The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
February 4, 2007 Sunday
Main Edition
SPOTLIGHT ON: ARMENIA
* Distance between Atlanta and Yerevan: 6,392 miles.
* Time difference between Atlanta and Yerevan: If it’s noon in
Atlanta, it’s 9 p.m. in Armenia.
* Atlantans of Armenian descent: 1,973
* A 1999 Georgia Senate resolution honored the worldwide victims of
genocide and recognized April 24, 1999, as a "Georgia Day of
Remembrance of the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923."
* Armenian National Committee of Georgia (affiliated with the
Armenian National Committee),
* Armenian Church of Atlanta ()
* Armenian Independent Cultural Association of Atlanta
( z.html)
Armenia at a glance
* Size: 11,506 square miles (slightly smaller than Maryland)
* Capital: Yerevan
* Population: 2,976,372
* Population growth rate: -0.19 percent
* Infant mortality: 22.47 deaths/1,000 live births
* Life expectancy: 71.84 years
* Ethnic groups: Armenian, 97.9 percent; Yezidi (Kurd), 1.3 percent;
Russian, 0.5 percent; other, 0.3 percent (2001 census)
* Religious groups: Armenian Apostolic, 94.7 percent; other
Christian, 4 percent; Yezidi (monotheist with elements of nature
worship), 1.3 percent
* Principal language: Armenian, 97.7 percent; Yezidi, 1 percent;
Russian, 0.9 percent; other, 0.4 percent (2001 census)
* Government: Republic
* Head of government: Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan.
* Chief of state: President Robert Kocharian.
* Economy: Armenia endured a severe economic decline in the early
1990s, but has since managed to slash inflation, stabilize its
currency and privatize many businesses. It joined the World Trade
Organization in 2003.
* Labor force: 1.2 million
* Gross domestic product per capita: $15.99 billion
* Unemployment rate: 7.6 percent
* Currency: 1 Armenian Dram (AMD) = $0.002751 U.S.
History
One of the earliest nations to adopt Christianity (in 301 A.D.),
ancient Armenia existed for centuries in the areas today known as
Turkey, Iran and Armenia. Armenia’s shifting borders came under the
sway of various empires, including the Roman, Byzantine, Arab,
Persian and Ottoman.
In the 19th century, eastern Armenia was annexed by the Russian
empire.
During World War I in the western portion of Armenia, the Turkish
Ottoman Empire instituted a policy of forced mass resettlement that
Armenians said led to the deaths of approximately two-thirds of their
people.
Armenia was conquered by the Soviet Red Army in 1920, and the Soviet
Republic of Armenia was established in April 1921.
In 1936, the Soviet Republic of Armenia was dissolved and Armenia
became a constituent republic of the Soviet Union. Armenia declared
independence in September 1991 and became an independent state when
the Soviet Union disbanded that December.
Fighting between mostly Christian Armenia and mostly Muslim
Azerbaijan escalated in 1992. Each country claimed Nagorno-Karabakh,
an enclave in Azerbaijan that has a majority population of ethnic
Armenians. A temporary cease-fire was announced in May 1994, with
Armenian troops in charge of the enclave.
Voters approved a new constitution in 1995 that increased
presidential powers. Gunmen stormed the Parliament on Oct. 27, 1999,
killing the prime minister and seven others.Armenia at a
glanceAtlanta connectionSources: CIA World Factbook, McClatchy
Newspapers, Associated Press, Encyclopedia Britannica, Georgia
General Assembly
— Compiled by news staff researcher Nisa Asokan