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Armenia - Geography
Official
Name: Rebuplic of Armenia
Capital City: Yerevan
Languages: Armenian (official), English, Russian
Official Currency: Dram
Religions: Christianity
Population: 3.231.900
Land Area: 29.800 sq km
Landforms: mostly mountainous
Land Divisions: 11 Provinces
Armenia - History
Around 600 BC, the
After the
Marzpanate period (428-636), Armenia emerged as the Emirate of
Armenia, an autonomous principality within the Arabic Empire,
reuniting Armenian lands previously taken by the Byzantine Empire
as well. The principality was ruled by the Prince of Armenia. The
re-emergent Armenian kingdom was ruled by the Bagratuni dynasty,
and lasted till 1045. In 1045, the Byzantine Empire conquered
Bagratid Armenia. Soon, the other Armenian states fell under
Byzantine control as well. In the early 1100s, Armenian
princes of the Zakarid noble family established a semi-independent
Armenian principality in Northern and Eastern Armenia, known as
Zakarid Armenia. During the 1230s, the Mongol Ilkhanate conquered
the Zakaryan Principality, as well as the rest of Armenia. The
Mongolian invasions were soon followed by those of other Central
Asian tribes, which continued from the 1200s until the 1400s.
During the 1500s, the Ottoman Empire and Safavid Persia divided
Armenia among themselves. The Russian Empire later incorporated
Eastern Armenia in 1813 and 1828. The WW1 events of 1915 to
1917 are regarded by Armenians and the vast majority of Western
historians to have been state-sponsored mass killings, or
genocide. Most estimates for the number of Armenians killed range
from 650,000 to 1.5 million. Eastern Armenia became independent as
the Democratic Republic of Armenia (DRA) on May 28 1918. In 1920,
Turkish nationalist forces invaded the fledgling Armenian republic
from the east and the Turkish-Armenian War began. Turkish forces
under the command of Kaz?m Karabekir captured Armenian territories
that Russia annexed in the aftermath of the 1877-1878
Russo-Turkish War and occupied the old city of Alexandropol.
The violent conflict finally concluded with the Treaty of
Alexandropol (December 2, 1920). The treaty forced Armenia to
disarm most of its military forces. Armenia was annexed by
Bolshevist Russia and along with Georgia and Azerbaijan, it was
incorporated into the Soviet Union as part of the Transcaucasian
SFSR on March 4, 1922. It existed from 1922 to 1936, when it was
divided up into three separate entities. Armenians enjoyed a
period of relative stability under Soviet rule. After the
death of Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin took the reins of power and
began an era of renewed fear and terror for Armenians.As with
various other ethnic minorities who lived in the Soviet Union
during Stalin's Great Purge, tens of thousands of Armenians were
either executed or deported.
In 1991, the Soviet Union broke
apart and Armenia re-established its independence. Declaring
independence on August 23, it was the first non-Baltic republic to
secede.
Economy
Armenia - Economy
The
Armenian economy heavily relies on investment and support from
Armenians abroad. Before independence, Armenia's economy was
largely industry-based. After independence, the importance of
agriculture in the economy increased markedly, its share at the
end of the 1990s rising to more than 30% of GDP and more than 40%
of total employment. This increase in agriculture's share was
attributable to food security needs of the population in the face
of uncertainty during the first phases of transition and the
collapse of the non-agricultural sectors of the economy in the
early 1990s. As the economic situation stabilized and growth
resumed, the share of agriculture in GDP dropped to slightly over
20% (2006 data), although the share of agriculture in employment
remained more than 40%. Armenian mines produce copper,
zinc, gold, and lead. The vast majority of energy is produced with
fuel imported from Russia, including gas and nuclear fuel (for its
one nuclear power plant); the main domestic energy source is
hydroelectric. The conflict with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh
has not been resolved. The closure of Azerbaijani and Turkish
borders has devastated the economy, because Armenia depends on
outside supplies of energy and most raw materials. Land routes
through Georgia and Iran are inadequate or unreliable. GDP fell
nearly 60% from 1989 until 1993, and then resumed its robust
growth. The national currency, the dram, suffered hyperinflation
for the first years after its introduction in 1993. 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. New sectors, such as precious stone
processing and jewellery making, information and communication
technology, and even tourism are beginning to supplement more
traditional sectors in the economy, such as agriculture. This
steady economic progress has earned Armenia increasing support
from international institutions. The International Monetary Fund
(IMF), World Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and
Development (EBRD), and other international financial institutions
(IFIs) and foreign countries are extending considerable grants and
loans. Loans to Armenia since 1993 exceed $1.1 billion. These
loans are targeted at reducing the budget deficit, stabilizing the
currency; developing private businesses; energy; the agriculture,
food processing, transportation, and health and education sectors;
and ongoing rehabilitation in the earthquake zone. The government
joined the World Trade Organization on February 5, 2003. Armenia
ranked 83rd on the 2007 UNDP Human Development Index, the highest
among the Transcaucasian republics In the 2007 Transparency
International Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), Armenia ranked
99 of 179 countries. In the 2008 Index of Economic
Freedom, Armenia ranked 28th, ahead of countries like Austria,
France, Portugal and Italy.
