ankara to Azusa. Scholastic Library Publishing. 2005. p. 393. It was named for Artaxias, a general of Antiochus the Great, who founded the kingdom of Armenia about 190 B.C.
↑ "The World Fact Book – Armenia". Central Intelligence Agency. Archived from the original on 19 July 2010. Retrieved 2010-07-17.
↑ The population of Armenia as of 01.01.2016
↑ "Statistical Service of Armenia" (PDF). Armstat. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
↑ "Armenia Population". countrymeters.info.
1 2 3 4 "Armenia". International Monetary Fund. Retrieved 2013-07-19.
↑ "Distribution of family income – Gini index". The World Factbook. CIA. Retrieved 2009-09-01.
↑ "Human Development Report 2015" (PDF). United Nations. 2015. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
↑ Dum-Tragut, Jasmine (2009). Armenian: Modern Eastern Armenian. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing. p. 12. ISBN 9789027238146. The orthography used in Armenia nowadays goes back to the Soviet orthography reform of 1922 and its revision of 1940.
↑ "Armenia." Dictionary.com Unabridged. 2015.
↑ Central Intelligence Agency."The CIA World Factbook 2015" Skyhorse Publishing Inc, 2014. ISBN 1629149039
↑ The UN classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook "Armenia". The World Factbook. CIA. Archived from the original on 10 October 2010. Retrieved 2 September 2010. "Armenia". National Geographic. , "Armenia". Encyclopædia Britannica. , Calendario Atlante De Agostini (in Italian) (111 ed.). Novara: Istituto Geografico De Agostini. 2015. p. sub voce. ISBN 9788851124908. and Oxford Reference Online "Oxford Reference". Oxford Reference Online. Retrieved 20 October 2012. also place Armenia in Asia.
↑ (Garsoïan, Nina (1997). ed. R.G. Hovannisian, ed. Armenian People from Ancient to Modern Times. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. Volume 1, p.81. )
↑ Stringer, Martin D. (2005). A Sociological History of Christian Worship. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 92. ISBN 0521819555.
↑ "Armenia Facts". National Geographic. Retrieved 12 October 2013.
↑ Smaller nations that have claimed a prior official adoption of Christianity include Osroene, the Silures, and San Marino. See Timeline of official adoptions of Christianity.
↑ Grousset, René (1947). Histoire de l'Arménie (1984 ed.). Payot. p. 122. . Estimated dates vary from 284 to 314. Garsoïan (op.cit. p.82), following the research of Ananian, favours the latter.
↑ The republic has separation of church and state
↑ "The Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, Article 8.1". President.am. Archived from the original on 20 December 2010. Retrieved 2010-12-30.
↑ Razmik Panossian, The Armenians: From Kings And Priests to Merchants And Commissars, Columbia University Press (2006), ISBN 978-0-231-13926-7, p. 106.
↑ Rafael Ishkhanyan, "Illustrated History of Armenia," Yerevan, 1989
↑ Elisabeth Bauer. Armenia: Past and Present (1981), p. 49
↑ "Χαλύβοισι πρὸς νότον Ἀρμένιοι ὁμουρέουσι (The Armenians border on the Chalybes to the south)". Chahin, Mark (2001). The Kingdom of Armenia. London: Routledge. pp. fr. 203. ISBN 978-0-7007-1452-0.
↑ Xenophon. Anabasis. pp. IV.v.2–9.
↑ Moses of Chorene,The History of Armenia, Book 1, Ch. 12 (Russian)
↑ History of Armenia by Father Michael Chamich from B.C. 2247 to the Year of Christ 1780, or 1229 of the Armenian era, Bishop's College Press, Calcutta, 1827, page 19: "[Aram] was the first to raise the Armenian name to any degree of renown; so that contemporary nations... called them the Aramians, or followers of Aram, a name which has been corrupted into Armenians; and the country they inhabited, by universal consent, took the name of Armenia."
↑ "The first leather shoe,". CNN. Archived from the original on 2010-10-14. Retrieved 11 January 2011.
↑ "5,900-year-old women's skirt discovered in Armenian cave". News Armenia. 13 September 2011. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
↑ "National Geographic: the first wine-making facility". National Geographic. Retrieved 11 January 2011.
↑ Kurkjian, Vahan (1958). History of Armenia (1964 ed.). Michigan: Armenian General Benevolent Union. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
