Facts about Armenia
Mount Ararat, which was part of Armenia, is the highest mountain in the region.
The Armenian government's stated aim is to build a Western-style parliamentary democracy.
Armenia is slightly smaller than the state of Maryland in the United States.
Meanwhile, the Soviet Eleventh Army had invaded Armenia at Karavansarai (present-day Ijevan) on November 29.
After the fall of the Armenian kingdom in 428 C.E., most of Armenia was incorporated as a marzpanate within the Persian Sassanid Empire.
Armenia also has a population of Catholics (both Roman and Mekhitarist - Armenian Uniate (180,000)), evangelical Protestants, and followers of the Armenian traditional religion.
The legendary founder of Armenia was Hayk, a chieftain who united his kinsmen into a single nation.
According to the Constitution of Armenia, the president, who is elected by popular vote for a five-year term, and is eligible for a second term, is the chief of state.
By December 4, Soviet forces entered Yerevan, Bolshevist Russia annexed Armenia, and in 1922 was incorporated into the Soviet Union as part of the Transcaucasian SFSR along with Georgia and Azerbaijan.
Around 600 B.C.E., the Kingdom of Armenia was established under the Orontid Dynasty, which existed under several local dynasties till 428 C.E.
In Armenia there are rock paintings of scenes of country dancing from the fifth to the third millennia B.C.E.
During the nineteenth century, writer Mikael Nalbandian worked to create a new Armenian literary identity.
The Democratic Republic of Armenia briefly gained control of the mountain, which was ceded to Turkey as part of the Treaty of Kars in 1921.
The American University of Armenia has graduate programs in Business and Law, among others, and forms a new focal point for English-language intellectual life in the city.
Under Ottoman rule, the Armenians were granted considerable autonomy within their own enclaves, but as Christians under a strict Muslim social system, they faced pervasive discrimination.
The world-class Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra performs at the beautifully refurbished Yerevan Opera House, where one can attend a full season of opera.
In 1967, a memorial to the victims of the Armenian Genocide was built at the Tsitsernakaberd hill above the Hrazdan gorge in Yerevan after mass demonstrations took place the tragic event's 50th anniversary in 1965.
Gorbachev's inability to solve Armenia's problems (especially Karabakh) led many Armenians to become disillusioned, creating a hunger for independence.
The re-emergent Armenian kingdom was ruled by the Bagratuni dynasty, and lasted till 1045.
Members of the nu-metal band called "System of a Down" are all of Armenian descent, although only bassist Shavo Odadjian is from the country.
Traditional dancing is popular among expatriate Armenians, and has been `exported' to folk dance groups all over the world.
According to the 2006 Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), Armenia ranked 93rd of 163 countries, a slight increase since it was first ranked in 2003, at 80th.
Christian Armenians maintained their religious freedom, and Armenia gained autonomy and the right to be ruled by an Armenian marzpan, whereas other imperial territories were ruled exclusively by Persians.
Like Lacis, or Filet lace, Armenian needlelace seems to be a descendant of netmaking.
Soviet investment in and support of Armenian industry has virtually disappeared, so that few major enterprises are still able to function.
The ring is moved to the left hand once a formal marriage ceremony is conducted by the Armenian church, usually one year later.
Armenians voted overwhelmingly for independence in a September 1991 referendum.
Armenia’s long history as a crossroads of the ancient world has resulted in a landscape with innumerable fascinating archaeological sites.
Armenia is divided into 10 regions known as marzes, with the city of Yerevan having special administrative status as the country's capital.
Armenia's nearly-homogeneous population was 3,215,800 in 2006,—the second most densely populated of the former Soviet republics.
The National Assembly was, in 2007, controlled by a coalition of three political parties: the conservative Republican party, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, and the Country of Law party.
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.
Housing shortages in Soviet Armenia, meant the new couple resided with the groom's family, although the preference is that they form a new household.
The valleys of the Debet and Akstafa rivers form the chief routes into Armenia from the north as they pass through the mountains.
A presidential election in October 1991 gave 83 percent of the vote to Levon Ter-Petrossian, who had been elected head of government in 1990, when the National Democratic Union party defeated the Armenian Communist Party.
Armenia (Armenian language: "Hayastan"), officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked, mountainous country located in the Southern Caucasus between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea.
Armenia was the first nation to adopt Christianity as a state religion, in 301.
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.
