Armenia

Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a <a href="/facts/Landlocked_country/9AqwXqMF">landlocked country</a> in the <a href="/facts/Armenian_Highlands/ySwNXG0X">Armenian Highlands</a> of <a href="/facts/West_Asia/xXM15vIz">West Asia</a>. It is a part of the <a href="/facts/Caucasus/sE8P8Ejg">Caucasus</a> region and is bordered by <a href="/facts/Turkey/KIYAWAs0">Turkey</a> to the west, <a href="/facts/Georgia_(country)/ccBF8bBE">Georgia</a> to the north and <a href="/facts/Azerbaijan/Ho5joRTJ">Azerbaijan</a> to the east, and <a href="/facts/Iran/24yukge8">Iran</a> and the Azerbaijani <a href="/facts/Exclave/AFKB4LW6">exclave</a> of <a href="/facts/Nakhchivan_Autonomous_Republic/JwaGw17x">Nakhchivan</a> to the south. <a href="/facts/Yerevan/9pWddYcY">Yerevan</a> is the <a href="/facts/Capital_city/aRTzKRH0">capital</a>, largest city and <a href="/facts/Economy_of_Armenia/2RN6hKy3">financial center</a>.
The Armenian Highlands has been home to the <a href="/facts/Hayasa-Azzi/9ov8gg3S">Hayasa-Azzi</a>, <a href="/facts/Shupria/k4ywuIGv">Shupria</a> and <a href="/facts/Nairi/f4S7FvgQ">Nairi</a>. By at least 600 BC, an archaic form of <a href="/facts/Proto-Armenian_language/dnooySy1">Proto-Armenian</a>, an <a href="/facts/Indo-European_languages/L34TfgSr">Indo-European</a> language, had diffused into the Armenian Highlands. The first Armenian state of <a href="/facts/Urartu/xzkKwIJ2">Urartu</a> was established in 860 BC, and by the 6th century BC it was replaced by the <a href="/facts/Satrapy_of_Armenia/kq85z22H">Satrapy of Armenia</a>. The <a href="/facts/Kingdom_of_Armenia_(antiquity)/7L4XUMzG">Kingdom of Armenia</a> reached its height under <a href="/facts/Tigranes_the_Great/9Gv3wmIT">Tigranes the Great</a> in the 1st century BC and in the year 301 became the first state in the world to adopt <a href="/facts/Christianity/nKyJHlqq">Christianity</a> as its <a href="/facts/State_religion/K7E28FLL">official religion</a>. Armenia still recognises the <a href="/facts/Armenian_Apostolic_Church/xo7TYjfU">Armenian Apostolic Church</a>, the world's oldest <a href="/facts/National_church/CYmlXjxs">national church</a>, as the country's primary religious establishment. The ancient Armenian kingdom was split between the <a href="/facts/Byzantine_Empire/njEELXWF">Byzantine</a> and <a href="/facts/Sasanian_Empire/JvbRevkA">Sasanian Empires</a> around the early 5th century. Under the <a href="/facts/Bagratuni_dynasty/wPlfT1US">Bagratuni dynasty</a>, the <a href="/facts/Bagratid_Kingdom_of_Armenia/akXlkVFE">Bagratid Kingdom of Armenia</a> was restored in the 9th century before falling in 1045. <a href="/facts/Armenian_Kingdom_of_Cilicia/gFPNErLo">Cilician Armenia</a>, an Armenian principality and later a kingdom, was located on the coast of the <a href="/facts/Mediterranean_Sea/Vr2pzVbM">Mediterranean Sea</a> between the 11th and 14th centuries.