↑ Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia. Yerevan: Armenian Encyclopedia. 1987. pp. v. 12.
↑ Movsisyan, Artak (2000). Sacred Highland: Armenia in the spiritual conception of the Near East. Yerevan.
↑ Kavoukjian, Martiros (1982). The Genesis of Armenian People. Montreal.
↑ Joshua J. Mark. "Assyria". Ancient History Encyclopedia.
↑ Charles W. Hartley, G. Bike Yazicioğlu, Adam T. Smith, ed. (2012). The Archaeology of Power and Politics in Eurasia: Regimes and Revolutions. Cambridge University Press. p. 65. ISBN 9781107016521. ...the unique temple-tomb at Garni, just east of Yerevan – the only Greco-Roman colonnaded building anywhere in the Soviet Union.
1 2 "The World Factbook: Armenia". CIA. Archived from the original on 14 November 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-15.
↑ Brunner, Borgna (2006). Time Almanac with Information Please 2007. New York: Time Home Entertainment. p. 685. ISBN 978-1-933405-49-0.
1 2 Mary Boyce. Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices Psychology Press, 2001 ISBN 0415239028 p 84
↑ Stokes, Jamie, ed. (2008). Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Africa and the Middle East. New York: Infobase Publishing. p. 65. ISBN 978-1-4381-2676-0. Etchmiatzin is located in the west of modern Armenia, close to the border with Turkey, and its fourth-century cathedral is generally regarded as the oldest in the world.
↑ Bauer-Manndorff, Elisabeth (1981). Armenia: Past and Present. Lucerne: Reich Verlag. OCLC 8063377. Etchmiadzin, with the world's oldest cathedral and the seat of the Catholicos, draws tourists from all over the world.
↑ Utudjian, Édouard (1968). Armenian Architecture: 4th to 17th Century. Paris: Editions A. Morancé. p. 7. OCLC 464421. ...the oldest cathedral in Christendom, that of Etchmiadzin, founded in the 4th century.
↑ Holt, Peter Malcolm; Lambton, Ann Katharine Swynford & Lewis, Bernard (1977). "The Cambridge History of Islam": 231–232.
↑ Donald Rayfield. Edge of Empires: A History of Georgia Reaktion Books, 2013 ISBN 1780230702 p 165
↑ Steven R. Ward. Immortal, Updated Edition: A Military History of Iran and Its Armed Forces Georgetown University Press, 8 jan. 2014 ISBN 1626160325 p 43
↑ "Armenians: Past and Present in the Making of National Identity". Retrieved 30 December 2014.
↑ H. Nahavandi, Y. Bomati, Shah Abbas, empereur de Perse (1587–1629) (Perrin, Paris, 1998)
↑ Mikaberidze, Alexander. Conflict and Conquest in the Islamic World: A Historical Encyclopedia 2 volumes: A Historical Encyclopedia ABC-CLIO, 22 jul. 2011 ISBN 978-1598843378 p 351
↑ Mikaberidze, Alexander. Conflict and Conquest in the Islamic World: A Historical Encyclopedia 2 volumes: A Historical Encyclopedia ABC-CLIO, 22 jul. 2011 ISBN 978-1598843378 p 33
↑ Timothy C. Dowling Russia at War: From the Mongol Conquest to Afghanistan, Chechnya, and Beyond pp 728–730 ABC-CLIO, 2 dec. 2014. ISBN 978-1598849486
↑ Minahan, James (2010). The complete guide to national symbols and emblems. Santa Barbara, Calif.: Greenwood Press. p. 310. ISBN 0313344973.
↑ Kirakosian, J. S. (1972). Hayastane michazkayin divanakitut'yan ew sovetakan artakin kaghakakanut'yan pastateghterum, 1828–1923 [Armenia in the documents of international diplomacy and Soviet foreign policy, 1828–1923] (in Armenian). Yerevan. pp. 149–358.
↑ Kieser, Hans-Lukas; Schaller, Dominik J. (2002), Der Völkermord an den Armeniern und die Shoah [The Armenian genocide and the Shoah] (in German), Chronos, p. 114, ISBN 3-0340-0561-X
↑ Walker, Christopher J. (1980), Armenia: The Survival of A Nation, London: Croom Helm, pp. 200–3
↑ "Extensive bibliography by University of Michigan on the Armenian Genocide". Umd.umich.edu. Archived from the original on 2006-08-23. Retrieved 2010-12-30.
↑ "Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly Resolution". Armenian genocide. Retrieved 2016-02-10.
↑ Ferguson, Niall (2006). The War of the World: Twentieth-Century Conflict and the Descent of the West. New York: Penguin Press. p. 177. ISBN 1-59420-100-5.
↑ Robert Melson, Revolution and Genocide: On the Origins of the Armenian Genocide and the Holocaust, University Of Chicago Press, October 15, 1992, p. 147
↑ Q&A: Armenian genocide dispute. BBC News. 10 July 2008.
