Armenia
Name
| Official name | Republic of Armenia |
|---|---|
| In Armenian | Hayastani Hanrapetutyun (Հայաստանի Հանրապետություն) |
| Short name | Armenia — Hayastan in Armenian |
| Demonym | Armenian — hay in Armenian |
| Meaning of the name | Hayastan, "the land of Hayk," the legendary patriarch; "Armenia" from the Old Persian Armina, first recorded on the Behistun inscription of about 520 BC |
Quick facts
| Capital | Yerevan — also the largest city, at about 990 m (3,250 ft) on the Hrazdan; dated to the founding of Erebuni in 782 BC |
|---|---|
| Official language | Armenian — an independent branch of the Indo-European family with its own alphabet, created by Mesrop Mashtots in 405; Russian and English are widely known |
| Currency | Armenian dram — ISO code AMD, symbol ֏; 1 dram = 100 luma; introduced 22 November 1993; issued by the Central Bank of Armenia |
| Time zone | Armenia Time, UTC+4, all year — no daylight saving |
| Calling code | +374 |
| Internet domain | .am |
| ISO 3166 codes | AM · ARM · 051 |
| Vehicle registration code | AM |
| Driving side | Right |
| Electricity | 230 V, 50 Hz; plug types C and F |
| Independence | 21 September 1991, by referendum, from the Soviet Union; the First Republic had been declared on 28 May 1918 |
| National days | 21 September, Independence Day; 28 May, Republic Day; 24 April, Genocide Remembrance Day; 15 June, Flag Day |
| Constitution | The Constitution of 1995, revised in 2005 and 2015 — the 2015 revision made Armenia a parliamentary republic |
| Population | 2.93 million by the census of 2022; about 2.96 million by the CIA World Factbook's 2025 estimate — the diaspora abroad is more than twice as large |
| Area | 29,743 km² (11,484 sq mi) — of which 1,540 km² is water, most of it Lake Sevan; slightly smaller than Maryland |
Flag & national symbols
| National flag | Three equal horizontal bands of red, blue and orange at 1:2 — the Yeraguyn, the First Republic's banner of 1918, restored on 24 August 1990, its meanings fixed by the flag law of 2006.Flag of Armenia |
|---|---|
| Coat of arms | A shield of the four royal dynasties — Artaxiad, Arsacid, Bagratuni, Rubenid — around Mount Ararat with Noah's Ark, supported by an eagle and a lion; adopted 1992, after the arms of 1918 |
| National anthem | "Mer Hayrenik" ("Our Fatherland") — words by Mikael Nalbandian, music by Barsegh Kanachyan; the First Republic's anthem, restored 1991 |
| National motto | "One Nation, One Culture" (Mek Azg, Mek Mshakuyt) |
| National colors | Red, blue and orange |
| National animals | The eagle and the lion, the supporters of the coat of arms |
| National mountain | Ararat (Masis) — on the coat of arms though it stands in Turkey; Aragats the highest within the country |
| National fruit | The apricot — Prunus armeniaca, "the Armenian plum" — and the pomegranate; both widely cited, neither designated |
| National instrument | The duduk, the apricot-wood double-reed pipe — inscribed by UNESCO as intangible heritage in 2008 |
| National dish | Khorovats, grilled meat; lavash, the flatbread, inscribed by UNESCO in 2014 — both widely cited |
| National drink | Armenian brandy (konyak) and the apricot vodka — widely cited |
| Flag Day | 15 June — the anniversary of the 2006 flag law |
| Symbol status | The flag, arms and anthem are fixed by the Constitution and law; the fruit, dish and drink are widely cited |
Geography
| Location | The South Caucasus, on the Armenian Highland between the Black and Caspian seas — landlocked, and counted with Europe, with Asia, or with both |
|---|---|
| Coastline | None — landlocked |
| Land borders | 1,570 km (976 mi) with four countries |
| Border with Azerbaijan | 996 km (619 mi), including the Nakhchivan exclave — closed since the 1990s |
| Border with Turkey | 311 km (193 mi) — closed since 1993 |
| Border with Georgia | 219 km (136 mi) |
| Border with Iran | 44 km (27 mi), along the Aras |
| Highest point | Mount Aragats, 4,090 m (13,420 ft) — a four-peaked extinct volcano, the highest of the Lesser Caucasus |
| Lowest point | The Debed River valley on the Georgian border, about 400 m (1,310 ft) |
| Mean elevation | 1,792 m (5,879 ft) — among the highest of any country; nine-tenths of the land lies above 1,000 m |
| Longest river | The Aras (Araks), about 1,070 km (665 mi) in all, forms the borders with Turkey and Iran; the Debed, Hrazdan, Vorotan and Akhurian are the main rivers within |
| Largest lake | Lake Sevan, about 1,240 km² (480 sq mi) at some 1,900 m (6,230 ft) — the largest lake in the Caucasus |
