Armenia

Where is Armenia?

Located in Southwestern Asia, Armenia has a 1,570.00 km border with Azerbaijan (996 km), Georgia (219 km), Iran (44 km) and Turkey (311 km). The break-away Nagorno-Karabakh region has been subject of territory dispute.

The capital city of Armenia, Yerevan, dates back to the eighth century although it became the capital in 1918 hence becoming the thirteenth capital of the country. Yerevan lies at the center-west of Armenia within the Ararat plain although it is the only part of Armenia that is not within any province. With a population of over one million people, over 98% of the residents are ethnic Armenians. With twelve districts, Yerevan’s population is fairly distributed between the urban and metropolitan areas. Most of the tourist attractions within Yerevan are historical structures and buildings that house historical records and artefacts. This capital continues to witness a large number of foreign tourists keen on historical data. Yerevan is a cold semi-arid area with hot summers and cold winters.

Armenia is an Asian country covering 29,743.00 km² of which 5.18% is water and 28,203.00 km² is land. This makes it the 57th smallest country in the world and slightly smaller than Maryland. Its geographic coordinates are 40 00 N, 45 00 E and Yerevan is the capital city.

The country's name is said to come from Hayk, the legendary patriach of the Armenians.

Its ISO code is AM.

Geography

Armenia has a mean elevation of 1,792 m above sea level.

It has a highland continental climate with hot summers and cold winters. It is covered in mountaineous highlands, with little forested land.

Population

Armenia has a population of 3,051,250 making it the 136th largest in the world. Most of the population lives in the northern half of the country.

Armenian is the official language. The majority ethnic group is Armenians. The population is mostly Armenian Apostolic.

Constitutionally, Armenian is the state language of Armenia. This Indo-European language has existed from the early 400’s AD and has an alphabet of 39 letters written from left to right. Over 97% of the people are ethnic Armenians and therefore speak this language, however, due to the political history between Armenia and Russia, most ethnic Armenians also speak Russian. Armenian is the language used in most public and private institutions. Minority languages include Yazidi, Kurdish, Assyrian Neo-Aramaic, Ukrainian, and Greek. The historical relationship with Russia before 1991 make ethnic Russians in Armenia a minority although more than half of Armenians have some knowledge of Russian.

The dialing code for the country is 374.

Government

Armenia is an independent country. It has been independent since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Its constitution was last ratified in 1995.

Currently, the Government of the Republic of Armenia is a semi-presidential democracy with the head of state being the President while the Prime Minister heads the government. Making laws in this country is a responsibility of the unicameral parliament and the executive. The National Assembly Building was completed in 1950 while the Presidential Palace was completed in 1951. Since 1991, citizens over the age of eighteen years elect their representatives and presidents have been eligible for two terms of five year each. However, the 2015 constitution introduced new checks and balance that strip the president off several powers and vests them on the Cabinet and Prime Minister. This situation makes the future presidency to be a ceremonial role.

Economy

Factoring in Purchasing Power Parity, Armenia's GDP is $26,300,000,000.00 (USD) with $8,900.00 (USD) per capita. This makes it the 135th largest economy and its citizens the 140th richest in the world. The currency of Armenia is the Dram (AMD).

Its major export partners are Russia, China, and Germany. Its main exports are unwrought copper, pig iron, and nonferrous metals. Its major import partners are Russia, China, and Germany. Its major imports include natural gas, petroleum, tobacco products, and foodstuffs.

Flag

The current tricolor flag of Armenia has been in use since 1990. This flag, designed by Stepanos Sargsi Malkhasyants during the First Republic of Armenia, has horizontal red, blue, and orange bands. These colors represent the independent and hardworking nature of the people as well as their talent, and creativity. Though the current flag has a 1:2 ratio, Malkhasyants’ design used during the first republic had a 2:3 ratio. Armenian flag has evolved during the different political periods the country underwent. Interestingly, most of the former flag versions, apart from the time the country was under Soviet rule, represented Christian values and history like the Red Easter Sunday, Green Easter Sunday, and Noah’s rainbow on Mount Ararat. When Armenia was under the Soviet Union, the flag had conspicuous soviet symbols of the hammer and sickle.