↑ "Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex". Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute. Retrieved 2016-02-10.
↑ Hovannisian, Richard, and Simon Payaslian. Armenian Cilicia. Costa Mesa: Mazda Publishers, Inc., 2008. 483. Print.
1 2 "The Soviet Period – History – Azerbaijan – Asia". Retrieved 25 July 2011.
1 2 Закавказская федерация. Большая советская энциклопедия, 3-е изд., гл. ред. А. М. Прохоров. Москва: Советская энциклопедия, 1972. Т. 9 (A. M. Prokhorov; et al., eds. (1972). "Transcaucasian Federation". Great Soviet Encyclopedia (in Russian) 9. Moscow: Soviet Encyclopedia. )
↑ Ronald G. Suny, James Nichol, Darrell L. Slider. Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. Federal Research Division, Library of Congress. 1995. p.17 and following
↑ C. Mouradian, L'Armenie sovietique, pp. 278–9
↑ "Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic". The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979).
↑ Eastern Europe, Russia and Central Asia 2004 – Page 74 by Imogen Gladman, Taylor & Francis Group
↑ Notes from Baku: Black January. Rufat Ahmedov. EurasiaNet Human Rights.
↑ "The March Referendum". Archived from the original on 15 October 2006. Retrieved 2008-11-10.
1 2 Croissant, Michael P. (1998). The Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict: Causes and Implications. London: Praeger. ISBN 978-0-275-96241-8.
↑ "The Ties That Divide". Global Heritage Fund. 17 June 2006. Archived from the original on 2006-08-20. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
↑ De Waal, Thomas (2004). Black Garden: Armenia And Azerbaijan Through Peace and War. New York: New York University Press. p. 240. ISBN 978-0-8147-1945-9.
↑ A Conflict That Can Be Resolved in Time: Nagorno-Karabakh. International Herald Tribune. 29 November 2003.
1 2 "Heritage Index of Economic Freedom". The Heritage Foundation.
↑ "EU negotiations with Armenia and Georgia on Free Trade Agreements successfully concluded". EPP Group. Retrieved 2016-02-10.
↑ "Armenia will significantly increase its revenues by reinforcing its role of a transit country between Europe, CIS and Middle East". Arka News Agency. Retrieved 2016-02-10.
↑ "EUROPE COULD DRAW GAS THROUGH IRAN-ARMENIA PIPELINE". European dialogue. Retrieved 2016-02-10.
↑ "Geographic Characteristic of The Republic of Armenia" (PDF). Marzes of the Republic of Armenia in Figures, 2002–2006. National Statistical Service of the Republic of Armenia. 2007. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
↑ Natasha May Azarian (2007). The Seeds of Memory: Narrative Renditions of the Armenian Genocide Across Generations. ProQuest. p. 96. ISBN 978-0-549-53005-3. Retrieved 28 April 2013. Mount Ararat is considered the 'heart' of historical Armenia as it is Armenian folklore which considers the majestic mountain to be the place where Noah's Arc landed. Armenian businesses, households, and schools almost ubiquitously have at ...
↑ Rouben Paul Adalian (13 May 2010). Historical Dictionary of Armenia. Scarecrow Press. p. 85. ISBN 978-0-8108-7450-3. Retrieved 28 April 2013. Although the mythology associated with the pagan worship of the mountain is now lost to popular belief, Mount Ararat has played a very ...
↑ James Minahan (1998). Miniature empires: a historical dictionary of the newly independent states. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 2–3. ISBN 978-0-313-30610-5. Retrieved 28 April 2013. Mount Ararat, the legendary landing place of Noah's Ark, is located in what is now modern Turkey. Situated near the border, the peak is visible from nearly every area of Armenia. Historically, the mountain has been the Armenian people's most ...
↑ "Address by President Serzh Sargsyan to the People of Armenia and the National Assembly on 2 October 2008". President.am. Archived from the original on 9 December 2010. Retrieved 2010-12-30.
↑ "Nations in Transit 2008" (PDF). Freedom House. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-03-25. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
↑ "Nations in Transit 2008: Armenia" (PDF). Freedom House. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 August 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-26.
