Armenia

Full name of country: Republic of Armenia

Region: Middle East

Official language: Armenian

Population: 2,976,765 (2024 est.)

Nationality: Armenian(s) (noun), Armenian (adjective)

Land area: 28,203 sq km (10,889 sq miles)

Water area: 1,540 sq km (595 sq miles)

Capital: Yerevan

National anthem: "Mer Hayrenik""(Our Fatherland), by Mikael Nalbandian/Barsegh Kanachyan

National holiday: Armenian Genocide Memorial Day, April 24; Independence Day, September 21 (1991)

Population growth: -0.42% (2024 est.)

Time zone: UTC +4

Flag: The Armenian flag is a horizontal tricolor of red (top), blue (center), and orange (bottom). The red of the flag stands for the blood shed for the country, the blue represents the sky, and the orange (apricot) symbolizes the country’s fertile landscape.

Independence: September 21, 1991 (from the Soviet Union)

Government type: parliamentary democracy

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Legal system: civil law system

The Republic of Armenia (Hayastani Hanrapetut'yun) is a landlocked country in the South Caucasus region between Europe and Asia. It is bordered on the east by Azerbaijan, on the south by Iran and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic (a landlocked exclave of Azerbaijan), on the west by Turkey, and on the north by Georgia.

Its citizens, known as Armenians, take pride in the ancient heritage of their country. Armenia's borders have changed many times. The country was once much larger, stretching from the Black Sea to the Caspian. Since then it has been attacked and occupied by the Parthians, Romans, Mongols, Arabs, Egyptians, Persians, Turks, and Russians.

Today, Armenia is independent, but it is still haunted by its twentieth-century history, particularly the 1915 Armenian Genocide in which 1.5 million Armenians died. In addition, hundreds of thousands were forced to emigrate out of the Ottoman Empire, which at that time controlled Armenia. In 1920, Armenia became part of the Soviet Union.

In 1988, a significant earthquake occurred, killing thousands and causing widespread destruction. Between 1988 and 1994, Armenia was at war with Azerbaijan over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The conflict shattered Armenia's economy and created territorial and human rights issues, many of which remained unresolved by 2020, when war broke out once again, ending in victory for Azerbaijan. In 2023 Azerbaijan launched another offensive and recaptured Nagorno-Karabakh, displacing most of the territory's Armenian population and triggering a refugee crisis.

Note: unless otherwise indicated, statistical data in this article is sourced from the CIA World Factbook, as cited in the bibliography.

People and Culture

Population: The vast majority of the population (close to 100 percent) is comprised of ethnic Armenians. There are small minorities of Yezidi Kurds, Russians, and Azeri, most of whom fled the country during the conflict with Azerbaijan.

Armenia declared itself a Christian country 1,700 years ago, well before Rome did. Over 98.1 percent of the population belongs to the Armenian Apostolic Church, which is similar in ritual to the Coptic and Syrian Christian Churches. The remainder belongs mainly to other Christian denominations, and Yezidi Kurds adhere to Yezidi, which is a form of Zoroastrianism, a religion older than Christianity. Until the early 1990s, many other Kurds, ethnic Azeris, Iranians, and Georgians lived in Armenia and practiced Islam. They have nearly all fled amid regional instability and ethnic conflicts and were replaced by ethnic Armenians (Christians) who fled Azerbaijan.

The Spitak earthquake, which occurred on December 7, 1988, devastated Armenia, killing 25,000 people. Farms and villages in northwest Armenia were destroyed, leaving thousands homeless. Following the earthquake, hundreds of survivors moved to larger cities or left the country altogether.

In 2023, following Azerbaijan's military offensive in the region, an estimated 100,000 Armenians fled Nagorno-Karabakh. Most of these refugees went to Armenia.

Armenia's HDI value for 2022 is 0.786— which put the country in the High human development category—positioning it at 76 out of 193 countries and territories.

Indigenous People: The Armenian people have inhabited the Caucasus since prehistoric times. Their legendary beginnings, based on the Bible, tell of Haik, a descendent of Noah who settled below Mount Ararat and whose name is the source of "Hayastan" (land of Haik). "Armenia," the name given the country by the Persians, honors Aram, a legendary descendent of Haik and the ancestor of all ethnic Armenians.

The Yezidi Kurds, the only other significant ethnic group remaining in Armenia, live in the western mountains in villages of stone houses. Sheep herding is their chief occupation.

