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FACTBOX: Key facts about Armenia
Reuters, UK
March 1 2008
Sat Mar 1, 2008 1:54pm EST
(Reuters) - Armenian President Robert Kocharyan declared a state of
emergency in the capital on Saturday as he sought to end protests
over a presidential election which the opposition says was rigged.
A statement from the presidential press service said Kocharyan had
signed a decree declaring the state of emergency until March 20
"to prevent a threat to constitutional order".
Here are some key facts about the ex-Soviet republic in the Caucasus
mountains.
POPULATION - 3.22 million as of January 2007, according to the National
Statistics Service.
ETHNIC COMPOSITION - More than 97 percent of the population is
Armenian. There are small minorities of Russians, Kurds and Greeks.
GEOGRAPHY - Landlocked, bordering Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran and Turkey,
and with a total area of 29,800 square km.
CAPITAL - Yerevan.
LANGUAGE - Armenian is the official language. Russian and Kurdish
are also spoken. Armenian belongs to a branch of the Indo-European
family of languages with a unique 39-character script.
RELIGION - Most Armenians belong to the Armenian Apostolic Church,
an ancient independent branch of Christianity. Armenia was the first
state in the world to adopt Christianity as its state religion, in 301.
ECONOMY - Armenia's Gross Domestic Product grew 13.7 percent in 2007,
and annual inflation was 6.6 percent. Armenia joined the World Trade
Organisation (WTO) in January 2003. Its national currency is the dram.
KEY INDUSTRIES - Agriculture, textiles, food processing, construction
materials, diamond cutting, mining and chemicals are all major
industries. Gold and molybdenum, a metal used to toughen steel,
are mined, mainly for export.
HISTORY - Armenia says 1.5 million ethnic Armenians were killed in
what it says was a genocide by Ottoman Turks in 1915-1923. Turkey
denies the killings were a genocide. It says the Armenians were
victims of a partisan war that also claimed many Muslim Turkish lives.
An independent Armenian state existed from 1918 to 1921 but was
swallowed up by Communist Russia in 1921, later becoming a republic
of the Soviet Union until independence in 1991.
As the Soviet Union disintegrated, Armenia was involved in a conflict
with a neighboring Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. About
35,000 people died in the conflict. Hundreds of thousands fled. Most
have been unable to return to the territory, which is part of
Azerbaijan but has been controlled by Armenian forces since the
fighting.
(Reporting by Hasmik Lazarian; Writing by Margarita Antidze; Editing
by Jon Boyle)
Reuters, UK
March 1 2008
Sat Mar 1, 2008 1:54pm EST
(Reuters) - Armenian President Robert Kocharyan declared a state of
emergency in the capital on Saturday as he sought to end protests
over a presidential election which the opposition says was rigged.
A statement from the presidential press service said Kocharyan had
signed a decree declaring the state of emergency until March 20
"to prevent a threat to constitutional order".
Here are some key facts about the ex-Soviet republic in the Caucasus
mountains.
POPULATION - 3.22 million as of January 2007, according to the National
Statistics Service.
ETHNIC COMPOSITION - More than 97 percent of the population is
Armenian. There are small minorities of Russians, Kurds and Greeks.
GEOGRAPHY - Landlocked, bordering Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran and Turkey,
and with a total area of 29,800 square km.
CAPITAL - Yerevan.
LANGUAGE - Armenian is the official language. Russian and Kurdish
are also spoken. Armenian belongs to a branch of the Indo-European
family of languages with a unique 39-character script.
RELIGION - Most Armenians belong to the Armenian Apostolic Church,
an ancient independent branch of Christianity. Armenia was the first
state in the world to adopt Christianity as its state religion, in 301.
ECONOMY - Armenia's Gross Domestic Product grew 13.7 percent in 2007,
and annual inflation was 6.6 percent. Armenia joined the World Trade
Organisation (WTO) in January 2003. Its national currency is the dram.
KEY INDUSTRIES - Agriculture, textiles, food processing, construction
materials, diamond cutting, mining and chemicals are all major
industries. Gold and molybdenum, a metal used to toughen steel,
are mined, mainly for export.
HISTORY - Armenia says 1.5 million ethnic Armenians were killed in
what it says was a genocide by Ottoman Turks in 1915-1923. Turkey
denies the killings were a genocide. It says the Armenians were
victims of a partisan war that also claimed many Muslim Turkish lives.
An independent Armenian state existed from 1918 to 1921 but was
swallowed up by Communist Russia in 1921, later becoming a republic
of the Soviet Union until independence in 1991.
As the Soviet Union disintegrated, Armenia was involved in a conflict
with a neighboring Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. About
35,000 people died in the conflict. Hundreds of thousands fled. Most
have been unable to return to the territory, which is part of
Azerbaijan but has been controlled by Armenian forces since the
fighting.
(Reporting by Hasmik Lazarian; Writing by Margarita Antidze; Editing
by Jon Boyle)