↑ "Freedom in the World 2007" (PDF). Freedom House. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 February 2007. Retrieved 2007-02-20.
↑ Danielyan, Emil (20 February 2008). "Armenian Vote 'Largely Democratic'". ArmeniaLiberty, Radio Free Europe. Archived from the original on 6 March 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-20.
1 2 "Nagorno-Karabakh: The Crisis in the Caucasus". Retrieved 2007-04-06.
↑ "Armenia and Turkey sign peace deal". Archived from the original on 14 October 2009.
↑ "Baku and Moscow – 'One Hundred Percent Strategic Partners'". Hetq Online. 27 February 2006. Retrieved 2008-04-20.
↑ "Ancestry Data". U.S. Census Bureau. 2006. Archived from the original on 3 April 2008. Retrieved 2009-07-22. The 2001 Canadian Census determined that there are 40,505 persons of Armenian ancestry currently living in Canada. However, these are liable to be low numbers, since people of mixed ancestry, very common in North America tend to be under-counted: the 1990 census US indicates 149,694 people who speak Armenian at home. The Armenian Embassy in Canada at the Wayback Machine (archived August 26, 2006) estimates 1 million ethnic Armenians in the US and 100,000 in Canada. The Armenian Church of America makes a similar estimate. By all accounts, over half of the Armenians in the United States live in California.
↑ "RFE/RL Caucasus Report". Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 7 January 2005. Archived from the original on 20 November 2010. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
↑ "Interview with RA National Assembly Speaker Artur Baghdasaryan". ArmInfo News Agency. 26 October 2005. Archived from the original on 13 January 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
↑ "How Armenia Could Approach the European Union" (PDF). Retrieved 2013-03-12.
↑ "EUROPA – Press Releases – EU launches negotiations on Association Agreements with Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia". Europa (web portal). 15 July 2010. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
↑ "Armenia-EU association agreement may be concluded shortly | Armenia News –". News.am. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
↑ "3rd PLENARY ROUND OF THE EU-ARMENIA NEGOTIATIONS ON THE ASSOCIATION AGREEMENT". Ec.europa.eu. 2010-12-15. Retrieved 2012-08-28.
↑ "Eurasian Economic Commission". www.eurasiancommission.org. Retrieved 2015-10-13.
↑ "ДОГОВОР О ПРИСОЕДИНЕНИИ РЕСПУБЛИКИ АРМЕНИЯ К ДОГОВОРУ О ЕВРАЗИЙСКОМ ЭКОНОМИЧЕСКОМ СОЮЗЕ ОТ 29 МАЯ 2014 ГОДА (Минск, 10 октября 2014 года)". www.customs-code.ru. Retrieved 2015-10-13.
↑ "Armenia To Join Russian-Led Customs Union". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 3 September 2013. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
↑ "Armenia | Freedom House" (PDF). freedomhouse.org. Retrieved 2016-01-27.
↑ "KFOR Contingent: Armenia". Official Web Site of the Kosovo Force. 23 March 2007. Retrieved 2008-10-27.
↑ "Last shift of Armenian peacekeepers in Iraq returns home". Ministry of Defence. 7 October 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-29.
↑ "Regional Administration Bodies". The Government of the Republic of Armenia. Retrieved 11 September 2008.
↑ Armstat:Provinces, area and population
↑ Demourian, Avet (19 October 2007). "Armenian Eyes, Ears on US Genocide Vote". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2009-07-07.
↑ "Intel center to open in Armenia". Panarmenian.Net. 1990-01-20. Retrieved 2013-03-12.
1 2 Z. Lerman and A. Mirzakhanian, Private Agriculture in Armenia, Lexington Books, Lanham, MD, 2001.
↑ Statistical Yearbook 2007, Armenia National Statistical Service, Yerevan
↑ "HDI 2010 Index" (PDF). HDRO (Human Development Report Office) United Nations Development Programme. pp. 1–3. Retrieved 10 June 2010.
↑ "Corruption Perceptions Index 2007". Archived from the original on 28 April 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-25.
↑ "Statistical Yearbook of Armenia, 2009: Population" (PDF). ArmStat. Retrieved 2010-02-09.
↑ Paul, Amanda. "Armenia's disappearing population". Archived from the original on 27 July 2011. Retrieved 27 July 2011.
