About Armenia

The Republic of Armenia located in the South Caucasus, borders on the north to Georgia, to the south to Iran, to the east to Azerbaijan and to the west to Turkey. Armenia has 3 million inhabitants. The total number of Armenians in the world is estimated at more than 10 million, of which about a third are in Armenia and two-thirds are dispersed in more than 100 countries. The country's capital is Yerevan, founded in 782 BC. AD, with 1,119,000 inhabitants. Yerevan, former Erebouni celebrates this year the 2800th anniversary of its foundation.

The country is rich in molybdenum, gold, silver, lead, zinc, iron and bauxite. The deposits of precious and semi-precious stones are also abundant. The scenery in Armenia is characterized by lakes, mountain ranges, waterfalls, canyons, plateaus and forests. Volcanic massifs punctuate the landscape (average altitude 1,800 meters, the highest peak Mount Aragats, 4,090 meters). Between the mountains stretch high plains from 1500m to 2000m altitude. Armenian landscapes are also characterized by lakes, especially Lake Sevan. The symbol of Armenia is Mount Ararat which, being located in historical Armenia, is currently in Turkey. Armenians also call it "Masis". It is visible from the capital of Yerevan. According to the Bible, Noah was stranded on Mount Ararat after the Flood.

In fact, the official language is Armenian, which in itself is a branch of the Indo-European language family. Its alphabet was created between 392 and 406 by the monk Mesrob Machdotz.

The history of Armenia spans several millennia, since prehistoric times. Armenia is one of the oldest civilizations in the world. The region around Mount Ararat has been populated since prehistoric times. Archaeologists continue to find evidence that Armenia was an ancient center of civilization. Some historical sites date from the 2nd, 3rd millennium BC that visitors discover during Armenia tours in the regions of the country. The Armenians, after settling there, developed an original civilization although located at the crossroads of empires - Persian, Arab, Turkish - which will dispute its territory. In the face of invasions, the Armenians have always shown in their history a desire to preserve their national identity. Even though their culture has been influenced by their neighbors in many areas Armenians have drawn from a national version of Christianity rooted in their language the strength to overcome the worst trials, especially at the beginning of XX th century with the Armenian genocide .

Armenia has a very rich architectural heritage, because there are hundreds of churches and monasteries on Armenian soil. So, this is why Armenia is called an “open-air museum”. Armenian conveys a rich theological, historical, poetic, mystical and epic literature. In Armenia, art has also developed through the ceramics and miniatures drawn by the monks. Most of the old monasteries were covered with frescoes. It is also noteworthy that carpet weaving, as throughout the Middle East, has been an Armenian specialty for millennia.

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