Natural Resources:
Armenia is rich in copper, iron, bauxite, molybdenum, gold, silver, lead and zinc. Substantial deposits of pumice, marble, tufa, perlite, limestone, basalt and salt also exist. Precious and semi-precious stones are abundant.
Territory: 29.74 thousand square kilometers
Average Altitude Above Sea Level: 1,800 meters
Highest Mountain Peak: Aragats (4,090 meters)
Geographic Coordinates:
in the South: 38o 50’ Northern Latitude;
in the North: 41o 20’ Northern Latitude:
in the West: 43o 30’ Eastern Longitude;
in the East: 46o 00’ Eastern Longitude
Neighboring Countries:
in the North: Georgia;
in the East: Azerbaijan;
in the South: Iran;
in the South-West: Nakhijevan (Azerbaijan);
in the West: Turkey.
Geography
The greater part of Armenia is situated on the southern flanks of the Caucasian mountain range. The country covers approximately 29,800 square kilometers. The neighboring countries include Turkey to the West, Georgia to the North, Azerbaijan to the East, and Iran to the South. Its significant geographical features include Lake Sevan and Mount Aragats (4,090m).
Population
The last census was held in the Fall, 2001. According to the results publicized in Spring, 2003, Armenia’s population is around 3.2 million people. According to the census of 1989, Armenia’s population was 3.4 million people with ethnic Armenians comprising 89%, Azeris 4%, Russians and others 7%. Since that census, the ethnic makeup has changed significantly, with ethnic Armenians now comprising perhaps 95-96%. This came as a result of (a) a mass exodus of Azeris from Armenia; (b) the return of Russian, Ukrainian, Jewish and Greek families to their home countries (caused by the deterioration of living conditions in Armenia), and (c) the difficulties of development in this blockaded country. Furthermore, starting in 1992, there was a new trend as members of the Armenian labor force began to move abroad to CIS countries, Europe, and the United States—trying to find employment and support their families left behind in Armenia. To various estimates, some 500,000 to 700,000 people have left. It is impossible to predict what percentage of these people will return.
Approximately seventy percent of Armenia's population lives in urban areas. Yerevan alone includes more than one-third of this total. Unlike many former Soviet Republics, Armenia has (and has alwa s had) substantial ethnic and religious homogeneity.
History
According to some interpretations of the Bible, paradise may be found in Armenia, where Noah landed his ark on Mount Ararat. On the Babylonian world map, rmenia is shown next to the Assyrian and Babylonian civilizations. Ancient Greek maps show Armenia on the northeastern boundary of the then known world. Over its more than 4,000 year-long history, the Armenian plateau, which lay between three seas, served as the crossroads of ancient intercontinental trade routes. It faced numerous political victories and downfalls, long periods of scientific, cultural, and artistic prosperity, with incredibly devastating periods of hunger, deprivation, and Genocide.
Armenia has played the role of a world superpower during certain periods of its history. From the ninth to the sixth centuries BC, the Urartu (Ararat) Kingdom rivaled the powerful Assyrian Kingdom. In the First Century BC King Tigran the Great led Armenia against the Roman Empire. At different stages of their history, Armenians created strong national state systems throughout historical Armenia. The Bagratoonee Dynasty of the ninth to the eleventh centuries AD and the Cilician Kingdom of the twelfth to the fourteenth century are two examples of such states.
In 301, Armenia became the first nation to adopt Christianity as its official, state religion. The year of 2001 was special for the 1700th anniversary celebration events. Subsequently, when in 405 Mesrob Mashtots developed the 36-letter Armenian alphabet, the first manuscript translated was the Bible. The development of the Armenian alphabet allowed the proliferation of literature and the strengthening of the National Armenian Apostolic Church. Armenian is an independent member of the Indo-European language group.
Armenia has often fallen under foreign rule. From the fifth to the seventh centuries, the Persian and Byzantine Empires ruled Armenian territories. From the seventh to the ninth centuries, Arab forces entered the region. The period from the thirteenth to the nineteenth centuries saw the Ottoman and Persian empires dividing historic Armenia. Regardless of the governing powers, the Armenian people always continued to occupy their historic homelands. Moreover, one of its districts—Mountainous Kharabakh (Artsakh) succeeded in retaining real political power until the nineteenth century.
Despite its long history, the systematic study of Armenia’s language, culture, and ancient civilizations began only 100-150 years ago. In this short period of time, however, evidence has emerged that seems to indicate the development of sophisticated social and economic activities throughout Armenian territories. These include the fields of astronomy, agriculture (wheat, barley, grapes, pomegranates, and apricots), metallurgy, carpet weaving, horse breeding, construction, and architecture. The works of Medieval Armenian historians, philosophers, physicians, poets, and artists have contributed to world culture.
There are many interesting sights in Armenia today—even though it occupies less than 10% of the territory of historic Armenia. Visitors can tour the ruins of ancient metallurgical sites dating to the beginning of the third millennium BC in the Metzamor region. The world’s only natural reserve of ancient wheat can be found at Yereboonee. No tour of Yerevan is complete without a visit to the magnificent Matenadaran Museum, where manuscripts and written material collected over the past 1,500 years are preserved and studied. More than 10,000 architectural sites grace Armenian landscapes: Zvartnotss, Hripsimeh, Yererook, Noravank, Garrnee, Geghard, and Hakhpat, to name just a few.