↑ Turay, Anna. "Tarihte Ermeniler". Bolsohays:Istanbul Armenians Like many other ethnicities Armenians in India too have played a role historically and had an impact historically. Today however the community has been reduced to about a hundred living in Calcutta. Archived from the original on 9 February 2008. Retrieved 2007-01-04.
↑ "Jerusalem – The Old City: The Armenian Quarter". Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
↑ "San Lazzaro degli Armeni – Venice for Visitors". Europeforvisitors.com. Archived from the original on 22 November 2010. Retrieved 2010-12-30.
↑ "Population in Nagorno-Karabakh 2007". National Statistical Service of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 April 2010. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
↑ Asatryan, Garnik; Arakelova, Victoria (2002). "The Ethnic Minorities of Armenia". Routledge. , part of the OSCE
↑ (Russian) The All-Union Population Census of 1989. Demoscope.ru
↑ "The South Caucasus Between The EU And The Eurasian Union" (PDF). Caucasus Analytical Digest #51–52. Forschungsstelle Osteuropa, Bremen and Center for Security Studies, Zürich. 17 June 2013. pp. 22–23. ISSN 1867-9323. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
↑ Aragatsotn
↑ Tavush
↑ Kotayk
↑ Vayots Dzor
↑ Syunik
↑ Shirak
↑ Lori
↑ Gegharkunik
↑ Armavir
↑ Ararat
↑ Yerevan
↑ "Armenia – Which Nation First Adopted Christianity?". Ancienthistory.about.com. 29 October 2009. Retrieved 2010-01-25.
↑ "Visit Armenia, It is Beautiful". Visitarmenia.org. Retrieved 2010-01-25.
↑ "Armenia Information – Welcome to Armenia". Welcomearmenia.com. Archived from the original on 6 February 2010. Retrieved 2010-01-25.
↑ "Blog Archive " Which is the first country to adopt Christianity?". Did You Know it. Retrieved 2010-01-25.
↑ "The Armenian Apostolic Church (World Council of Churches)".
↑ "Armenian Brotherhood Church of Yerevan".
↑ "Armenian Evangelical Christian Baptist". Armbaplife.am. Retrieved 2012-08-28.
↑ "Despite poverty, Baptists prosper in Armenia" (PDF). Biblical Recorder. Baptist State convention of North Carolina. 17 July 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 November 2008. Retrieved 2010-06-28.
↑ "Armenian Presbyterian Church to Commemorate 1700th Anniversary of Christianity in Armenia with Concert and Khachkar Dedication". The Armenian Reporter. 20 October 2001. Archived from the original on 10 May 2011. Retrieved 2011-05-21.
↑ Lane, Christel (1978). Christian religion in the Soviet Union : a sociological study. Albany: State univ. of New York P. p. 107. ISBN 0873953274.
1 2 3 "Microsoft Word - cjl - ARM_MPSEURO_countryprofile.doc" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 November 2009. Retrieved 2010-01-25.
↑ "Human Development Report 2009 – Armenia". Hdrstats.undp.org. Archived from the original on 9 January 2010. Retrieved 2010-01-25.
↑ Knapp, Caprice; Madden, Vanessa; Fowler-Kerry, Susan (2011). Pediatric palliative care : global perspectives. Dordrecht: Springer. p. 84. ISBN 9400725698.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Curtis, Glenn E. and Ronald G. Suny. "Education". Armenia: A Country Study. Library of Congress Federal Research Division (March 1994). This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
↑ "Nagorno Karabakh and Armenia – One Laptop per Child".
↑ Freedom House, Armenia, 2015 Press Freedom report
↑ Anais Melikyan, Armenia, EJC Press Landscapes (circa 2009)
↑ Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, The Protection of media freedom in Europe.Background report prepared by Mr William Horsley, special representative for media freedom of the Association of European Journalists
↑ "Legislation: National Assembly of RA". Parliament.am. Retrieved 2013-04-26.
↑ "Ambassadors in Sport?: Independent Armenia far below the glory of Soviet times on the pitch, mat – Features". ArmeniaNow.com. Retrieved 2010-01-25.
↑ Green, ed. by Thomas A. (2001). Martial arts of the world : en encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO. p. 718. ISBN 9781576071502.
1 2 "Ambassadors in Sport?: Independent Armenia far below the glory of Soviet times on the pitch, mat – Features". ArmeniaNow.com. Retrieved 2012-08-28.
↑ "Chess News – BBC lecture: Armenia, the cleverest nation on earth". ChessBase.com. Retrieved 2010-12-30.

