Armenia
About Armenia
Armenia is a small country that connects Europe to Asia. It was one of the major powers, the third largest state in the Near East, after the Roman Empire and Parthia over 2000 years ago. Now Armenia is a modern country with nice and talented people, ancient history, thousands of historical monuments, rich culture, traditional hospitality, delicious and healthy food, beautiful nature and safe environment.
Armenia is located between the Black and the Caspian seas. Bordering countries are Georgia from the North, Azerbaijan from the East, ran from the South and Turkey from the West.
Armenia is an independent democratic country with a populatio11 of around 3.2 million. It is a predominantly Christian country. Armenia has a good record of international, intercultural, religious as well as political, civil and social tolerance. Republic of Armenia is a member of the United Nations, Council of Europe and other international organizations.
Population:3,213,011 (96% are ethnic Armenians)
Land area: 29,800 square km
Independence: Since September 21,1991
State system:Presidential Republic
Parliament:NationalAssembly,131members
Constitution:Adopted on July 5, 1995 (amended in 2005). The Constitution provides system of checks and balances between branches of power and guarantees fundamental human rights and libertiesin accordance to internationalpractices.
Capitalcity: Yerevan (population - 1,103,488 people)
Administrative division: 10 marzes (provinces) and Yerevan city
Language:Armenian
Religion: Christianity (Armenian Apostolic Church),adopted in 301
Currency: Armenian Dram (AMD), introducedin November 1993
Labor force:About 2 million citizens belong to the labor force. 1.2 million are economically active.The unemployment rate is 10%.
Employment by sectors: 77% in private sector, 23% in public sector and in state owned companies.
Literacy rate: 99% Time zone: GMT+4
Membership to international organizations: Member of UN, Council of Europe, OSCE, WB, MF, EBRO, WTO, BSEC (Black Sea Economic Cooperation),IAEA ( internationalAtomic Energy Agency), CPO- Interpol,. UNESCO, WHO (World Health Organization) and WIPO (World intellectual Property Organization), etc.
Armenian Diaspora: Armenia has a worldwide Diaspora of about 6 million. The largest Diaspora communities are in Russia, USA, France, Germany Iran,Syria,Lebanon,UK, Australia and Canada.
Interesting Facts about Armenia
Armenia was the first country to have adopted Christianity as its state religion
Today, 9% of the population today are Christians and Armenia has one of the most beautiful churches in the world. Check out our post on the 10 most beautiful Armenian churches that you must visit. The country was converted to Christianity back in 301AD by St Gregory Illuminator and since then, many churches have been built under his name. There are so many beautiful churches in Armenia and we have come up with our own list of the top 10 most beautiful churches in Armenia.
Armenia is one of the only mono ethnic countries in the world
97% of the people living in Armenia are Armenians and the remaining small percentage is made up of different ethnic minorities such as the Yazidis, Russians, Ukrainians, Kurds, and more.
The first church in the world was built in Armenia
Holy Etchimiadzin was the first state church built in the world back in the early 4th century. This place is also the headquarter of all the churches in Armenia and it’s one of the most visited pilgrimage sites in the world. Unfortunately, this beautiful building has been under construction for the past few years and we were unable to capture a nice shot of it.
The entire country worships Mt Ararat which is also the national symbol of Armenia
According to our guide, Mt Ararat protected Armenia from a super strong earthquake! They also believe that the peak of Mt Ararat was where Noah’s ark was found. But sadly, Mt Ararat is not even within the territory of Armenia at the moment.
Yerevan is also known as the “pink city”
Yerevan is one of the most beautiful “pink city’ that we’ve ever been to, her buildings were all made of naturally coloured volcanic rocks of varying shades of pink, hence giving her the name “pink city”.
