Armenia. Republic of Armenia
A state in the southern part of the Caucasus. Area - 29.8 thousand km². Capital - Yerevan (about 1 million), major cities: Gyumri (formerly Leninakan) (125 thousand), Vanadzor (formerly Kirovakan), Vagharshapat (66 thousand), Razdan (63.8 thousand), and others. In 1995, a law on new administrative division was adopted, according to which 10 regions (marzes) were created, managed by governors, with Yerevan also having the status of a marz. Population - 3 million 213 thousand (2001 census); Armenians - 3,145 thousand (95.66%), Yezidis - 60 thousand (1.8%), Russians - 10 thousand (0.3%), Ukrainians - 8 thousand (0.24%), Assyrians - 7 thousand (0.2%), Greeks - 6 thousand (0.18%), Belarusians - 1 thousand (0.03%), other nationalities - 1.59%. The official language is Armenian.
Religion: the majority of believers are Christians (Monophysites). Currency - dram.
It has diplomatic relations with the Russian Federation (established on April 4, 1992). It is a member of the CIS.
National holiday - September 21 - Independence Day (1991).
Armenia is a democratic republic. The current constitution was adopted on July 5, 1995. The head of state is the president (in April 1998, as a result of early presidential elections following the voluntary resignation of L. A. Ter-Petrosyan, R. S. Kocharian was elected president; he was re-elected in 2003), elected for a term of 5 years.
The highest legislative body is the National Assembly, which consists of one chamber (131 deputies, elected in May 2003 for a 4-year term). The highest executive and administrative body is the government. The Prime Minister is A. N. Markaryan (appointed in May 2000).
The Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia has registered 68 political parties. The most influential and active among them are the parties represented in the National Assembly: the Republican Party, the "Orinats Yerkir" party ("Legal Country"), the "Justice" bloc (which includes the People's Party, the "Republic" party, and others), the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) "Dashnaktsutyun", the "National Unity" party, and the United Labor Party.
The Republican Party, the "Orinats Yerkir" party, and the ARF "Dashnaktsutyun" formed a coalition with the support of President R. S. Kocharian following the parliamentary elections held on May 25, 2003, which formed the government of the country.
Armenian statehood primarily took shape in the 1st millennium BC. In the 5th to 15th centuries, Armenia experienced devastating invasions by Arabs, Seljuks, Mongol-Tatars, and Timur. In the 16th to 18th centuries, it was divided between Persia and Turkey. The last remnants of Armenian statehood were the 5 melikdoms (principalities) of Nagorno-Karabakh. During the national liberation struggle, a political orientation towards Russia began to form in Armenia. In 1828, Eastern Armenia became part of Russia. A large part of the country remained under Turkish control. In November 1917, the "Dashnaktsutyun" party came to power. On May 28, 1918, Armenia's independence was proclaimed. In September 1920, Turkey captured two-thirds of the territory of Eastern Armenia. Soviet power was established on November 29, 1920. On December 30, 1922, Armenia, along with Azerbaijan and Georgia, joined the USSR, initially as part of the Transcaucasian Federation (ZSFSSR), and from December 5, 1936, as a union republic (Armenian SSR). In a referendum in September 1991, 99% of participants voted for Armenia's independence. On September 25, 1991, the Supreme Council of the republic adopted the Declaration of Independence of Armenia.
The burden of unresolved national problems led to a serious conflict in Armenian-Azerbaijani relations over Nagorno-Karabakh starting in 1988. A ceasefire was established on the Karabakh front in May 1994.
Armenia is an industrial-agrarian country. The GDP in 2004 amounted to 3.8 billion dollars. The country has significant reserves of copper-molybdenum and polymetallic ores, building stone, mineral waters, deposits of precious metals, semi-precious and decorative stones.
Leading industries include diamond processing (5th in the world by volume of diamond production), machine engineering and metalworking, chemical, light (textile and leather-footwear), food (canned fruit and wine-brandy), non-ferrous metallurgy, processing of precious stones and metals, and production of building materials. In 2004, there was growth in the textile industry, production of chemicals, plastics, rubber products, mining industry, and electricity generation. There was a decline in traditional export industries: processing of precious stones and production of jewelry. The share of unfinished capital construction remains high.
Agriculture accounts for more than half of the gross agricultural output. Its main sectors are viticulture and fruit growing, cultivation of technical and vegetable crops. Animal husbandry specializes in dairy and meat cattle breeding and sheep farming.
The energy base consists of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant, the Sevan-Razdan cascade of hydropower plants, thermal power plants in Razdan, a combined heat and power plant in Yerevan, the Kirovakan CHPP, and others.
Armenia is largely dependent on energy supply imports (fuel, gas, oil products). The blockade by Azerbaijan and Turkey has negatively affected the development of Armenia's industry and transport. However, the negative consequences of the blockade are gradually being overcome, and in 2001-2004, the republic demonstrated high growth rates in industrial production.
The main types of transport are rail, road, and air. The operational length of railways is 0.9 thousand km, and of roads - 7.6 thousand km. Under conditions of transport blockade, air transport currently plays a major role in external relations. The volume of cargo transportation in 2004 amounted to 6.7 million tons, decreasing by 4.8% compared to 2003; at the same time, cargo turnover increased by 16.8%. The foreign trade turnover in 2004 amounted to 2,066 million dollars. Exports - 715 million dollars, imports - about 1,350 million dollars. Armenia's main trading partners are Russia, Belgium, Israel, the USA, Germany, the UK, and Iran.
The flow of tourists to Armenia is small compared to the Soviet period. From Armenia, separate groups of tourists travel to Iran, Egypt, Syria, and other countries.
In 2004, the average monthly salary was 79.8 dollars. The inflation rate for 2004 was 7%. The unemployment rate was 9.4% (over 116 thousand people).
The largest higher education institutions include: Yerevan State University, State Engineering University, Institute of National Economy, Agricultural Academy, V. Brusov Institute of Foreign Languages, Medical Academy, Russian-Armenian (Slavonic) University, American University of Armenia - branch of the University of California, USA. The leading center of science is the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia.
There are about 1,000 various mass media outlets in Armenia, including 250 newspapers, 50 magazines, 17 news agencies, and 49 television and 16 radio programs. The largest newspapers are "Iravunk," "Yerkir," "Aeg," "Republic of Armenia," "Voice of Armenia," "Aravot," and others. There is retransmission of radio and television broadcasts from Moscow.
