Armenia Population: 2,974,184
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| Background | |
| Armenia prides itself on being the first nation to formally adopt Christianity (early 4th century). Despite periods of autonomy, over the centuries Armenia came under the sway of various empires including the Roman, Byzantine, Arab, Persian, and Ottoman. During World War I in the western portion of Armenia, Ottoman Turkey instituted a policy of forced resettlement coupled with other harsh practices that resulted in at least 1 million Armenian deaths. The eastern area of Armenia was ceded by the Ottomans to Russia in 1828; this portion declared its independence in 1918, but was conquered by the Soviet Red Army in 1920. Armenian leaders remain preoccupied by the long conflict with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh, a primarily Armenian-populated region, assigned to Soviet Azerbaijan in the 1920s by Moscow. Armenia and Azerbaijan began fighting over the area in 1988; the struggle escalated after both countries attained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. By May 1994, when a cease-fire took hold, ethnic Armenian forces held not only Nagorno-Karabakh but also a significant portion of Azerbaijan proper. The economies of both sides have been hurt by their inability to make substantial progress toward a peaceful resolution. Turkey closed the common border with Armenia in 1994 in support of Azerbaijan in its conflict with Armenia over control of Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding areas, further hampering Armenian economic growth. In 2009, senior Armenian leaders began pursuing rapprochement with Turkey, aiming to secure an opening of the border, but Turkey has not yet ratified the Protocols normalizing relations between the two countries. |
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| Geography | |
| Landlocked in the Lesser Caucasus Mountains; Sevana Lich (Lake Sevan) is the largest lake in this mountain range | |
| Location: | Southwestern Asia, between Turkey (to the west) and Azerbaijan |
| Geographic coordinates: | 40 00 N, 45 00 E |
| Area: | total: 29,743 sq km land: 28,203 sq km water: 1,540 sq km Size comparison: slightly smaller than Maryland |
| Land Boundaries: | total: 1,254 km border countries: Azerbaijan-proper 566 km, Azerbaijan-Naxcivan exclave 221 km, Georgia 164 km, Iran 35 km, Turkey 268 km |
| Coastline: | 0 km (landlocked) |
| Maritime claims: | none (landlocked) |
| Climate: | highland continental, hot summers, cold winters |
| Terrain: | Armenian Highland with mountains; little forest land; fast flowing rivers; good soil in Aras River valley |
| Elevation extremes: | lowest point: Debed River 400 m highest point: Aragats Lerrnagagat' 4,090 m |
| Natural resources: | small deposits of gold, copper, molybdenum, zinc, bauxite |
| Land use: | arable land: 16.78% permanent crops: 2.01% other: 81.21% (2005) |
| Irrigated land: | 2,740 sq km (2003) |
| Natural hazards: | occasionally severe earthquakes; droughts |
| Current Environment Issues: | soil pollution from toxic chemicals such as DDT; the energy crisis of the 1990s led to deforestation when citizens scavenged for firewood; pollution of Hrazdan (Razdan) and Aras Rivers; the draining of Sevana Lich (Lake Sevan), a result of its use as a source for hydropower, threatens drinking water supplies; restart of Metsamor nuclear power plant in spite of its location in a seismically active zone |
| International Environment Agreements: | party to: Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants |
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| People | |
| Population: | 2,974,184 (July 2013 est.) |
| Age structure: | 0-14 years: 17.3% (male 274,473/female 239,275) 15-24 years: 17.7% (male 270,206/female 255,325) 25-54 years: 46% (male 643,563/female 725,985) 55-64 years: 9.2% (male 106,531/female 167,486) 65 years and over: 9.8% (male 106,552/female 184,788) (2013 est.) population pyramid: |
| Median age: | total: 32.6 years male: 29.9 years female: 35.4 years (2012 est.) |
| Population growth rate: | 0.107% (2012 est.) |
| Birth rate: | 12.9 births/1,000 population (2012 est.) |
| Death rate: | 8.49 deaths/1,000 population (July 2012 est.) |
| Net migration rate: | -3.35 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2012 est.) |
| Sex ratio: | at birth: 1.12 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.15 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.88 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.59 male(s)/female total population: 0.89 male(s)/female (2011 est.) |