Education: Like most peoples of the former Soviet Union, Armenians are highly literate—the literacy rate among adults is 99.8 percent. Although Armenia's public schools remain free and compulsory in theory through grade 10, state expenditure on education fell during the war with Azerbaijan, and remains low—2.8 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2021.

In 2023 an estimated 8.59 percent of working-age Armenians were unemployed and the country contended with increasing challenges related to student absenteeism. Many families in Armenia cannot afford food and transportation to school, or school supplies. Youth unemployment remains a persistent issue, and stood at 19 percent in 2023.

Armenia has many private schools at all levels, often supported by charitable groups based outside the country. Although tuition-based, these can be more affordable for poor families than free public schools are, as some private schools provide supplies, transportation, and even free breakfasts.

Having completed two years of high school, students may continue in specialized and technical secondary education, and then enroll in college for a four-year bachelor's degree. Graduate degrees include the two-year "magistracy" (or master's degree) followed by the "aspirantura," a two-year program which culminates in a Candidate in Science degree. Students wishing doctoral degrees enroll in an Academy of Science, taking no courses but doing independent research which they must defend before a Highest Attestation Commission.

Health Care: Under the Soviet system, Armenia's government provided free health care for its citizens. The Armenian government spent 12.2 percent of GDP on health care costs in 2020.

In rural areas hospitals and clinics are dilapidated, and often unheated. Basic drugs and supplies are lacking. Nurses and physicians are poorly paid. Moreover, those educated under the Soviet system often rely on drugs and methods long rejected by other Western medical practitioners.

Armenians suffer from high rates of cardiovascular disease, cancer, stroke and mental illness. Contagious diseases such as tuberculosis and sexually transmitted diseases including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are spreading.

Charitable agencies outside Armenia supply many needs, creating mobile clinics to visit remote communities, supplying wheelchairs for the disabled, and cooperating with hospitals and medical personnel to supply necessary equipment and medical supplies. Western universities, such as Canada's McGill University, have established alliances with Armenian institutions of higher learning for sharing experience and technology.

Food: Many Armenian foods are variations on classic Middle Eastern dishes such as tabouleh, baba ghanouj, and baklava. The country has some unique specialties, as well. Lavash, traditional Armenian unleavened bread, is paper-thin and flexible, often baked in or on a clay oven. It goes well with khorovatz, barbecued pork; with imom bayeldi, vegetables roasted in olive oil; with jibour, an egg stew; or tahnaboor, a hot or cold yogurt soup. Toorshi, pickled vegetables, appear on every table.

Arts & Entertainment:Armenian was originally a separate branch of the Indo-European language family. Through centuries of commerce and conflict, the language assimilated a rich vocabulary from other branches, such as Indo-Iranian, Greek, and Latin, and also from Semitic languages. It remained an oral language until, in the early fourth century, Bishop Mesrob Mashtotz developed a thirty-six letter alphabet for use in translating the Bible. This written language, called Grabar, or classical Armenian, became the language of Armenian literature and scholarship through the nineteenth century, and remains the liturgical language of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

St. Gregory of Narek wrote his Book of Lamentations in Grabar. Armenia's classic Christian writer, his ninety-five prayers or elegies have been widely translated and admired.

Spoken Armenian, however, evolved differently, shaped by varying Byzantine, Ottoman, Iranian, and Russian influences. Called Ashkharabar, it is spoken by Armenians worldwide and has become the language of modern Armenian literature.

The Yerevan Academy of Fine Arts houses a database documenting thousands of Armenia's oldest artworks, including rock carvings on mountain crags and cave walls. These depict scenes of hunting, farming, and mythology, anatomy, dancing, and Bible stories.

Armenia's historic film industry nearly died out as a result of war, but underwent a revival during the twenty-first century. Hayfilm, founded in 1923, flourished under Soviet control. During the twenty-first century Armenian American entrepreneurs, who planned to create production facilities for foreign film companies as well as Armenian filmmakers, made efforts to revive this industry.

Armenians participate in international competitions for wrestling, judo, boxing, weightlifting, tennis, and chess.

Holidays: Armenia's national holiday is Independence Day, also called Referendum Day (September 21), celebrating the 1991 separation from the Soviet Union. Other holidays include Armenian Genocide Memorial Day (April 24), Republic Day (May 28), and Christmas Day (January 6). Constitution Day (July 5) celebrates the adoption of the present Constitution in 1995.

