Data at glance of Armenia - average on period

History

Armenia prides itself on being the first state to formally adopt Christianity (early 4th century). Armenia has existed as a political entity for centuries, but for much of its history it was under the sway of various empires, including the Roman, Byzantine, Arab, Persian, Ottoman, and Russian. During World War I, the Ottoman Empire instituted a policy of forced resettlement that, coupled with other harsh practices targeting its Armenian subjects, resulted in at least 1 million deaths; these actions have been widely recognized as constituting genocide. During the early 19th century, significant Armenian populations fell under Russian rule. Armenia declared its independence in 1918 in the wake of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, but it was conquered by the Soviet Red Army in 1920. Armenia, along with Azerbaijan and Georgia, was initially incorporated into the USSR as part of the Transcaucasian Federated Soviet Socialist Republic; in 1936, the republic was separated into its three constituent entities, which were maintained until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. For over three decades, Armenia had a longstanding conflict with neighboring Azerbaijan about the status of the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which historically had a mixed Armenian and Azerbaijani population, although ethnic Armenians have constituted the majority since the late 19th century. In 1921, Moscow placed Nagorno-Karabakh within Soviet Azerbaijan as an autonomous oblast. In the late Soviet period, a separatist movement developed that sought to end Azerbaijani control over the region. Fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh began in 1988 and escalated after Armenia and Azerbaijan declared independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. By the time a cease-fire took effect in 1994, separatists with Armenian support controlled Nagorno‑Karabakh and seven surrounding Azerbaijani territories. Armenia and Azerbaijan engaged in a second military conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020; Armenia lost control over much of the territory it had previously captured, returning the southern part of Nagorno-Karabakh and the territories around it to Azerbaijan. In September 2023, Azerbaijan took military action to regain control over Nagorno-Karabakh; after an armed conflict that lasted only one day, nearly the entire ethnic Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh fled to Armenia. Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in support of Azerbaijan during the first period of conflict with Armenia and has since maintained a closed border, leaving Armenia with closed borders both in the west (with Turkey) and east (with Azerbaijan). Armenia and Turkey engaged in intensive diplomacy to normalize relations and open the border in 2009, but the signed agreement was not ratified in either country. In 2015, Armenia joined the Eurasian Economic Union alongside Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. In 2017, Armenia signed a Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with the EU. In 2018, former President of Armenia (2008-18) Serzh SARGSIAN of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) tried to extend his time in power, prompting protests that became known as the “Velvet Revolution.” After SARGSIAN resigned, the National Assembly elected the leader of the protests, Civil Contract party chief Nikol PASHINYAN, as the new prime minister. PASHINYAN’s party has prevailed in subsequent legislative elections, most recently in 2021. 

Environment

Area: 29,743 km2

Climate: highland continental, hot summers, cold winters

Natural resources: small deposits of gold, copper, molybdenum, zinc, bauxite

Ethnic characteristics

Groups: Armenian 98.1%, Yezidi 1.1%, other 0.8% (2022 est.)

Languages: Armenian (official) 97.9%, Kurmanji (spoken by Yezidi minority) 1%, other 1.1%; note - Russian is widely spoken (2011 est.)major-language sample(s): Աշխարհի Փաստագիրք, Անփոխարինելի Աղբյւր Հիմնական Տեղեկատվւթյան. (Armenian)The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.

Religions: Armenian Apostolic Christian 95.2%, other Christian 1.6%, other 0.9%, none 0.6%, unspecified 1.7% (2022 est.)

Government

Capital: Yerevan

Government type: parliamentary democracy; note - constitutional changes adopted in December 2015 transformed the government to a parliamentary system

Executive branch

Chief of state: President Vahagn KHACHATURYAN (since 13 March 2022)

Head of government: Prime Minister Nikol PASHINYAN (since 10 September 2021)cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the prime ministerelection/appointment process: president indirectly elected by the National Assembly in 3 rounds, if needed, for a single 7-year term; prime minister indirectly elected by majority vote in two rounds, if needed, by the National Assemblymost recent election date: 3 March 2022election results: 2022: Vahagn KHACHATURYAN elected president in second round; note - Vahagn KHACHATURYAN (independent) ran unopposed and won the Assembly vote 71-02018: Armen SARKISSIAN elected president in first round; note - Armen SARKISSIAN (indpendent) ran unopposed and won the Assembly vote 90-10expected date of next election: 2029

Legislative branch

Description: legislature name: National Assembly (Azgayin Zhoghov)legislative structure: unicameralnumber of seats: 107 (all directly elected)electoral system: proportional representationscope of elections: full renewalterm in office: 5 yearsmost recent election date: 6/20/2021parties elected and seats per party: Civil Contract Party (71); Armenia Alliance (29); I Have the Honour Alliance (7)percentage of women in chamber: 38.3%expected date of next election: June 2026note 1: additional seats allocated as necessary; the numbers usually change with each parliamentary convocationnote 2: four mandates are reserved for national minorities; no more than 70% of the top membership of a party list can belong to the same sex; political parties must meet a 5% threshold and alliances a 7% threshold to win seats; at least three parties must be seated in the Parliament