| Infant mortality rate: | total: 18.21 deaths/1,000 live births male: 22.63 deaths/1,000 live births female: 13.28 deaths/1,000 live births (2012 est.) |
| Life expectancy at birth: | total population: 73.49 years male: 69.85 years female: 77.56 years (2012 est.) |
| Total fertility rate: | 1.39 children born/woman (2013 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: | 0.1% (2009 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: | 1,900 (2009 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - deaths: | fewer than 100 (2009 est.) |
| Nationality: | noun: Armenian(s) adjective: Armenian |
| Ethnic groups: | Armenian 97.9%, Yezidi (Kurd) 1.3%, Russian 0.5%, other 0.3% (2001 census) |
| Religions: | Armenian Apostolic 94.7%, other Christian 4%, Yezidi (monotheist with elements of nature worship) 1.3% |
| Languages: | Armenian (official) 97.7%, Yezidi 1%, Russian 0.9%, other 0.4% (2001 census) |
| Literacy: | definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 99.6% male: 99.7% female: 99.4% (2010 est.) |
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| Government | |
| Country name: | conventional long form: Republic of Armenia conventional short form: Armenia local long form: Hayastani Hanrapetut'yun local short form: Hayastan former: Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic, Armenian Republic |
| Government type: | republic |
| Capital: | name: Yerevan geographic coordinates: 40 10 N, 44 30 E time difference: UTC+4 (9 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
| Administrative divisions: | 11 provinces (marzer, singular - marz); Aragatsotn, Ararat, Armavir, Geghark'unik', Kotayk', Lorri, Shirak, Syunik', Tavush, Vayots' Dzor, Yerevan |
| Independence: | 21 September 1991 (from the Soviet Union) |
| National holiday: | Independence Day, 21 September (1991) |
| Constitution: | adopted by nationwide referendum 5 July 1995; amendments adopted through a nationwide referendum 27 November 2005 |
| Legal system: | civil law system |
| Suffrage: | 18 years of age; universal |
| Executive branch: | chief of state: President Serzh SARGSIAN (since 9 April 2008) head of government: Prime Minister Tigran SARGSIAN (since 9 April 2008) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the prime minister (For more information visit the World Leaders website ) elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 18 February 2013 (next to be held February 2018); prime minister appointed by the president based on majority or plurality support in parliament; the prime minister and Council of Ministers must resign if the National Assembly refuses to accept their program election results: Serzh SARGSIAN reelected president; percent of vote - Serzh SARGSIAN 58.6%, Raffi HOVHANNISIAN 36.7%, Hrant BAGRATIAN 2.2%, other 2.5% |
| Legislative branch: | unicameral National Assembly (Parliament) or Azgayin Zhoghov (131 seats; members elected by popular vote, 90 members elected by party list and 41 by direct vote; to serve five-year terms) elections: last held on 6 May 2012 (next to be held in the spring of 2017) election results: percent of vote by party - RPA 44%, Prosperous Armenia 30.1%, ANC 7.1%, Heritage Party 5.8%, ARF (Dashnak) 5.7%, Rule of Law 5.5%, other 1.8%; seats by party - RPA 69, Prosperous Armenia 37, ANC 7, Heritage Party 5, ARF (Dashnak) 5, Rule of Law 6, independent 2 |
| Judicial branch: | Constitutional Court; Court of Cassation (Appeals Court) |
| Political parties and leaders: | Armenian National Congress or ANC (bloc of independent and opposition parties) [Levon TER-PETROSSIAN]; Armenian National Movement or ANM [Ararat ZURABIAN]; Armenian Revolutionary Federation ("Dashnak" Party) or ARF [Hrant MARKARIAN]; Heritage Party [Raffi HOVHANNISIAN]; People's Party of Armenia [Stepan DEMIRCHIAN]; Prosperous Armenia [Gagik TSARUKIAN]; Republican Party of Armenia or RPA [Serzh SARGSIAN]; Rule of Law Party (Orinats Yerkir) [Artur BAGHDASARIAN] |
| Political pressure groups and leaders: | Aylentrank (Impeachment Alliance) [Nikol PASHINIAN]; Yerkrapah Union [Manvel GRIGORIAN] |
| International organization participation: | ADB, BSEC, CD, CE, CIS, CSTO, EAEC (observer), EAPC, EBRD, FAO, GCTU, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (NGOs), ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, MIGA, NAM (observer), OAS (observer), OIF, OPCW, OSCE, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO |
| Diplomatic representation in the US: | chief of mission: Ambassador Tatoul MARKARIAN chancery: 2225 R Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 319-1976 FAX: [1] (202) 319-2982 consulate(s) general: Glendale (CA), Los Angeles |