Religion in ancient Armenia was historically related to a set of beliefs which, in Persia, led to the emergence of Zoroastrianism.
A violent conflict, known as the Turkish-Armenian War, broke out in late 1920.
Khash, cattle legs boiled in huge pots and served with spices and garlic, is consumed with Armenian brandy.
Competitively, Armenia has been successful in weightlifting and wrestling.
To this day Assyrians (direct descendents of Akkadians) refer to Armenians as Armani.
Armenia lies in the highlands surrounding the Biblical mountains of Ararat, upon which, in the Judeo-Christian tradition, Noah's Ark came to rest after the flood.
Armenia is a member of the United Nations, the Council of Europe, Asian Development Bank, the Commonwealth of Independent States, the World Trade Organization and the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation.
Armenians and Western historians regard this as state-sponsored mass killings, while Turkish authorities say the deaths were the result of a civil war coupled with disease and famine.
There has been increased emigration after the break-up of the USSR, and a moderate influx of Armenians returning.
to 1000 B.C.E., spears, axes and trinkets of copper, bronze and iron were produced in Armenia and traded in neighboring lands where those metals were less abundant.
Where lacis adds decorative stitches to a net ground, Armenian needlelace involves making the net itself decorative.
According to tradition, two of Jesus' 12 apostles—Thaddaeus and Bartholomew—who preached Christianity in Armenia between 40-60 C.E.
Armenia has a relatively large diaspora – eight million by some estimates, greatly exceeding the 3.2 million population of Armenia itself.
A former republic of the Soviet Union, today Armenia is constitutionally a secular state, but the Christian faith plays a major role.
Armenian cuisine is closely related to eastern and Mediterranean cuisine.
The National Art Gallery in Yerevan has more than 16,000 works that date back to the Middle Ages, illustrating Armenia's rich tales, as well as paintings by many European masters.
The politics of Armenia take place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic.
When Armenia was under Russian and Soviet rule, Russian was the second official language.
After the death of Vladimir Lenin, when Joseph Stalin took power, tens of thousands of Armenians were either executed or deported during Stalin's Great Purge.
Reflecting Soviet influence, the system places importance on science and technology, although by the mid-1990s more emphasis was placed on Armenian culture and history.
In 1991, the Soviet Union broke apart and Armenia re-established its independence.
Before independence, Armenia's economy was largely industry-based – chemicals, electronics, machinery, processed food, synthetic rubber, and textiles – and highly dependent on outside resources.
The closure of Azerbaijani and Turkish borders has hindered the economy, because Armenia depends on outside supplies of energy and most raw materials.
The name Armenia came from Armenak or Aram, the great-grandson of Haik's great-grandson, another leader who is, according to Armenian tradition, the ancestor of all Armenians.
Young Turks overthrew the government of Sultan Hamid, bringing hope to Armenians living in the empire.
The Russian army gained most of Ottoman Armenia during World War I, but lost in 1917 when the Bolshevik Revolution caused the army to withdraw.
successively established their sovereignty over the Armenian Highland.
Archaeologists continue to uncover evidence that Armenia and the Armenian Highlands were among the earliest sites of human civilization.
The Armenian language, an Indo-European language, is the official language.
Ninety six percent of the population speak Armenian, while 75.8 percent additionally speaks Russian although English is becoming increasingly popular.
In 1071 Seljuk Turks defeated the Byzantines and conquered Armenia at the Battle of Manzikert, establishing the Seljuk Empire.
Armenian Church tradition says that two of Jesus' twelve apostles, Thaddaeus and Bartholomew, preached Christianity in Armenia between 40-60 C.E.
The Principality of Armenia lasted till 884, when it regained independence from the weakened Arabic Empire.
Over 93 percent of Armenian Christians belong to the Armenian Apostolic Church, a form of Oriental Orthodoxy, which is a very ritualistic, conservative church, roughly comparable to the Coptic and Syriac churches.
To escape death or servitude, Gagik II, King of Ani, an Armenian named Ruben I, with some of his countrymen went into the Taurus Mountains, and then into Tarsus of Cilicia.
A number of private clinics operate, some under the sponsorship of diaspora voluntary associations, such as the Armenian General Benevolent Union and the Armenian Relief Society.
Armenia emerged from the Marzpanate period as an autonomous principality within the Arabic Empire, ruled by the Prince of Armenia, who was recognized by the Caliph and the Byzantine Emperor.