The darkest days of Armenian history occurred from the 1880s to the 1930s. The Ottoman Empire, the transitional government of the Young Turks, and Kemal Ataturk’s state undertook the systematic extermination of the entire Armenian population located throughout Western Armenia. This Genocide reached its peak during the Young Turk regime—especially between 1915 and 1918—under cover of the First World War, when Turkey was Germany’s ally.
An estimated 1.5 million Armenians were either slaughtered in Anatolia, or were forced on tragic death-marches into the Syrian Desert. Since then, Armenians throughout the world commemorate April 24th as the day on which, in 1915, the Genocide began with the murder of the Armenian intelligentsia in Constantinople (Istanbul). After the collapse of the Russian Empire in 1918, Armenia briefly regained its independence until 1920, when it was incorporated as one of the fifteen republics of the Soviet Union.
On September 21, 1991, as a result of a national referendum, the citizens of Armenia almost unanimously voted for independence. Armenia became a formal member of the United Nations in March 1992 and of the Council of Europe in 2001, and has already established diplomatic representations in many capitals abroad.
In 301 AD, St. Gregory the Illuminator (Saint Grigor Luisavorich) converted to Christianity King Tiridates III (Trdat) of Armenia who had incarcerated him earlier for refusing to offer sacrifice to the pagan goddess, Anahit. Grigor was released from imprisonment because of a miraculous cure through the works of God that he provided to the King. Later, the king converted to Christianity and officially declared Armenia a Christian nation. Armenia became the first nation in the world to formally accept Christianity as its religion. In the year 2001, Armenians celebrated the 1700th anniversary of the official conversion and dedicated a new cathedral in downtown Yerevan.
Commerce and Industry
As one of the fifteen CIS republics, Armenia is presently going through the hardships of the transition from a centrally planned system to a market economy. The difficulties the republic has faced can be divided into two groups:
economic problems, common to all CIS republics—disrupted economic ties, loss of traditional markets, unfavorable shift in terms of trade, etc.
problems, specific to Armenia—disastrous earthquake of 1988 (the consequences of which the republic is still facing), and the Karabakh war (cease fire occurred in 1995). This conflict displaced 300,000 refugees. Other problems include such situations as blockades by Azerbaidjan and Turkey plus unreliable trade routes due to military conflicts in Georgia.
Prior to its independence, Armenia was one of the most industrialized republics of the former Soviet Union. It produced a wide variety of chemicals, machinery, and electronics. With the decline of the socialist regime, however, the Armenian economy fell into stagnation and virtually collapsed. Energy output dropped sharply, industrial production plummeted, and hyperinflation followed. In 2003, the industrial output was 63% of its 1991 level, and the living conditions were far below than that of the 1980s, with a large proportion of the population unemployed. An exodus of skilled labor seeking to earn their living elsewhere somewhat alleviated the problem as they sent money earned abroad, back home to support families. However, this leaves many families without the head of their households being present.
With the assistance of international organizations and donor countries, the Government adopted and started to implement a plan for a transition to a market economy. The economic slide was reversed, and the economy grew by about 5-6% annually in 1994, 1995, and 1996, 3.3% in 1997, 7.2% in 1998, 3.02% in 1999, 6.0% in 2000, 9.6% in 2001, 12.9% in 2002, and 13.9% in 2003. Inflation was tamed and the Armenian currency, the “dram”, stabilized. These achievements were possible largely due to the economic and technical assistance provided by the IMF, the World Bank, the European Union, and USAID.
Having stabilized the macro economy, the Armenian Government now has industrial growth as its primary economic goal. The only way to create growth is to stimulate export-oriented industries and open the country to foreign investments in order to make Armenia more competitive on the international market. A large privatization program is in process, and most industrial firms became private by 1997. Because of the participation of foreign investors in the privatization process, Armenia’s budget in 1998-2001 received around 125 million US dollars. As a result of tighter controls, tax collections increased by 7.8% in 2001 as compared to 2000, by 20% in 2002 as compared to 2001, and by 14.4% in 2003 as compared to 2002.
The recent economic and financial crisis in Russia (since August, 1998) has had some negative impact on Armenia’s socio-economic life. The ratio of imports to and exports with Russia has significantly decreased, money transfers from Armenians working in Russia, have diminished. Many foreign investors have withdrawn their money from Armenian bonds and treasury bills, afraid of the possible consequences of Russia’s crisis on this market.
The Government of Armenia is expanding efforts to draft and enforce appropriate laws and regulations for further business development and entrepreneurship, to break up monopolies, to suppress corruption, and attract foreign investments. Armenia’s comparative advantages include an entrepreneurial and highly educated population. There is a cheap and skilled labor force that is experienced in various industries. Also, the country has many natural resources of raw materials (construction materials, mineral ferrometals, mineral waters), and a large Diaspora with sound knowledge and expertise in democratic political systems and market economies. Armenia’s prosperity depends on the utilization of these factors, as well as the overall effectiveness of reforms and rapid integration into the global economic system.
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