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Factfile on Armenia

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  • Factfile on Armenia

    Global Post
    Feb 15 2014


    Factfile on Armenia


    Armenia, which holds a presidential election on Monday, is a small
    mountainous landlocked republic in the southern Caucasus. Until 1991
    it was part of the Soviet Union.

    GEOGRAPHY: Wedged between Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran and Turkey,
    Armenia has an area of 29,800 square kilometres (11,500 square miles).
    Only 10 percent of the land surface is below 1,000 metres (3,300 feet)
    altitude.

    CAPITAL: Yerevan (1.2 million inhabitants).

    POPULATION: Three million. Between eight and nine million people of
    Armenian origin live abroad, many from families who emigrated during
    the massacres carried out by the Ottoman Empire in World War I.

    RELIGION: Largely Christian with the majority belonging to the
    Armenian Apostolic Church. Some Russian Orthodox, Protestants and
    Muslims.

    LANGUAGE: Armenian.

    HISTORY: Armenia, which in the fourth century AD became the first
    country to officially embrace Christianity, has been occupied by
    foreign powers for most of its history. It was divided between the
    Ottoman and Russian empires when World War I broke out. Major
    massacres of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire -- viewed by Armenia as
    genocide -- occurred during the conflict.

    After a short period of independence, the country was invaded by
    Bolshevik troops at the end of the war and became a Soviet republic in
    November 1920.

    On the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Armenia became an
    independent state. The country initially faced an alarming decline in
    economic conditions, but in recent years has seen economic growth.
    However, poverty and unemployment rates remain high.

    In February 1988 conflict broke out in Nagorny Karabakh, a region with
    an ethnic Armenian majority which was attached to neighbouring
    Azerbaijan in 1921. Some 30,000 people died before a ceasefire was
    signed in 1994.

    Despite years of internationally mediated negotiations since the 1994
    ceasefire, Armenia and Azerbaijan have not yet signed a final peace
    deal and the risk of a new conflict remains palpable.

    POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS: Elections followed the proclamation of
    independence and Levon Ter-Petrosian became president. He was
    re-elected in 1996 but resigned in February 1998 and was replaced by
    Robert Kocharian, a native of Nagorny Karabakh and thus technically a
    citizen of Azerbaijan. He was re-elected in 2003 for a second and
    final five-year mandate.

    A constitutional reform voted by referendum in November 2005 gave more
    powers to parliament and the government.

    The 2008 disputed presidential election won by Serzh Sarkisian ended
    in clashes between police and demonstrators, leaving 10 people dead.

    In the 2012 legislative elections, Sarkisian's Republican party won 44
    percent and an absolute majority with 68 seats in the 131-seat
    National Assembly. Critics said the vote was marred by fraud, while
    European election observers praised the polls as competitive and
    peaceful but said they were undermined by a series of democratic
    failings.

    ECONOMY: The economy relies mainly on farming and forestry, with some
    industry and substantial remittances from citizens working abroad.
    Russia is Armenia's main trade partner and ally, but trade embargoes
    imposed by Turkey and Azerbaijan have hit the country hard.

    Although it has some mineral resources, it is heavily dependent on
    imported energy. Economic activity was badly disrupted by a major
    earthquake in 1988 and by the conflict with Azerbaijan.

    According to 2012 government estimates -- GDP: $3064 per capita;
    inflation: 3,2 percent; unemployment: 16.2 percent; economic growth:
    7,1 percent; budget deficit: -1,7 percent of GDP.

    mkh-im/mm

    http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/130215/factfile-armenia


    From: Baghdasarian
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