Environment and Geography

Topography: Armenia lies south of the Caucasus Mountains on a wooded plateau varied by mountainous outcroppings and fast-flowing rivers. The highest peak, Mount Ararat, reaches 4,090 meters (13,418 feet) above sea level. Its lowest point, on the Debed River, is still 400 meters (1,312 feet) above the sea. Landlocked Armenia's largest body of water is Lake Sevan, which lies 1,829 meters (6,000 feet) above sea level with an area of 1,424 square kilometers (550 square miles).

Natural Resources: Armenia's mineral resources consist of small quantities of gold, copper, molybdenum, zinc, and alumina ores. During the 1990s, an energy blockade imposed on Armenia forced families to rely on wood fuel. As a result, once-forested areas are now barren slopes subject to erosion.

Hydropower, electricity, and nuclear power are the nation's only non-imported sources of energy. Use of Lake Sevan for hydropower has threatened the supply of local drinking water. The once-abandoned Soviet-era Metsamor nuclear power plant has been reinstated, although it is located on land that is subject to earthquakes.

Plants & Animals: Apricots and peaches originated in Armenia. They grow well there, as do grapes, pears, and most other fruits of temperate and sub-tropical zones. In fact, 3,500 species of vascular plants grow in Armenia, with an average density of more than 100 species per square kilometer, almost a world record.

Armenia is particularly rich in native and rare species, and is prized by botanists as a potential genetic resource, a site where long-domesticated plants (wheat, for instance) still grow wild. The Erebuni Reserve contains many such wild grains.

Armenia's variety of landscape accounts for the diversity of plant life found there. Climbing from the lowest point one encounters deserts, semi-deserts, mountain steppes, forest land, and sub-alpine, then alpine meadows.

Armenia's 500 animal species are also various. Its protected reserves harbor rare bezoar goats, wild boars, panthers, gray bears, porcupines, and the Caucasian wood grouse. Situated on a major crossway, the country hosts countless migratory fowl each season.

Climate: Winters are frigid in Armenia. Summers, while hot in the valleys, are cool on the plateau. There is little rainfall, however, and frequent droughts, so crops rely on irrigation using water drawn from Lake Sevan and from the Arax River.

Armenia is subject to severe earthquakes. Its most catastrophic earthquake in modern times occurred in 1988, centering in Spitak. It killed 25,000 people and left hundreds of thousands homeless, with thousands more injured and disabled.

Economy

Under the Soviet Union, Armenia imported raw goods and energy from other Soviet states and returned them as finished manufactured products. Following independence and severe economic depression during and after the conflict with Azerbaijan, Armenia is recovering, supported by the International Monetary Fund and private investment. Armenia joined the Eurasian Economic Union, whose other members are Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan, in January 2015, and concluded the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement in November 2017 for closer trade relations with the European Union.

The country ranked eighty-fifth on the 2021–2 United Nations Human Development Index report. The inflation rate later stabilized; small and medium-sized businesses have been privatized, and the Metsamor nuclear power plant supplies energy, though at a risk.

Industry: Industries in Armenia include the manufacture of machine tools and pressing machines, electric motors, trucks, tires, shoes, clothing, and jewelry. Diamond cutting employs several thousand people. Microelectronics and software development are growing in importance.

Armenia's major exports include cut diamonds, metals and metal goods (machinery, copper ore, scrap metal), vegetables and fruits (especially grapes), and energy. The country imports uncut diamonds, petroleum and natural gas, food, tobacco, pharmaceuticals, and cars. Major trading partners include Russia, China, Bulgaria, and Switzerland. According to 2023 estimates, Armenia exported approximately 58.2 percent in goods and imported 58.9 percent. In 2023 the estimated gross domestic product (GDP) in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP) was US$57.728 billion; per capita GDP that year was US$20,800.

Agriculture:Agriculture remains an important part of Armenia's economy and during the 2010s employed over one-third of Armenia's labor force. Small-scale farming operations have taken the place of Soviet-era agro-industrial complexes.

In the economy that emerged following the collapse of the Soviet Union, complicated by an economic blockade, good seed, fertilizer, water rights, and appropriate farm machinery were difficult to obtain. Cattle were slaughtered for lack of feed, and fruit trees and vines were uprooted. Now, however, farms are being combined for efficiency, although farmers' cooperatives are still rare.

The major food crops are wine grapes and citrus fruit, grown in the sub-tropical Aras River Valley. Other important crops include sugar beets, potatoes; wheat, barley, cotton, and tobacco.