| Diplomatic representation from the US: | chief of mission: Ambassador John HEFFERN embassy: 1 American Ave., Yerevan 0082 mailing address: American Embassy Yerevan, US Department of State, 7020 Yerevan Place, Washington, DC 20521-7020 telephone: [374](10) 464-700 FAX: [374](10) 464-742 |
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| Economy | |
| After several years of double-digit economic growth, Armenia faced a severe economic recession with GDP declining more than 14% in 2009, despite large loans from multilateral institutions. Sharp declines in the construction sector and workers' remittances, particularly from Russia, led the downturn. The economy began to recover in 2010 with 2.1% growth, and picked up to 4.6% growth in 2011, before slowing to 3.8% in 2012. Under the old Soviet central planning system, Armenia developed a modern industrial sector, supplying machine tools, textiles, and other manufactured goods to sister republics, in exchange for raw materials and energy. Armenia has since switched to small-scale agriculture and away from the large agroindustrial complexes of the Soviet era. Since August 2011, Armenia experienced a sharp 15 percent currency depreciation and an increase in the unemployment rate. Armenia's geographic isolation, a narrow export base, and pervasive monopolies in important business sectors have made it particularly vulnerable to the sharp deterioration in the global economy and the economic downturn in Russia. Armenia has only two open trade borders - Iran and Georgia - because its borders with Azerbaijan and Turkey have been closed since 1991 and 1993, respectively, as a result of Armenia's ongoing conflict with Azerbaijan over the separatist Nagorno-Karabakh region. Armenia is particularly dependent on Russian commercial and governmental support and most key Armenian infrastructure is Russian-owned and/or managed, especially in the energy sector. The electricity distribution system was privatized in 2002 and bought by Russia's RAO-UES in 2005. Natural gas is primarily imported from Russia but construction of a pipeline to deliver natural gas from Iran to Armenia was completed in December 2008, and gas deliveries expanded after the April 2010 completion of the Yerevan Thermal Power Plant. Armenia's severe trade imbalance has been offset somewhat by international aid, remittances from Armenians working abroad, and foreign direct investment. Armenia joined the WTO in January 2003. The government made some improvements in tax and customs administration in recent years, but anti-corruption measures have been ineffective and the economic downturn has led to a sharp drop in tax revenue and forced the government to accept large loan packages from Russia, the IMF, and other international financial institutions. Amendments to tax legislation, including the introduction of the first ever "luxury tax" in 2011, aim to increase the ratio of budget revenues to GDP, which still remains at low levels. Armenia will need to pursue additional economic reforms and to strengthen the rule of law in order to regain economic growth and improve economic competitiveness and employment opportunities, especially given its economic isolation from two of its nearest neighbors, Turkey and Azerbaijan. | |
| GDP (purchasing power parity): | GDP (purchasing power parity): $18.95 billion (2012 est.) $18.26 billion (2011 est.) $17.46 billion (2010 est.) note: data are in 2012 US dollars |
| GDP (official exchange rate): | GDP (official exchange rate): $10.55 billion (2012 est.) |
| GDP - real growth rate: | 3.8% (2012 est.) 4.6% (2011 est.) 2.1% (2010 est.) |
| GDP - per capita (PPP): | GDP - per capita (PPP): $5,600 (2012 est.) $5,500 (2011 est.) $5,300 (2010 est.) note: data are in 2012 US dollars |
| GDP - composition by sector: | agriculture: 19.2% industry: 40.8% services: 40% (2012 est.) |
| Labor force: | 1.194 million (2011 est.) |
| Labor force - by occupation: | agriculture: 44.2% industry: 16.8% services: 39% (2008 est.) |
| Unemployment rate: | 7% (2012 est.) 5.9% (2011 est.) |
| Population below poverty line: | 35.8% (2010 est.) |
| Household income or consumption by percentage share: | lowest 10%: 3.7% highest 10%: 25.4% (2008) |
| Distribution of family income - Gini index: | 30.9 (2008) 44.4 (1996) |
| Inflation rate (consumer prices): | Inflation rate (consumer prices): 4% (2012 est.) 7.7% (2011 est.) |
| Investment (gross fixed): | Investment (gross fixed): 37.1% of GDP (2012 est.) |
| Budget: | revenues: $2.2 billion expenditures: $2.507 billion (2012 est.) |
| Public debt: | 42.1% of GDP (2012 est.) 41.2% of GDP (2011 est.) |
| Agriculture - products: | fruit (especially grapes), vegetables; livestock |