Culture
Armenia -
Culture
Armenians have their own
distinctive alphabet and language. The alphabet was invented in
405 AD by Saint Mesrob Mashtots and consists of thirty-eight
letters, two of which were added during the Cilician period. 96%
of the people in the country speak Armenian, while 75.8% of the
population additionally speaks Russian although English is
becoming increasingly popular.
Hospitality is well-known in Armenia and stems from
ancient tradition. Social gatherings focused around sumptuous presentations of course after course of
elaborately prepared and well-seasoned food. The hosts will often put morsels
on a guest's plate whenever it is empty or fill his
or her glass when it gets low. After a helping or
two it is acceptable to refuse politely or, more simply, just leave
a little uneaten food. Alcohol such as cognac, vodka,
and red wine are usually served during meals and gatherings. It
is rare and unusual for one to go
inside an Armenian household and not be offered coffee, pastry, food, or even
water.The elaborate Armenian wedding process begins when the man
and woman get engaged. The man's immediate family (parents, grandparents, and
often uncles and aunts) go over to the woman's house to ask
for permission from the woman's father for the relationship to
continue and hopefully prosper. Once permission is granted by
the father, the man gives the woman an engagement ring to
make it official. To celebrate the mutual family agreement, the woman's family opens
a bottle of Armenian cognac. After getting engaged, most families elect to
have a semi-large engagement party as well. The girl's family is the
one who plans, organizes and pays for the party. There
is very little involvement by the man's family. At the party, a
priest is summoned to pray for the soon-to-be husband and wife and
give his blessings. Once the words of prayer have concluded, the
couple slide wedding bands on each other's left hands (the
ring is moved to the right hand once a formal marriage ceremony is
conducted by the Armenian church). The customary time to wait
for the marriage is about one year.
The National Art Gallery in
Yerevan has more than 16,000 works that date back to the Middle
Ages. The Modern Art Museum, the Children’s Picture Gallery, and
the Martiros Saryan Museum are only a few of the other noteworthy
collections. Moreover, many private galleries are in operation,
with many more opening each year. They feature rotating
exhibitions and sales.
Armenia - Policitical system
Politics of Armenia takes place in a framework of a
presidential representativ democratic republic. According to the
Constitution of Armenia, the President is the head of government
and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the
government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and
parliament. The unicameral parliament is controlled by a coalition
of four political parties: the conservative Republican party, the
Prosperous Armenia party, the Rule of Law party and the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation. The main opposition party is Raffi
Hovannisian's Heritage party, which favors eventual Armenian
membership in the European Union and NATO.
The Armenian
government's stated aim is to build a Western-style parliamentary
democracy as the basis of its form of government. It has universal
suffrage above the age of eighteen.
International observers of
Council of Europe and U.S. Department of State have questioned the
fairness of Armenia's parliamentary and presidential elections and
constitutional referendum since 1995, citing polling deficiencies,
lack of cooperation by the Electoral Commission, and poor
maintenance of electoral lists and polling places.
Armenia is
also a member of the Council of Europe, maintaining friendly
relations with the European Union, especially with its member
states such as France and Greece. A 2005 survey reported that 64%
of Armenia's population would be in favor of joining the EU.
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