Tourism: Tourism in Armenia is a healthy and growing part of the economy, directly contributing 3.9 percent of the nation's total GDP in 2019. That year, Armenia had nearly 1.495 million international tourist arrivals. However, the tourism sector suffered in 2020, due to both the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as renewed war with Azerbaijan in 2020 and 2023.

Ethnic Armenians and their descendants visiting the homeland account for most of visitors. Others come for the country's famous spas at mineral springs. Eager to increase these numbers, the Department of Tourism has cited the need to expand the airport in Yerevan, to repair roads, and to fund the restoration and protection of museums and historic monuments.

Three of Armenia's historic monuments are listed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as World Heritage sites. Among the oldest centers of Christianity, they are all accessible from Yerevan, and include the Haghpat monastic complex; St. Ejmiatsin Cathedra, the ruins of Zvartnots (built where Christianity was introduced); and Gegard Monastery (carved from rocks and caves). Four others, including the monastic complex of Noravank, are on the tentative list.

Government

Armenia is a republic with a government modeled on that of European parliamentary democracies. It consists of three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. The legislative branch is unicameral, consisting of a General Assembly of 105 members elected to five-year terms.

The executive branch includes a president elected by popular vote to a five-year term, a prime minister appointed by the president, and a Council of Ministers named by the prime minister. Should the General Assembly reject their program, the prime minister and Council of Ministers must resign. The judicial branch consists of a Constitutional Court and a Court of Cassation (Appeals).

Armenians support many political parties, none with a strong majority. Assembly members frequently switch parties or declare themselves independent.

There are eleven marzer (provinces) responsible for local administration.

Historically, Armenia has maintained tense relations with many of its neighbors, particularly Turkey and Azerbaijan. Largely due to Turkey's refusal to recognize the Armenian Genocide as a genocide and issue an official apology, Turkey and Armenia do not have formal diplomatic relations.

While open warfare between Armenia and Azerbaijan formally ended in 1994, relations between the two countries remained incredibly tense; Azerbaijan continue to claim ownership of the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, while Armenia supported the territory's self-proclaimed independent government (the Republic of Artsakh), despite not officially recognizing this independence claim. Periodic outbreaks of fighting occurred throughout the 2010s along the line of contact, which had separated the two countries' military forces starting in 1994.

In September 2020 the Azerbaijani military attacked Armenian forces along the line of contact, reigniting a full-scale war between the two countries. By November, Azerbaijan had emerged as the victor, reclaiming territory in Nagorno-Karabakh previously occupied by Armenia. Thousands of soldiers and nearly two hundred civilians were killed in the conflict, which also resulted in the displacement of many residents of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The peace deal the Armenian government made with Azerbaijan, which included the presence of Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh, proved unpopular with many Armenians, and helped trigger large anti-government protests in Yerevan.

For much of 2023 Azerbaijan blockaded Nagorno-Karabakh, creating a humanitarian crisis, and in September 2023 launched a military offensive in the territory that led to the swift collapse of Nagorno-Karabakh's self-declared independent government. This ended decades of Armenian support for the region's independent (but unrecognized) government and also triggered a massive influx of refugees into Armenia; within a few weeks of the Azerbaijani offensive 100,000 out of Nagorno-Karabakh's 120,000 Armenians fled the territory, leading Armenia to accuse Azerbaijan of ethnic cleansing.

Interesting Facts

• In their own language, Armenians call themselves Hay, derived from Hayk, the legendary patriarch of the Armenian people, whose story was written down in the fifth century.
• Varazdat Arshakuni, king of Armenia, entered the 291st Olympic Games in 385 CE and won the championship in boxing.
• Armenian chess super-grandmaster Levon Aronian was ranked second in the world in 2014, and was one of the few players in the world to have achieved a rating over 2800, according to the World Chess Federation. He remained highly ranked into the 2020s.

Bibliography

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Gessen, Masha. "The Violent End of Nagorno-Karabakh's Fight for Independence." The New Yorker, 29 Sep. 2023, www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/the-violent-end-of-nagorno-karabakhs-fight-for-independence. Accessed 26 Oct. 2023.

Human Development Insights, United Nations Development Programme, 13 March 2024, hdr.undp.org/data-center/country-insights#/ranks. Accessed 15 Jan. 2025.

"International Tourism, Number of Arrivals: Armenia." The World Bank, 2019, data.worldbank.org/indicator/ST.INT.ARVL?locations=AM. Accessed 3 July 2019.

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Travel & Tourism: Economic Impact 2018—Armenia. World Travel and Tourism Council, Mar. 2018.