Between the 16th and 19th centuries, the traditional Armenian homeland composed of <a href="/facts/Eastern_Armenia/dhvVj1tr">Eastern Armenia</a> and <a href="/facts/Western_Armenia/3XbWb1JN">Western Armenia</a> came under the rule of the <a href="/facts/Ottoman_Empire/6QvfTRsg">Ottoman</a> and <a href="/facts/Iranian_Armenia_(1502%25E2%2580%25931828)/cSKJr6lT">Persian</a> empires, repeatedly ruled by either of the two over the centuries. By the 19th century, Eastern Armenia had been conquered by the <a href="/facts/Russian_Empire/hg1g5SpV">Russian Empire</a>, while most of the western parts of the traditional Armenian homeland remained under Ottoman rule. During <a href="/facts/World_War_I/vITTUanQ">World War I</a>, up to 1.5 million Armenians living in their ancestral lands in the Ottoman Empire were systematically exterminated in the <a href="/facts/Armenian_genocide/n4qY58hs">Armenian genocide</a>. In 1918, following the <a href="/facts/Russian_Revolution/kk1z6pnH">Russian Revolution</a>, all non-Russian countries declared their independence after the Russian Empire ceased to exist, leading to the establishment of the <a href="/facts/First_Republic_of_Armenia/yaHPteNX">First Republic of Armenia</a>. By 1920, the state was incorporated into the <a href="/facts/Soviet_Union/m7wWsPto">Soviet Union</a> as the <a href="/facts/Armenian_Soviet_Socialist_Republic/8LE8ancp">Armenian SSR</a>. Today's Republic of Armenia became independent in 1991 during the <a href="/facts/Dissolution_of_the_Soviet_Union/Fyn5jw3n">dissolution of the Soviet Union</a>.
Modern Armenia is a <a href="/facts/Unitary_state/HAxK1eMM">unitary</a>, <a href="/facts/Multi-party_system/QaTh5oox">multi-party</a>, democratic <a href="/facts/Nation_state/1T5FVEJP">nation-state</a>. Armenia is a <a href="/facts/Developing_country/eTfS4kxl">developing country</a> and ranks 69th on the <a href="/facts/Human_Development_Index/hQpz064I">Human Development Index</a> as of 2023. <a href="/facts/Economy_of_Armenia/2RN6hKy3">Its economy</a> is primarily based on industrial output and mineral extraction. While Armenia is geographically located in the <a href="/facts/South_Caucasus/MQaTkhRJ">South Caucasus</a>, Armenia views itself as part of Europe and is generally considered <a href="/facts/Geopolitics/4bmB8oCM">geopolitically</a> European. Since Armenia aligns itself in many respects geopolitically with <a href="/facts/Europe/DTAtrKfh">Europe</a>, the country is a member of numerous European organisations including the <a href="/facts/Organization_for_Security_and_Co-Operation_in_Europe/Lo5lUrA6">Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe</a>, the <a href="/facts/Council_of_Europe/51I3TyDg">Council of Europe</a>, the <a href="/facts/Eastern_Partnership/6dAdIMxW">Eastern Partnership</a>, <a href="/facts/Eurocontrol/sYdPuGua">Eurocontrol</a>, the <a href="/facts/Assembly_of_European_Regions/hV8U3I6d">Assembly of European Regions</a>, and the <a href="/facts/European_Bank_for_Reconstruction_and_Development/dXGW7vHH">European Bank for Reconstruction and Development</a>. Armenia is also a member of certain regional groups throughout <a href="/facts/Eurasia/KlLI9GDM">Eurasia</a>, including the <a href="/facts/Asian_Development_Bank/BqGTRkyB">Asian Development Bank</a>, the <a href="/facts/Collective_Security_Treaty_Organization/tcGnX2xT">Collective Security Treaty Organization</a>, the <a href="/facts/Eurasian_Economic_Union/STKuhLsw">Eurasian Economic Union</a>, and the <a href="/facts/Eurasian_Development_Bank/asyrIBbS">Eurasian Development Bank</a>. Armenia supported the once de facto independent <a href="/facts/Republic_of_Artsakh/3gTq2aY4">Republic of Artsakh</a> (Nagorno-Karabakh), which was proclaimed in 1991 on territory internationally recognized as part of <a href="/facts/Azerbaijan/Ho5joRTJ">Azerbaijan</a>, until the republic's <a href="/facts/2023_Azerbaijani_offensive_in_Nagorno-Karabakh/SuNwHhbK">dissolution</a> in September 2023.

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Armenia