Background: Armenia prides itself on being the first nation to formally adopt Christianity (early 4th century). Despite periods of autonomy over the centuries Armenia came under the sway of various empires including the Roman Byzantine Arab Persian and Ottoman. During World War I in the western portion of Armenia Ottoman Turkey instituted a policy of forced resettlement coupled with other harsh practices that resulted in at least 1 million Armenian deaths. The eastern area of Armenia was ceded by the Ottomans to Russia in 1828; this portion declared its independence in 1918 but was conquered by the Soviet Red Army in 1920. Armenian leaders remain preoccupied by the long conflict with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh a primarily Armenian-populated region assigned to Soviet Azerbaijan in the 1920s by Moscow. Armenia and Azerbaijan began fighting over the area in 1988; the struggle escalated after both countries attained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. By May 1994 when a cease-fire took hold ethnic Armenian forces held not only Nagorno-Karabakh but also a significant portion of Azerbaijan proper. The economies of both sides have been hurt by their inability to make substantial progress toward a peaceful resolution. Turkey closed the common border with Armenia in 1994 in support of Azerbaijan in its conflict with Armenia over control of Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding areas further hampering Armenian economic growth. In 2009 senior Armenian leaders began pursuing rapprochement with Turkey aiming to secure an opening of the border but the rapprochement effort faltered.

Geographic coordinates: 40 00 N 45 00 E

Area
Rank: 143
Comparative: slightly smaller than Maryland

Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)

Maritime claims: none (landlocked)

Climate: highland continental hot summers cold winters

Terrain: Armenian Highland with mountains; little forest land; fast flowing rivers; good soil in Aras River valley

Natural resources: small deposits of gold copper molybdenum zinc bauxite

Irrigated land: 2,740 km² (2003)

Total renewable water resources: 10.5 km³ (1997)

Natural hazards: occasionally severe earthquakes; droughts

Geography
Note: landlocked in the Lesser Caucasus Mountains; Sevana Lich (Lake Sevan) is the largest lake in this mountain range

Population: 2,970,495 (July 2012 est.)
Rank: 138
Growth rate: 0.107% (2012 est.)
Growth rate rank: 180
Below poverty line: 35.8% (2010 est.)

Ethnic groups: Armenian 97.9% Yezidi (Kurd) 1.3% Russian 0.5% other 0.3% (2001 census)

Languages: Armenian (official) 97.7% Yezidi 1% Russian 0.9% other 0.4% (2001 census)

Religions: Armenian Apostolic 94.7% other Christian 4% Yezidi (monotheist with elements of nature worship) 1.3%

Population growth rate: 0.107% (2012 est.)
Rank: 180

Birth rate: 12.9 births/1000 population (2012 est.)
Rank: 152

Death rate: 8.49 deaths/1000 population (July 2012 est.)
Rank: 83

Net migration rate: -3.35 migrant(s)/1000 population (2012 est.)
Rank: 181

Environment
Current issues: soil pollution from toxic chemicals such as DDT; the energy crisis of the 1990s led to deforestation when citizens scavenged for firewood; pollution of Hrazdan (Razdan) and Aras Rivers; the draining of Sevana Lich (Lake Sevan) a result of its use as a source for hydropower threatens drinking water supplies; restart of Metsamor nuclear power plant in spite of its location in a seismically active zone

Infant mortality rate
Rank: 100

Life expectancy at birth
Rank: 118

Total fertility rate: 1.38 children born/woman (2012 est.)
Rank: 207

Physicians density: 3.697 physicians/1000 population (2007)

Hospital bed density: 4.07 beds/1000 population (2007)

Sanitation facility access:
Unimproved:

Hivaids
Adult prevalence rate: 0.1% (2009 est.)
Adult prevalence rate rank: 109
People living with hivaids: 1900 (2009 est.)
People living with hivaids rank: 136
Deaths: fewer than 100 (2009 est.)
Deaths rank: 151

Children under the age of 5 years underweight: 4.2% (2005)
Rank: 92

Education expenditures: 3% of GDP (2007)
Rank: 133

Government type: republic

Administrative divisions: 11 provinces (marzer singular - marz); Aragatsotn Ararat Armavir Geghark'unik' Kotayk' Lorri Shirak Syunik' Tavush Vayots' Dzor Yerevan

Independence: 21 September 1991 (from the Soviet Union)

National holiday: Independence Day 21 September (1991)

Constitution: adopted by nationwide referendum 5 July 1995; amendments adopted through a nationwide referendum 27 November 2005

Legal system: civil law system

International law organization participation: has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt

Suffrage: 21 years of age; universal

Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly (Parliament) or Azgayin Zhoghov (131 seats; members elected by popular vote 90 members elected by party list and 41 by direct vote; to serve five-year terms)

Judicial branch: Constitutional Court; Court of Cassation (Appeals Court)

Political parties and leaders: Armenian National Congress or ANC (bloc of independent and opposition parties) [Levon TER-PETROSSIAN]; Armenian National Movement or ANM [Ararat ZURABIAN]; Armenian Revolutionary Federation ('Dashnak' Party) or ARF [Hrant MARKARIAN]; Heritage Party [Raffi HOVHANNISIAN]; People's Party of Armenia [Stepan DEMIRCHIAN]; Prosperous Armenia [Gagik TSARUKIAN]; Republican Party of Armenia or RPA [Serzh SARGSIAN]; Rule of Law Party (Orinats Yerkir) [Artur BAGHDASARIAN]