In 1045, the Byzantine Empire conquered Bagratid Armenia, and soon controlled the other Armenian states.
Hayk was one of the great Armenian leaders after whom the The Land of Hayk was named.
To celebrate, the woman's family opens a bottle of Armenian cognac.
mention Armani, locating them in the southern Armenian Highlands near Lake Van.
Geological turmoil continues in the form of devastating earthquakes, which have plagued Armenia.
The TSFR existed from 1922 to 1936, when it was divided up into the Armenian SSR, Azerbaijan SSR, and the Georgian SSR.
Armenia is famous for its wine and brandy, which is renowned worldwide.
During World War I in the western portion of Armenia, Ottoman Turkey instituted a policy of forced resettlement coupled with other harsh practices that resulted in an estimated one million Armenian deaths.
During the same period, a large number of Armenians fled from Azerbaijan to Armenia.
One of the national symbols of Armenia, it was given to Turkey by the Soviet Union in the Treaty of Kars in 1921.
Contemporary Armenian architecture has followed a tradition of simplicity, reliance on local materials, and use of volcanic tufa for facings.
During Mikhail Gorbachev’s leadership in the 1980s, Armenians began to demand better environmental care for their country, opposing the pollution that Soviet-built factories brought.
Between 1915 and 1917, a large proportion of Armenians living in Anatolia perished in what is known as the Armenian Genocide.
The Treaty of Alexandropol, signed on December 2, forced Armenia to disarm, to cede more than 50 percent of its pre-war territory, and to give up territories granted by the Sиvres treaty.
Armenia belongs to the Union of European Football (soccer) Associations and International Ice Hockey Federation.
During the 1230s, the Mongol Ilkhanate conquered the Zakaryan Principality, as well as the rest of Armenia.
Other Central Asian tribes invaded, from the 1200s until the 1400s, weakening Armenia.
Armenian guards are in charge of borders with Georgia and Azerbaijan, while Russian troops monitor its borders with Iran and Turkey.
Tensions developed between the Armenian and Azerbaijani republics over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Nalbandian's poem "Song of the Italian Girl" may have been the inspiration for the Armenian national anthem, Mer Hayrenik.
The Treaty of Sиvres, signed on August 10, 1920, promised to maintain the existence of the democratic republic and to attach the former territories of Ottoman Armenia to it.
The Armenian military was formed after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and with the establishment of the Ministry of Defense in 1992.
In 301, Armenia became the first country to adopt Christianity as its official religion.
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.
Most of Armenia is drained by the Aras, or its tributary the Razdan, which flows from Lake Sevan.
Most Azerbaijanis who lived in Armenia left the country for Azerbaijan at the beginning of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
The Jewish community in Armenia has diminished from 5000 to 750 persons since independence due to Armenia's economic difficulties, with most emigrants leaving for Israel.
Tens of thousands of ethnic Armenians died during Soviet Union leader Joseph Stalin's Great Purge.
The existence of Armenia as a cultural entity begins with the Hayasa-Azzi (fifteenth to twelfth centuries B.C.E.
The Republic of Armenia, covering an area of 11,600 square miles (30,000 square kilometres) is located in the north-east of the Armenian Highland.
The chief executive in each marze is the marzpet (marz governor), appointed by the government of Armenia.
Armenia prides itself on being the first nation to adopt Christianity as its official religion.
The territory of Armenia is also one of the candidates for the legendary Aratta, mentioned in Sumerian records.
The highland, covering 154,000 square miles (400,000kmІ), is considered to be the original homeland of Armenians.
Like other newly-independent states of the former Soviet Union, Armenia's economy suffers from the legacy of a centrally planned economy and the breakdown of former Soviet trading patterns.
Twenty-five million years ago, a geological upheaval pushed up the earth's crust to form the Armenian Plateau, creating the complex topography of modern Armenia.
Armenia's mountainous terrain gives the opportunity for skiing and climbing.
The Armenian army, air force, air defense, and border guard comprise the four branches of the armed forces.
The lesser Caucasus range extends through northern Armenia, runs southeast between Lake Sevan and Azerbaijan, then passes roughly along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border to Iran.
The preparation of a large number of meat, fish and vegetable dishes in the Armenian kitchen requires stuffing, frothing and pureeing.
Mount Ararat, which was part of Armenia, is the highest mountain in the region.
The Marzpanate of Armenia lasted until the 630s, when Sassanid Persia was destroyed by the Arab Caliphate.