External links

General information

Armenia entry at The World Factbook
Armenia at UCB Libraries GovPubs
Armenia at DMOZ
Armenia profile from the BBC News
Wikimedia Atlas of Armenia
Geographic data related to Armenia at OpenStreetMap
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Armenia". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Key Development Forecasts for Armenia from International Futures

Armenia articles

History
(timeline)

Early	Origins Name Kura–Araxes culture Hayk Hayasa-Azzi Mitanni Nairi Kingdom of Urartu Median kingdom Orontid dynasty Achaemenid Empire Satrapy of Armenia Kingdom of Armenia Roman Armenia Parthian Empire Byzantine Armenia Persian Armenia Marzpanate Armenia

Middle	Emirate of Armenia Sajids Bagratuni Armenia Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia Sallarids Ilkhanate Chobanids Ag Qoyunlu Kara Koyunlu Ottoman Armenia 1508–1828 Persian Armenia Safavid Iran Afsharid Iran Qajar Iran Erivan Khanate Karabakh Khanate Treaty of Turkmenchay Russian Armenia

Modern	First Republic of Armenia Soviet Armenia Independent Armenia

By topic	Armenian Genocide Nagorno-Karabakh conflict Armenian national liberation movement more...

Alphabet Architecture Art Cinema Cuisine Dance Language Eastern Western Literature Music Sport Theatre more...

Demographics	Census Crime Education Ethnic minorities Health People diaspora Social issues Women more...

Religion	Armenian Apostolic Church Armenian Catholic Church Armenian Evangelical Church Armenian Brotherhood Church Judaism Islam more...

Symbols	Armenian Cross Armenian eternity sign Coat of arms Flag Mount Ararat National anthem Apricot Grape Pomegranate

Book
Category
Portal
WikiProject

Sovereign states and dependencies of Europe

Sovereign states

States with limited
recognition

Dependencies and
other territories

Denmark	Faroe Islands constituent country

Finland	Åland Islands autonomous region

Norway	Jan Mayen Svalbard unincorporated areas

United Kingdom	Akrotiri and Dhekelia¹ sovereign base areas Gibraltar overseas territory Guernsey Isle of Man Jersey crown dependencies

¹ Partially in Asia, or entirely in Asia with cultural links to Europe.

Countries and dependencies of Asia

Sovereign states

States with limited recognition

Dependencies and special
administrative regions

Australia	Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands

China	Hong Kong Macau

United Kingdom	Akrotiri and Dhekelia British Indian Ocean Territory

Articles Related to Armenia

Administrative divisions of Armenia

Provinces (մարզեր)	Aragatsotn Ararat Armavir Gegharkunik Kotayk Lori Shirak Syunik Tavush Vayots Dzor

City with special status	Yerevan (capital)

Cities and towns in Armenia

Aragatsotn	Ashtarak Aparan Talin

Ararat	Artashat Ararat Masis Vedi

Armavir	Armavir Metsamor Vagharshapat

Gegharkunik	Gavar Chambarak Martuni Sevan Vardenis

Kotayk	Hrazdan Abovyan Byureghavan Charentsavan Nor Hachen Tsaghkadzor Yeghvard

Lori	Vanadzor Akhtala Alaverdi Shamlugh Spitak Stepanavan Tashir Tumanyan

Shirak	Gyumri Artik Maralik

Syunik	Kapan Agarak Dastakert Goris Kajaran Meghri Sisian

Tavush	Ijevan Ayrum Berd Dilijan Noyemberyan

Vayots Dzor	Yeghegnadzor Jermuk Vayk

Capital city	Yerevan

World Heritage Sites in Armenia

Monasteries of Haghpat and Sanahin Monastery of Geghard and the Upper Azat Valley Cathedral and Churches of Echmiatsin Saint Hripsime Saint Gayane Shoghakat the Archaeological Site of Zvartnots Sites on the Tentative List The archaeological site of the city of Dvin The basilica and archaeological site of Yererouk The monastery of Noravank and the upper Amaghou Valley The monasteries of Tatev and Tatevi Anapat The adjacent areas of the Vorotan Valley