| Industries: | diamond-processing, metal-cutting machine tools, forging-pressing machines, electric motors, tires, knitted wear, hosiery, shoes, silk fabric, chemicals, trucks, instruments, microelectronics, jewelry manufacturing, software development, food processing, brandy, mining |
| Industrial production growth rate: | 14.1% (2010 est.) |
| Electricity - production: | 7.432 billion kWh (2011 est.) country comparison to the world: 102 |
| Electricity - consumption: | 5.8 billion kWh (2011 est.) |
| Electricity - exports: | 1.36 billion kWh (2011 est.) |
| Electricity - imports: | 291 million kWh (2009 est.) |
| Natural gas - production: | 0 cu m (2011 est.) |
| Natural gas - consumption: | 2.077 billion cu m (2011 est.) |
| Natural gas - exports: | 0 cu m (2011 est.) |
| Natural gas - imports: | 2.077 billion cu m (2011 est.) |
| Natural gas - proved reserves: | 0 cu m (1 January 2012 est.) |
| Current account balance: | -$1.163 billion (2012 est.) -$1.12 billion (2011 est.) |
| Exports: | $1.495 billion (2012 est.) $1.518 billion (2011 est.) |
| Exports - commodities: | pig iron, unwrought copper, nonferrous metals, diamonds, mineral products, foodstuffs, energy |
| Exports - partners: | Russia 16.7%, Germany 11.8%, Bulgaria 11.4%, Netherlands 8.8%, Iran 8%, US 7.5%, Spain 6.2%, Belgium 5.3%, Canada 5.3%, Georgia 4.6% (2011) |
| Imports: | $3.269 billion (2012 est.) $3.614 billion (2011 est.) |
| Imports - commodities: | natural gas, petroleum, tobacco products, foodstuffs, diamonds |
| Imports - partners: | Russia 20.1%, China 8.2%, Ukraine 6.9%, Iran 6.5%, Germany 5.9%, Italy 4.7%, Turkey 4% (2011) |
| Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: | $2.016 billion (31 December 2012 est.) $1.932 billion (31 December 2011 est.) |
| Debt - external: | $6.435 billion (31 December 2012 est.) $6.417 billion (31 December 2011 est.) |
| Market value of publicly traded shares: | $43.52 million (31 December 2011) $27.99 million (31 December 2010) $140.5 million (31 December 2009) |
| Exchange rates: | drams (AMD) per US dollar - 404.8 (2012 est.) 372.5 (2011 est.) 373.66 (2010 est.) 363.28 (2009) 303.93 (2008) |
| Fiscal year: | calendar year |
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| Communications | |
| Telephones in use: | 577,500 (2011) country comparison to the world: 92 |
| Cellular Phones in use: | 3.211 million (2011) |
| Telephone system: | general assessment: telecommunications investments have made major inroads in modernizing and upgrading the outdated telecommunications network inherited from the Soviet era; now 100% privately owned and undergoing modernization and expansion; mobile-cellular services monopoly terminated in late 2004 and a second provider began operations in mid-2005 domestic: reliable modern fixed-line and mobile-cellular services are available across Yerevan in major cities and towns; significant but ever-shrinking gaps remain in mobile-cellular coverage in rural areas international: country code - 374; Yerevan is connected to the Trans-Asia-Europe fiber-optic cable through Iran; additional international service is available by microwave radio relay and landline connections to the other countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States, through the Moscow international switch, and by satellite to the rest of the world; satellite earth stations - 3 (2008) |
| Radio broadcast stations: | |
| Television broadcast stations: | |
| Internet country code: | .am |
| Internet hosts: | 194,142 (2012) |
| Internet users: | 208,200 (2009) |
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| Transportation | |
| Airports: | 11 (2012) country comparison to the world: 155 |
| Airports (paved runways): | total: 10 over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 2 (2012) |
| Airports (unpaved runways): | total: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2012) |
| Pipelines: | gas 2,233 km (2010) |
| Railways: | total: 869 km broad gauge: 869 km 1.520-m gauge (818 km electrified) note: some lines are out of service (2009) |
| Roadways: | total: 7,705 km (2012) |
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| Military | |
| Military branches: | Armenian Armed Forces: Ground Forces, Air Force and Air Defense; "Nagorno-Karabakh Republic": Nagorno-Karabakh Self-Defense Force (NKSDF) (2011) |
| Military service age and obligation: | 18-27 years of age for voluntary or compulsory military service; 2-year conscript service obligation (2010) |
| Manpower available for military service: | males age 16-49: 805,847 females age 16-49: 854,296 (2010 est.) |
| Manpower fit for military service: | males age 16-49: 644,372 females age 16-49: 717,272 (2010 est.) |
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