Republic of Armenia
Short Form: Armenia

Geography

Location: Southwestern Asia
Armenia is east of Turkey and bordered by 3 countries: Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia.

Area
Admin Regions by Area

Total: 29,800 sq km
Land: 28,400 sq km
Water: 1,400 sq km

Population
Population by Administrative Regions

Total: 3,326,448
Ethnic groups: Armenian 93%, Azeri 1%, Russian 2%, other (mostly Yezidi Kurds) 4% note: as of the end of 1993, virtually all Azeris had emigrated from Armenia
Religions: Armenian Apostolic 94%, other Christian 4%, Yezidi (Zoroastrian/animist) 2%
Languages: Armenian 96%, Russian 2%, other 2%

Principal Cities
Cities Ranked by Population

Capital: Yerevan

Short History

Armenia first emerged into history around 800 BC as part of the Kingdom of Urartu or Van, which flourished in the Caucasus and eastern Asia Minor until 600. After the destruction of the Seleucid Empire, the first Armenian state was founded in 190 BC. At its zenith, from 95 to 65 BC, Armenia extended its rule over the entire Caucasus and the area that is now eastern Turkey, Syria and Lebanon. For a time, Armenia was the strongest state in the Roman East. It became part of the Roman Empire in 64 BC and adopted a Western political, philosophical, and religious orientation.

In 301 AD, Armenia became the first nation to adopt Christianity as a state religion, establishing a church that still exists independently of both the Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox churches. During its later political eclipses, Armenia depended on the church to preserve and protect its unique identity. From around 1100 to 1350, the focus of Armenian nationalism moved south, as the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, which had close ties to European Crusader states, flourished in southeastern Asia Minor until conquered by Muslim states.

Between the 4th and 19th centuries, Armenia was conquered and ruled by, among others, Persians, Byzantines, Arabs, Mongols, and Turks. For a brief period from 1918 to 1920, it was an independent republic. In late 1920, the communists came to power following an invasion of Armenia by the Red Army, and in 1922, Armenia became part of the Trans-Caucasian Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1936, it became the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic. Armenia declared its independence from the Soviet Union on September 21, 1991.

Armenia is a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the United Nations, the Council of Europe, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, NATO's Partnership for Peace, the North Atlantic Cooperation Council, the International Monetary Fund, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the World Trade Organization.

Nagorno-Karabakh
In 1988, the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, a predominantly ethnic Armenian enclave within Azerbaijan, voted to secede and join Armenia. This eventually developed into a full-scale armed conflict. Armenian support for the separatists led to an economic embargo by Azerbaijan, which has crippled Armenia's foreign trade and restricted its imports of food and fuel, three-quarters of which transited Azerbaijan under Soviet rule.

Peace talks in early 1993 were disrupted by the seizure of Azerbaijan's Kelbajar district by Nagorno-Karabakh Armenian forces and the forced evacuation of thousands of ethnic Azeris. Turkey in protest then followed with an embargo of its own against Armenia. A cease-fire was declared between Azeri and Armenian/N-K forces in 1994 and has been maintained by both sides since then in spite of occasional shooting along the line of contact between the two. All Armenian governments have thus far resisted domestic pressure to recognize the self-proclaimed independence of the "Nagorno-Karabakh Republic," while at the same time announcing they would not accept any peace accords that returned the enclave to Azerbaijani rule. Some 750,000 ethnic Azeris who fled during the Karabakhi offensives still live as internally displaced persons in Azerbaijan, while roughly 400,000 ethnic Armenians who fled Azerbaijan since 1988 remain refugees, although around 35,000 have accepted Armenian citizenship since 1998.

Negotiations to peacefully resolve the conflict have been ongoing since 1992 under the aegis of the Minsk Group of the OSCE. The Minsk Group is currently co-chaired by the U.S., France, and Russia and comprises Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, the U.S., several western European nations, and representatives of the Armenian and Azeri communities of Nagorno-Karabakh. The talks have focused on the status of Nagorno-Karabakh, the return of refugees, the lifting of blockades, the withdrawal from occupied territories, and the status of the Lachin corridor, which connects Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia.

Karabakhi Armenians, supported by the Republic of Armenia, now hold about 15% of Azerbaijan and have refused to withdraw from occupied territories until an agreement on the status of Nagorno-Karabakh is reached. Armenia and Azerbaijan continue to observe the cease-fire which has been in effect since May 1994, and in late 1995 both also agreed to OSCE field representatives being based in Tbilisi, Georgia, to monitor the cease-fire and facilitate the peace process.