Geographic locale

Countries and regions of the Caucasus

Abkhazia¹

Adjara

Adygea

Armenia

Azerbaijan

Chechnya

Dagestan

Georgia

Nagorno-Karabakh¹

South Ossetia¹

¹ Partially-recognized states

Sovereign states and dependencies of Europe

Sovereign states

States with limited
recognition

Dependencies and
other territories

Denmark	Faroe Islands constituent country

Finland	Åland Islands autonomous region

Norway	Jan Mayen Svalbard unincorporated areas

United Kingdom	Akrotiri and Dhekelia¹ sovereign base areas Gibraltar overseas territory Guernsey Isle of Man Jersey crown dependencies

¹ Partially in Asia, or entirely in Asia with cultural links to Europe.

International membership

International organizations with Armenia as member

ADB BSEC CE CIS CSTO EAPC EBRD ECE EAEC ESCAP FAO IAEA IBRD ICAO ICFTU ICRM IDA IFAD IFC IFRCS ILO IMF Interpol IOC IOM ISO ITU LF NACC NAM OPCW OSCE PACE PFP UN UNCTAD UNESCO UNIDO UPU UNWTO WHO WIPO WMO WNO WTO

Italics indicates observer status

Council of Europe

Institutions	Secretary General Committee of Ministers Parliamentary Assembly Congress Court of Human Rights Commissioner for Human Rights Commission for the Efficiency of Justice Commission against Racism and Intolerance

Members	Albania Andorra Armenia Austria Azerbaijan Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Georgia Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia¹ Malta Moldova Monaco Montenegro Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Romania Russia San Marino Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Ukraine United Kingdom

Observers	Canada Israel Japan Mexico United States Sovereign Military Order of Malta Holy See

Former Members	Czechoslovakia (1991–1992) Saar (assoc. 1950–1956)

¹ Provisionally referred to by the Council of Europe as "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia"; see Macedonia naming dispute.

Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)

Membership

Members	Armenia Azerbaijan Belarus Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Moldova Russia Tajikistan Uzbekistan

Associate members	Turkmenistan Ukraine

Former members	Georgia (1993–2009)

History	Russian Empire Soviet Union Union of Sovereign States Belavezha Accords (Near abroad) Alma-Ata Protocol

Sports

Military

Economics

Organization

Interstate Aviation Committee

Category

Eurasian Economic Union (EEU)

Member states	Armenia Belarus Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Russia

La Francophonie

Category

Membership

Members	Albania Andorra Armenia Belgium French Community Benin Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada New Brunswick Quebec Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Comoros Cyprus¹ Democratic Republic of the Congo Republic of the Congo Djibouti Dominica Egypt Equatorial Guinea France French Guiana Guadeloupe Martinique St. Pierre and Miquelon Gabon Ghana¹ Greece Guinea Guinea-Bissau Haïti Ivory Coast Laos Luxembourg Lebanon Macedonia² Madagascar Mali Mauritania Mauritius Moldova Monaco Morocco Niger Qatar Romania Rwanda St. Lucia São Tomé and Príncipe Senegal Seychelles Switzerland Togo Tunisia Vanuatu Vietnam

Observers	Austria Bosnia and Herzegovina Croatia Czech Republic Dominican Republic Georgia Hungary Latvia Lithuania Montenegro Mozambique Poland Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Thailand Ukraine United Arab Emirates Uruguay

¹ Associate member. ² Provisionally referred to by the Francophonie as the "former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia"; see Macedonia naming dispute.