International organization participation: ADB BSEC CD CE CIS CSTO EAEC (observer) EAPC EBRD FAO GCTU IAEA IBRD ICAO ICC (NGOs) ICRM IDA IFAD IFC IFRCS ILO IMF Interpol IOC IOM IPU ISO ITSO ITU MIGA NAM (observer) OAS (observer) OIF OPCW OSCE PFP UN UNCTAD UNESCO UNIDO UNIFIL UNWTO UPU WCO WFTU (NGOs) WHO WIPO WMO WTO

Flag description: three equal horizontal bands of red (top) blue and orange; the color red recalls the blood shed for liberty blue the Armenian skies as well as hope and orange the land and the courage of the workers who farm it

National symbols: Mount Ararat; eagle; lion

Economy overview: After several years of double-digit economic growth Armenia faced a severe economic recession with GDP declining more than 14% in 2009 despite large loans from multilateral institutions. Sharp declines in the construction sector and workers' remittances particularly from Russia led the downturn. The economy began to recover in 2010 with 2.1% growth and picked up to 4.6% growth in 2011 before slowing to 3.8% in 2012. Under the old Soviet central planning system Armenia developed a modern industrial sector supplying machine tools textiles and other manufactured goods to sister republics in exchange for raw materials and energy. Armenia has since switched to small-scale agriculture and away from the large agroindustrial complexes of the Soviet era. Since August 2011 Armenia experienced a sharp 15 percent currency depreciation and an increase in the unemployment rate. Armenia's geographic isolation a narrow export base and pervasive monopolies in important business sectors have made it particularly vulnerable to the sharp deterioration in the global economy and the economic downturn in Russia. Armenia has only two open trade borders - Iran and Georgia - because its borders with Azerbaijan and Turkey have been closed since 1994 as a result of Armenia's ongoing conflict with Azerbaijan over the separatist Nagorno-Karabakh region. Armenia is particularly dependent on Russian commercial and governmental support and most key Armenian infrastructure is Russian-owned and/or managed especially in the energy sector. The electricity distribution system was privatized in 2002 and bought by Russia's RAO-UES in 2005. Natural gas is primarily imported from Russia but construction of a pipeline to deliver natural gas from Iran to Armenia was completed in December 2008 and gas deliveries expanded after the April 2010 completion of the Yerevan Thermal Power Plant. Armenia's severe trade imbalance has been offset somewhat by international aid remittances from Armenians working abroad and foreign direct investment. Armenia joined the WTO in January 2003. The government made some improvements in tax and customs administration in recent years but anti-corruption measures have been ineffective and the economic downturn has led to a sharp drop in tax revenue and forced the government to accept large loan packages from Russia the IMF and other international financial institutions. Amendments to tax legislation including the introduction of the first ever 'luxury tax' in 2011 aim to increase the ratio of budget revenues to GDP which still remains at low levels. Armenia will need to pursue additional economic reforms and to strengthen the rule of law in order to regain economic growth and improve economic competitiveness and employment opportunities especially given its economic isolation from two of its nearest neighbors Turkey and Azerbaijan.

Real gdp purchasing power parity:
Rank: 134

Real gdp growth rate:
Rank: 86

Real gdp per capita:
Rank: 148

Agriculture products: fruit (especially grapes) vegetables; livestock

Industrial production growth rate: 14.1% (2010 est.)
Rank: 5

Labor force: 1.194 million (2011 est.)
Rank: 139

Unemployment rate: 5.9% (2011 est.)
Rank: 79

Population below poverty line: 35.8% (2010 est.)

Distribution of family income gini index: 44.4 (1996)
Rank: 111

Budget
Surplus or deficit: -2.9% of GDP (2012 est.)
Surplus or deficit rank: 102

Taxes and other revenues: 20.8% of GDP (2012 est.)
Rank: 155

Public debt: 41.2% of GDP (2011 est.)
Rank: 83

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices: 7.7% (2011 est.)
Rank: 113

Central bank discount rate: 7.25% (2 December 2008)
Rank: 38

Commercial bank prime lending rate: 17.76% (31 December 2011 est.)
Rank: 26

Stock of narrow money: $1.341 billion (31 December 2011 est.)
Rank: 143

Stock of broad money: $4.261 billion (31 December 2011 est.)
Rank: 138

Stock of domestic credit: $3.364 billion (31 December 2011 est.)
Rank: 131

Market value of publicly traded shares:
Rank: 117

Current account balance: -$1.12 billion (2011 est.)
Rank: 118

Exports: $1.518 billion (2011 est.)
Rank: 152
Commodities: pig iron unwrought copper nonferrous metals diamonds mineral products foodstuffs energy
Partners: Russia 16.7% Germany 11.8% Bulgaria 11.4% Netherlands 8.8% Iran 8% US 7.5% Spain 6.2% Belgium 5.3% Canada 5.3% Georgia 4.6% (2011)

Imports: $3.614 billion (2011 est.)
Rank: 145
Commodities: natural gas petroleum tobacco products foodstuffs diamonds
Partners: Russia 20.1% China 8.2% Ukraine 6.9% Iran 6.5% Germany 5.9% Italy 4.7% Turkey 4% (2011)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $1.932 billion (31 December 2011 est.)
Rank: 121

Debt external: $6.417 billion (31 December 2011 est.)
Rank: 106

Exchange rates:

Electricity
Production: 7.432 billion kWh (2011 est.)
Production rank: 101
Consumption: 5.8 billion kWh (2011 est.)
Consumption rank: 108
Exports: 1.36 billion kWh (2011 est.)
Exports rank: 52
Imports: 291 million kWh (2009 est.)