| Mountain ranges | The Lesser Caucasus; the Geghama, Zangezur, Vardenis and Pambak ranges |
| Plains | The Ararat plain, the country's farmland, along the Aras; the Shirak plain in the northwest |
| Climate | Highland continental — hot dry summers, cold winters; Yerevan reaches 40 °C (104 °F) in summer |
| Natural hazards | Earthquakes — the Spitak earthquake of 7 December 1988 killed at least 25,000; drought |
| Natural resources | Small deposits of gold, copper, molybdenum, zinc and bauxite; hydropower; mineral waters |
| Land use | Agricultural land 58.6%, most of it pasture; arable 15.7%; forest about 11% (2023 est.) |
| National parks | Sevan, Dilijan, Arpi Lake and Arevik |
| UNESCO World Heritage | 3 — the monasteries of Haghpat and Sanahin (1996, 2000); the monastery of Geghard and the Upper Azat Valley (2000); the cathedral and churches of Echmiadzin and the archaeological site of Zvartnots (2000) |
| Administrative divisions | 10 provinces (marzer) and the city of Yerevan |
People
| Population | 2.93 million (census of 2022); about 2.96 million (CIA World Factbook, 2025 est.) |
|---|---|
| Population density | About 100 per km² (260 per sq mi); more than a third of Armenians live in Yerevan |
| Population trend | Falling for decades through emigration; a rise since 2022 with arrivals from Russia and the exodus from Nagorno-Karabakh in 2023 |
| Median age | About 38 years |
| Life expectancy | About 76 years (2023) |
| Fertility rate | About 1.6 births per woman |
| Urban population | About 64% |
| Adult literacy | About 99.8% |
| Ethnic groups | Armenian 98.1%, Yezidi 1.1%; Russians, Assyrians, Kurds, Ukrainians and Greeks under 1% (2022 census) |
| Languages | Armenian, in its Eastern standard; Russian widely spoken; English growing; Kurmanji among the Yezidis |
| Religion | The Armenian Apostolic Church, about 93% — Armenia adopted Christianity as its state religion in 301, the first country to do so |
| Largest cities | Yerevan, Gyumri, Vanadzor, Vagharshapat (Echmiadzin), Hrazdan, Abovyan |
| Human Development Index | 0.81 (2023 data, 2025 report) — very high human development |
| Diaspora | About 7 million people of Armenian descent live abroad — in Russia, the United States, France, Iran, Lebanon and beyond — more than twice the population of the country |
Government
| Form of government | Unitary parliamentary republic under the Constitution of 1995 as revised in 2015 |
|---|---|
| President | Vahagn Khachaturyan, since 13 March 2022 — a largely ceremonial office, elected by the National Assembly for seven years |
| Prime Minister | Nikol Pashinyan, since 8 May 2018 — a third term after the election of 7 June 2026 |
| The 2026 election | Held 7 June 2026: Civil Contract 49.8% and 64 seats, Strong Armenia (Samvel Karapetyan) 23.3% and 29, the Armenia Alliance (Robert Kocharyan) 9.9% and 12; turnout 58.8% |
| Parliament | The National Assembly (Azgayin Zhoghov), unicameral, a minimum of 101 members elected for five years |
| Legal system | Civil law; a Constitutional Court and a Court of Cassation |
| Administrative divisions | 10 provinces and Yerevan |
| United Nations | Member since 2 March 1992 |
| Council of Europe | Member since 25 January 2001 |
| Eurasian Economic Union | Member since 2 January 2015; its CSTO membership frozen since 2024 |
| European Union | A law on beginning the process of accession to the EU adopted in 2025; a Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement in force since 2021 |
| Other memberships | The Commonwealth of Independent States, the OSCE, the WTO (2003), the International Organisation of La Francophonie |
Economy
| GDP (nominal) | About US$28 billion (2025, IMF) |
|---|---|
| GDP per capita | About US$9,500 (2025) |
| GDP per capita (PPP) | About US$25,000 (2025) |
| GDP growth | About 5–6% a year (2024–25), after the 12% surge of 2022 |
| Economy by sector | Services about 55%, industry about 30%, agriculture about 10% |
| Currency | Armenian dram (AMD) |
| Main exports | Copper ore and concentrates, gold and jewelry, brandy, cigarettes, textiles; re-exports of vehicles and electronics rose sharply after 2022 |
| Export partners | Russia, the United Arab Emirates, China, Georgia, Switzerland |
| Import partners | Russia, China, the UAE, Iran, Georgia |
| Technology | A growing IT sector — Yerevan a regional hub for software and chip design |
| Remittances | Money sent home by the diaspora is worth several percent of GDP |
| Income classification | Upper-middle income (World Bank) |
Transport & infrastructure