Organization

Secretaries-General

Culture

Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC)

World Trade Organization

System	Accession and membership Appellate Body Dispute Settlement Body International Trade Centre Chronology of key events

Issues	Criticism Doha Development Round Singapore issues Quota Elimination Peace Clause

Agreements	General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade Agriculture Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Technical Barriers to Trade Trade Related Investment Measures Trade in Services Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Government Procurement Information Technology Marrakech Agreement Doha Declaration Bali Package

Ministerial Conferences	1st (1996) 2nd (1998) 3rd (1999) 4th (2001) 5th (2003) 6th (2005) 7th (2009) 8th (2011) 9th (2013) 10th (2015)

People	Pascal Lamy (Director-General) Roberto Azevêdo (Elected Director-General) Supachai Panitchpakdi (Former Director-General) Deputy Directors-General: Alejandro Jara Valentine Rugwabiza Harsha Singh Rufus Yerxa

Members	Afghanistan Albania Algeria Angola Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Australia Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belize Benin Bolivia Botswana Brazil Brunei Burkina Faso Burma Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Chile China Colombia Democratic Republic of the Congo Republic of the Congo Costa Rica Côte d'Ivoire Cuba Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador European Union¹ Fiji Gabon The Gambia Georgia Ghana Grenada Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Honduras Hong Kong² Iceland India Indonesia Israel Jamaica Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya South Korea Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Lesotho Liberia Liechtenstein Macau² Macedonia Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Moldova Mongolia Montenegro Morocco Mozambique Namibia Nepal New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Norway Oman Pakistan Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Qatar Russia Rwanda St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa Saudi Arabia Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Solomon Islands South Africa Sri Lanka Suriname Swaziland Switzerland Tajikistan Taiwan³ Tanzania Thailand Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United States Uruguay Venezuela Vietnam Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe 1. All twenty-eight member states of the European Union are also members of the WTO in their own right: Austria Belgium Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Ireland Italy Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Poland Portugal Romania Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden United Kingdom 2. Special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China, participates as "Hong Kong, China" and "Macao China". 3. Officially the Republic of China, participates as "Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu", and "Chinese Taipei" in short.

National personifications

Argentina Effigies of Argentina Armenia Mother Armenia Australia Boxing kangaroo Little Boy from Manly Bangladesh Mother Bengal Belgium Leo Belgicus Brazil Efígie da República Cambodia Preah Thong and Neang Neak Canada Johnny Canuck China Yanhuang Czech Republic Čechie Czech Vašek Švejk Denmark Holger Danske Finland Finnish Maiden France Marianne Georgia Kartvlis Deda Germany Deutscher Michel Germania Greece Athena "Greece" of Delacroix Iceland Lady of the Mountain India Bharat Mata Indonesia Ibu Pertiwi Ireland Ériu Hibernia Kathleen Ni Houlihan Israel Srulik Italy Italia turrita Japan Amaterasu Kenya Wanjiku Korea Dangun Ungnyeo Malta Melita Netherlands Dutch Maiden New Zealand Zealandia Norway Ola Nordmann Philippines Juan dela Cruz Maria Clara Poland Polonia Portugal Efígie da República Zé Povinho Russia Mother Russia Serbia Mother Serbia Kosovo Maiden Spain Hispania Sweden Mother Svea Switzerland Helvetia Ukraine Cossack Mamay United Kingdom Britannia John Bull Dame Wales United States Brother Jonathan Columbia Lady Liberty Uncle Sam Billy Yank Northern states Johnny Reb Southern states

Other symbols of Liberty

States with limited recognition

Details concerning international recognition and foreign relations provided by the articles linked in parenthesis

UN member states

Partially unrecognised	Armenia relations China relations Cyprus relations Israel recognition relations North Korea relations South Korea relations

Non-UN member
states

Recognised by at least one UN member	Abkhazia recognition relations Kosovo recognition relations Northern Cyprus relations Palestine recognition relations Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (Western Sahara) recognition relations South Ossetia recognition relations Taiwan relations

Recognised only by non-UN members	Nagorno-Karabakh recognition relations Transnistria recognition relations

Unrecognised	Somaliland relations

Authority control	WorldCat Identities VIAF: 253570636 GND: 4085931-9 NDL: 00560353

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Armenia

Etymology

History

Antiquity

Middle Ages

Early Modern era

World War I and the Armenian Genocide

First Republic of Armenia

Soviet Armenia

Restoration of independence

Geography

Topography

Environment

Climate

Government and politics

Foreign relations

Human rights

Military

Administrative divisions

Economy

Exports and imports

Demographics

Ethnic groups

Languages

Cities

Religion

Health

Education

Culture

Media

Music and dance

Art

Sport

Cuisine

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links