Armenia

WhereisArmenia?ArmeniaislandlockedcountryintheCaucasusmountainsinAsia.ItisborderedbyGeorgiatotheNorth,Turkeytothewest,AzerbaijantotheEast,theAzerbaijanNacxivanenclavetothesouthwest,andIrantothesouth.ThereisalakecalledLakeSevaninthenortheast.IthasasmallenclaveinAzerbaijan.It’scapitalandbiggestcityisYerevanwithapopulaIonof1,116,000.

BasicFactsArea:11,484sq.mi.PopulaIon:2,794,000PopulaIonGrowth:0.1%Government:RepublicUrbanPopulaIon:64%LifeExpectancy:74yearsLiteracyRate:100%OfficialLanguage:ArmenianCurrency:ArmenianDram(AMD)GDPperCapita:$5,200GDPGrowth:7.2%

TheLandandit’sPeople

Land•  TheNorthwestofArmeniaistheArmenianhighlandandishometoit’stallestpeaksthatcanexceed13,00feet

•  TheEastandNorthishometotheLesserCaucasus,amountainrangethatcoversGeorgia,PartsofRussia,ArmeniaandAzerbaijan

•  AlsointheeastwehavetheSevanbasinconsisIngofLakeSevananditisborderedbytheCaucasus

•  AndinthesouthwestthereistheAraratplainwhichgoesintoTurkeyandhometotheimportantArasriver

PlantsandAnimals

•  Theboar,wildcat,jackal,adder,Gurza(avenomoussnake),scorpion,and,morerarely,theleopardinhabittheSemidesertregion

•  Oaktreesarecommoninthesouthalongwithsquirrels,bears,andwildcats

•  Thealpineregionishometobirdssuchaseagleswhilethetundrahasreallynolifeatall

Climate

•  Armenia’sclimateisverydryandconInentalduetothemountainousterrain

•  Armeniacangetveryintenseheatinthelowlandssomedaysinthesummer

•  Inthewinteritisusuallyabout10F.butinthemountainsitcangetfreezingcold

•  TherecordlowinArmeniawas-51F.

Economy

•  Mostagricultureisinthesouthwithfarmsproducingwinegrapes,themostimportantcrop,figs,olives,pomegranates,etc.

•  HydroelectricpowerhavebeensupplyingpowertofactoriesintheYerevanregion

•  Factoriesmakechemicals,clothing,precisioninstrumentsandmachineries.

People•  Almost100%ofArmenia’spopulaIonisethnicallyArmenianandcanspeakArmenian,adistantbranchoftheIndo-Europeanfamily

•  ThereareminoriIesareKurds,Russians,andsmallnumbersofUkrainiansandAssyrians.

•  ThereishardlyanyAzerbaijanipeoplelivinginthecountrysinceofthepoliIcaltensionsbetweenthetwocountries

•  TheregionofNagorno-KarabakhinAzerbaijanisveryethnicallyArmenianandhasbeentryinghardtopushforindependence

TheHistoryOfArmenia

EarlyHistory•  InEarlyImestheAssyriansandPersiansboth

conqueredArmeniabutitwassIllruledbyNaIveLeaders

•  AlexandertheGreatconqueredArmeniaduringhisconquestanditwasruledbytheGreekDynasty

•  In300Ad.TheKingattheImeTiridateslllconvertedtoChrisIanity,hethenmadeChrisIanitytheStateReligion

•  Inthe5thcenturyaChrisIanChurchwasestablished•  ItthenfelltotheArabsin653whospreadthenew

IslamicreligiontoArmenia,thenagainitfelltothePersiansin1502

•  TheTurksthenincorporatedintotheOhomanEmpirewhosuppressedChrisIanity

•  ManyArmeniansfledtootherpartsofAsiaandAfrica

RussianandSovietArmenia•  RussiatooktheregionfromPersia

knownasRussianArmeniaattheImein1828

•  ThenajertheRusso-TurkishRussiagainedpartofTurkishArmenia

•  TheTurkishgovernmentduringWW1begantodecimatetheArmeniansandmanyfledtoothercountries

•  AjerthewarArmeniabecameindependentfor2yearsbutRussiantroopsenteredYerevanin1920andsetupaSovietgovernmentoutofRussianArmenia

•  In1936theArmenianSovietSocialistRepublic(ASSR)wasformed

ModernHistory•  Since1988therehavebeenmanyethnicconflictsbetweenArmeniansandAzerbaijanis

•  EthnictensionsinNagorno-Karabakhstartedin1988ajeravoteandSoviettroopsweresenttorestoreorder,AzerbaijanconInuedtocauseethnictensionsneartheborder

•  Amassive6.9magnitudeearthquakehitArmeniakilling25,000peopleonDec.21988

•  Armeniagotindependencein1991ajertheSovietUnionCollapsed

•  LaterthatyearArmeniajoinedtheCommonwealthofIndependentStateswith10otherformerSovietStates

InteresIngFacts

•  ArmeniawastofirstcountrytoconverttheenIrecountrytoChrisIanity

•  Armeniaishometotheworld’soldestwineryandit’slocatedinacave

•  Armeniaisthehomelandoftheapricot•  TheArmenianalphabetisoneofthemostadvancedintheworld