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Armenian civilization had its beginnings in the sixth century B.C. In the centuries following, the Armenians withstood invasions and nomadic migrations, creating a unique culture that blended Iranian social and political structures with Hellenic-- and later Christian--literary traditions. For two millennia, independent Armenian states existed sporadically in the region between the northeastern corner of the Mediterranean Sea and the Caucasus Mountains, until the last medieval state was destroyed in the fourteenth century. A landlocked country in modern times, Armenia was the smallest Soviet republic from 1920 until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.
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| Facts About Armenia |
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- Area: 30,000 sq km (11,583 sq mi)
- Population: 3,802,000
- Capital: Yerevan 1,254,400
- President: Robert Sedraki Kocharyan
- Religion: Armenian Orthodox
- Life Expectancy: 67 years
- GDP per capita: $2,750
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Topography: Dominated by Lesser Caucasus range, running across north and then turning southeast to Iran. Armenian Plateau to the southwest of mountains. Plateau, major feature of central Armenia, slopes gradually downward into Aras River valley, which forms border with Turkey to west and Iran to south.
Climate: Mountains preclude influence from nearby seas; temperature and precipitation generally determined by elevation: colder and wetter in higher elevations (north and northeast). In central plateau, wide temperature variation between winter and summer.
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