Where is armenian

Armenia is often referred to as an open-air museum. Tourists find over 4, historical monuments throughout Armenia, covering various periods of the country's history from prehistoric to Hellenistic times, and from the early to medieval Christian era. The Armenians created their masterpieces during rare periods of peace and relative prosperity over the centuries. Within Yerevan alone there are more than 40 fine arts museums and galleries. About 94 percent of Armenians consider themselves to be Armenian Christians.

Armenia became the first nation to declare Christianity as its state religion in AD. He resides in Holy Etchmiadzin, where St. A National Ecclesiastical Assembly consisting of lay and clergy representatives of Armenian communities around the world elects the Catholicos. Small Roman Catholic and Protestant communities also exist in Armenia. Catholic missionaries began converting Armenians in the Ottoman and Persian empires in the early modern era, and American Protestant missionaries were active in the nineteenth century.

The Kurdish population is mostly Yezidi or Muslim. A Russian Orthodox Church also serves its community. When Armenia became the first country to adopt Christianity as its state religion, the need of an indigenous language arose in order to translate the Bible.

A devoted scholar and monk, Mesrop Mashtots, created a distinctly Armenian alphabet after traveling all over Armenia to gather the sounds of Armenian speech. In AD he introduced the thirty-six unique characters that make up the basis of the Armenian alphabet. During the Middle Ages, two additional characters were added to write words borrowed from foreign languages.

Russian is widely known in Armenia as well, and English is increasingly gaining prominence, followed by French, Spanish and several oriental languages. The National Statistical Service NSS reported that the preliminary operational indicator of enumerated population during the Population Census is 3,, Thus, the NSS used two categories: enumerated population and de facto population.

The official title of the country is the Republic of Armenia Hayastani Hanrapetutyun. The Republic of Armenia was established on September 21, The Constitution of the Republic of Armenia was adopted through a national referendum on July 5, and amended during another referendum on November 27, All citizens aged 18 and older have the right to vote. The highest executive authority is the President, who appoints the Prime Minister who is subject to a no-confidence vote by the National Assembly and appoints the members of the Government ministers at the proposal of the Prime Minister.

In , he resigned. Extraordinary elections were set for March 16, President Robert Kocharyan was re-elected on He was re-elected on February 18, The legislative branch is the National Assembly Azgayin Zhoghov , which has elected parliamentarians who are elected every five years. The National Assembly is a single-chamber representative body. Its members are elected by a combination of single member district and proportional representation. The Human Development Report introduced the Gender Inequality Index GII , which reflects gender-based inequalities in three dimensions — reproductive health, empowerment, and economic activity.

Reproductive health is measured by maternal mortality and adolescent birth rates; empowerment is measured by the share of parliamentary seats held by women and attainment in secondary and higher education by each gender; and economic activity is measured by the labor market participation rate for women and men. Armenia has a GII value of 0. Since , the Armenian Government has moved quickly and effectively to establish friendly and close diplomatic and economic ties with the outside world.

Armenia has established diplomatic relations with over countries. Armenia has a permanent presence embassy, consulate, or representation in over countries of North and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and the Commonwealth of Independent States. The tricolor flag of Armenia is comprised of three horizontal and equally sized stripes of red, blue and orange.

The red color of the flag symbolizes the blood that the Armenian people have shed in the struggle for independence.

Blue symbolizes the clear sky of Armenia, while the orange color symbolizes the creative drive of the nation. Armenia is a lower middle income country. As a result, GDP dropped by The economic decline affected the poverty alleviation process, and jeopardized the achievement of many of the national MDGs targets. In , More than third of the population In terms of urban-rural differences of welfare, majority of the poor The current macroeconomic situation has greatly improved compared to the crisis, and the economy is set on the path of recovery.

It gradually picked up from 2. Armen Sargsyan was elected president in March , when the country moved from a presidential system of government to a parliamentary one. He briefly served as prime minister from November to March between stints as ambassador to the UK and other diplomatic posts in Europe. Voters in a referendum backed constitutional changes reducing the powers of the president in favour of the premiership, which critics saw as a ruse to allow outgoing president Serzh Sargsyan to continue to rule as prime minister.

Serzh Sargsyan duly became prime minister on the expiry of his second term as president in April , but sparked the largest street protests Armenia has seen for years. He resigned after several days of unrest. The political changes in had a profound effect on the media, with the main TV stations becoming largely free of state control.

But the media remain prone to political polarisation and a lack of financial independence. TV is the leading medium, although less so among younger audiences. The internet is a forum for political debate. Facebook is the top social platform. Some key events in Armenia's history:. Armenia considers the killings genocide, a charge Turkey does not accept. In a Russian-brokered ceasefire but no peace deal is reached and intermittent fighting continues.

Karabakh's smouldering conflict. French Senate passes genocide law. Armenia's villages of women. The Republic of Armenia Capital: Yerevan.

Image source, Getty Images. President Sargsyan is a largely ceremonial figure.