Armenia

Armenia: population and cities

Population

Population

According to Countryaah website, around 3.3 million people lived in Armenia in 2020.

Ethnic composition

About 98% of the country's population are ethnic Armenians (“Haikh”). There are also small minorities of Kurds, Russians, Arameans, Ukrainians and Greeks.

Religious affiliation

About 94% of the country's residents belong to the Armenian Apostolic Church (Gregorians). This is the oldest Christian church in the world. A minority belongs to the Armenian Catholic Church united with Rome. There are also some Russian Orthodox Christians (Molokans), Muslims (mainly Kurds), Protestants, Jews, Yazidis, Catholics and Jehovah's Witnesses.

National languages

The official language of the country is Armenian (New East Armenian or "Ashharabar") and is spoken by around 96% of the population. Minority languages are mainly Kurmanyi (a Kurdish dialect) and Russian, although Russian is also used by many Armenians as a second language.

The Armenian language is one of the oldest cultural languages and is still spoken by around 7 million people worldwide. It is an independent branch of the Indo-European language family, the script of which was developed by monks in the 5th century. Old Armenian ("Grabar") is only used in the sacred area. East Armenian is the country's official language and is also spoken by the Armenians in Iran. Since the genocide of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, Western Armenian has only been used by numerous Armenians living in the diaspora.

Capital and other cities

The capital of Armenia is Yerevan (Yerevan) with around 1.5 million residents. Other larger cities are:

• Gyumri with around 150,000 residents
• Vanadzor with around 110,000 residents,
• Etchmiadzin with around 50,000 residents,
• Hrasdan with around 40,000 residents.

Armenia: geography, general map

Defined by DigoPaul, Armenia is a landlocked country and covers an area of 29,800 km². The country is characterized by mountains, so only around 90% are at an altitude of over 1000 m and 40% even over 2,000 m. Volcanic mountain landscapes alternate with plateaus. In the north, the over 3,000 m high foothills of the Little Caucasus determine the landscape. The highest mountain in the country is the extinct volcano Aragac with a height of 4,090 m.

Forest

Around 11% of the country is forested area - mostly beech and oak forests.

Meadows and pastures

Around 30% of the land is used as meadow or pasture land.

Fields and fields

Around 40% of the land is used as arable land or fields, especially for growing fruit, vegetables and tobacco.

Deserts and steppes

About 17% of the landscape consists of deserts and steppes.

Armenia borders the following four countries:

• Azerbaijan with a total length of 787 km (221 km of which is the border with the Azerbaijani exclave Nakhichevan)
• Georgia with a length of 164 km
• Iran with a length of 35 km
• Turkey with a length of 268 km.

Longitude and latitude

Armenia extends over the following geographical latitude (abbreviation Δφ) and geographical longitude (abbreviation Δλ):

You can find detailed information on this subject under Longitude and Latitude.

The highest point of the sun in Yerevan

Yerevan lies at a northern latitude of around φ = 40 °.

If the sun is at the tropic, i.e. at δ = 23.5 °, summer starts in Yerevan, this is June 21. Then, for the highest position of the sun at noon, according to Eq. 1 (see position of the sun):

40 ° = (90 ° - h) + 23.5 °

so:

At 73.5 °, the sun in Yerevan has the highest level of the entire year above the horizon.

Mountains, rivers, lakes

mountains

The highest mountain in Armenia is the extinct volcano Aragaz with a height of 4,095 m.

More high mountains

• Kaputdjugh with a height of 3,906 m
• Azhdahak with a height of 3,598 m
• Spitakasar with a height of 3,555 m
• shkhly with a height of 3,552 m
• Vardenis with a height of 3,522 m.

Rivers

The longest river in the country is the Macaw with a length of 914 km. Other rivers are:

• Vorotan with a length of 178 km
• Kazakh
• Hrazdan
• Debed
• Hrazdan.

Lakes

The country is rich in lakes, of which Lake Sevan, which is 1,900 m above sea level, is the most important with an area of around 950 km². It has the largest freshwater reservoir in Armenia, but this decreased due to heavy water abstraction, in 1984 it was still 1,262 km².

Also worth mentioning is the small Arpisee with an area of 22 km².