| Main airport | Zvartnots International Airport, Yerevan; Shirak Airport at Gyumri |
|---|---|
| Railways | About 780 km (485 mi), Russian gauge, operated under concession by South Caucasus Railway; the only working international line runs to Georgia |
| Roads | About 7,700 km (4,800 mi); the North–South Road Corridor from the Iranian to the Georgian border under construction |
| Open borders | Georgia (Bagratashen, Bavra, Gogavan) and Iran (Agarak) only — the Turkish and Azerbaijani borders are closed |
| Yerevan Metro | One line, opened 1981 |
| Wings of Tatev | The aerial tramway to the Tatev monastery, 5.7 km (3.5 mi), opened 2010 — the world's longest reversible aerial tramway |
History in dates
| c. 860–590 BC | The Kingdom of Urartu; Erebuni founded in 782 BC |
|---|---|
| 301 | Armenia adopts Christianity as its state religion under Tiridates III — the first country to do so |
| 405 | Mesrop Mashtots creates the Armenian alphabet |
| 1198–1375 | The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia |
| 1828 | Eastern Armenia passes from Persia to Russia |
| 1915 | The Armenian Genocide begins in the Ottoman Empire, 24 April |
| 1918 | The First Republic, 28 May |
| 1920 | Sovietized, 2 December |
| 1988 | The Spitak earthquake, 7 December; the Karabakh movement |
| 1991 | Independence by referendum, 21 September |
| 2018 | The Velvet Revolution brings Nikol Pashinyan to power |
| 2020 | The second Nagorno-Karabakh war |
| 2023 | Azerbaijan takes Nagorno-Karabakh; its Armenians flee to Armenia, September |
| 2025 | A peace agreement with Azerbaijan initialed in Washington, 8 August |
| 2026 | Civil Contract wins the parliamentary election, 7 June |
Records & firsts
| The first Christian state | Christianity adopted as the state religion in 301 |
|---|---|
| An alphabet of its own | The 36 letters of Mesrop Mashtots, 405, still in use |
| Older than Rome | Yerevan, founded as Erebuni in 782 BC, is 29 years older than Rome |
| The oldest winery | The Areni-1 cave — a wine press some 6,100 years old; the oldest known leather shoe, 5,500 years old, was found there too |
| The Caucasus's largest lake | Sevan, one of the largest high-altitude lakes in the world |
| The longest reversible aerial tramway | The Wings of Tatev, 5.7 km |
| Chess in school | A compulsory school subject since 2011; a country of world champions, from Petrosian to Aronian |
| The apricot | Prunus armeniaca — the fruit that carries the country's name |
| The diaspora | More Armenians live outside Armenia than in it |
| The duduk and the lavash | Both inscribed by UNESCO as intangible heritage |
Frequently asked questions
What is the official name of Armenia?
The Republic of Armenia — Hayastani Hanrapetutyun in Armenian. Armenians call their country Hayastan, after Hayk, the legendary patriarch; "Armenia" is the name the Persians and Greeks used, from the Armina of the Behistun inscription of the 6th century BC.
What is the capital of Armenia?
Yerevan, at about 990 m (3,250 ft) on the Hrazdan River with Mount Ararat on its horizon — also the largest city by far, with more than a third of all Armenians. It dates its founding to the Urartian fortress of Erebuni in 782 BC, which makes it older than Rome.
What are the highest and lowest points of Armenia?
Mount Aragats, 4,090 m (13,420 ft), a four-peaked extinct volcano northwest of Yerevan, is the highest point; the Debed River valley, about 400 m (1,310 ft), on the Georgian border, is the lowest. Mount Ararat, the national symbol at 5,137 m, stands across the border in Turkey.
What is the largest lake in Armenia?
Lake Sevan — about 1,240 km² (480 sq mi) at some 1,900 m (6,230 ft) above sea level, the largest lake in the Caucasus and one of the largest high-altitude freshwater lakes in the world; it holds most of Armenia’s fresh water.
What currency does Armenia use?
The Armenian dram (ISO code AMD, symbol ֏), introduced in 1993 and divided into 100 luma. Clocks keep Armenia Time, UTC+4, all year — no daylight saving.
Who governs Armenia after the June 2026 election?
Nikol Pashinyan’s Civil Contract won the parliamentary election of 7 June 2026 with 49.8% of the vote and 64 seats, ahead of Samvel Karapetyan’s Strong Armenia (23.3%, 29 seats) and Robert Kocharyan’s Armenia Alliance (9.9%, 12 seats), and Pashinyan continues as prime minister for a third term. The president, Vahagn Khachaturyan, has held the largely ceremonial office since 2022.
World knowledge, A to Z — the flags of every country, the sciences, places, people and more.
We Value Your Opinion Comments