Location: Southwestern Asia,
between Turkey and Azerbaijan
Map references: Africa, Asia,
Commonwealth of Independent States - European States, Middle East, Standard
Time Zones of the World
Area:
total area 29,800
sq km
land area 28,400 sq km
comparative area slightly
larger than Maryland
Land boundaries: total 1,254 km, Azerbaijan
(east) 566 km, Azerbaijan (south) 221 km, Georgia 164 km, Iran 35 km, Turkey
268 km
Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)
Maritime claims:
none; landlocked
International disputes: violent and
longstanding dispute with Azerbaijan over ethnically Armenian exclave of Nagorno-Karabakh;
traditional demands on former Armenian lands in Turkey have greatly subsided
Climate: highland continental, hot summers, cold winters
Terrain: high Armenian Plateau with mountains; little forest
land; fast flowing rivers; good soil in Aras River valley
Natural resources:
small deposits of gold, copper, molybdenum, zinc, alumina
Land use:
arable land 17%
permanent crops 3%
meadows and pastures 20%
forest and woodland 0%
other 60%
Irrigated land: 3,050 sq km (1990)
Environment:
current issues soil pollution
from toxic chemicals such as DDT; energy blockade, the result of conflict
with Azerbaijan, has led to deforestation as citizens scavenge for firewood;
pollution of Hrazdan (Razdan) and Aras Rivers; the draining of Lake Sevan,
a result of its use as a source for hydropower, threatens drinking water supplies;
air pollution in Yerevan
natural hazards occasionally severe earthquakes
(25,000 people killed in major quake in 1988); subject to drought
international agreements party to - Biodiversity, Climate Change
Note: landlocked
Population:
3,521,517 (July 1994 est.)
Population growth rate:
1.08% (1994 est.)
Birth rate: 24.21 births/1,000 population
(1994 est.)
Death rate: 6.72 deaths/1,000 population (1994
est.)
Net migration rate: -6.72 migrant(s)/1,000 population
(1994 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 27.1 deaths/1,000 live
births (1994 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population 72.07 years
male 68.65 years
female
75.65 years (1994 est.)
Total fertility rate: 3.19
children born/woman (1994 est.)
Nationality:
noun Armenian(s)
adjective Armenian
Ethnic divisions:
Armenian 93%, Azeri 3%, Russian 2%, other 2%
Religions:
Armenian Orthodox 94%
Languages: Armenian 96%, Russian
2%, other 2%
Literacy: age 9-49 can read and write (1970)
total population 100%
male 100%
female 100%
Labor force: 1.578 million
by occupation
industry and construction 34%, agriculture and forestry 31%, other 35% (1992)
Names:
conventional long form
Republic of Armenia
conventional short form Armenia
local long form Hayastani Hanrapetut'yun
local short form
Hayastan
former Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic; Armenian
Republic
Digraph: AM
Type: republic
Capital: Yerevan
Administrative divisions:
none (all rayons are under direct republic jurisdiction)
Independence: 28 May 1918 (First Armenian Republic); 23 September 1991
(from Soviet Union)
National holiday: Referendum Day, 21
September
Legal system: based on civil
law system
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Flag:
three equal horizontal bands of red (top), blue, and gold
Overview: Under the old central planning
system, Armenia had built up a developed industrial sector, supplying machine
building equipment, textiles, and other manufactured goods to sister republics
in exchange for raw materials and energy resources. Armenia is a large food
importer and its mineral deposits (gold, bauxite) are small. The economic
decline in the past three years (1991-93) has been particularly severe due
to the ongoing conflict over the Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan and Turkey have blockaded pipeline and railroad traffic to Armenia
for its support of the Karabakh Armenians. This has left Armenia with only
sporadic deliveries of natural gas through unstable Georgia, while other fuel
and raw materials are in critical short supply. Inflation, roughly 14% per
month in the first nine months of 1993, surged even higher in the fourth quarter.
In late 1993, most industrial enterprises were either shut down or operating
at drastically reduced levels. Only small quantities of food were available
(mostly humanitarian aid), heat was nonexistent, and electricity strictly
rationed. An economic recovery cannot be expected until the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict is settled and until transportation through Georgia improves.
National product: GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $7.1 billion (1993
estimate from the UN International Comparison Program, as extended to 1991
and published in the World Bank's World Development Report 1993; and as extrapolated
to 1993 using official Armenian statistics, which are very uncertain because
of major economic changes since 1990)
National product real growth rate:
-9.9% (1993 est.)
National product per capita: $2,040
(1993 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 14% per month
average (first 9 months, 1993)
Unemployment rate: 6.5%
of officially registered unemployed but large numbers of underemployed (1993
est.)
Budget:
revenues $NA
expenditures
$NA, including capital expenditures of $NA
Exports:
$31 million to countries outside the FSU (f.o.b., 1993)
commodities
machinery and transport equipment, light industrial products, processed
food items, alcoholic products (1991)
partners NA
Imports: $87 million from countries outside the FSU (c.i.f., 1993)
commodities grain, other foods, fuel, other energy (1991)
partners
Russia, US, EC
External debt: $NA
Industrial production:
growth rate -11% (1993 est.)
Electricity:
capacity 2,875,000 kW
production 9 billion kWh
consumption per capita
2,585 kWh (1992)
Industries: traditionally diverse,
including (as a percent of output of former USSR) metalcutting machine tools
(5.5%), forging-pressing machines (1.9%), electric motors (9%), tires (1.5%),
knitted wear (4.4%), hosiery (3.0%), shoes (2.2%), silk fabric (0.8%), washing
machines (2.0%), chemicals, trucks, watches, instruments, and microelectronics
(1990); currently, much of industry is shut down
Agriculture:
accounts for about 45% of GDP; only 17% of land area is arable; employs
20%-30% of labor force as residents increasingly turn to subsistence agriculture;
fruits (especially grapes) and vegetable farming, minor livestock sector;
vineyards near Yerevan are famous for brandy and other liqueurs
Economic aid:
recipient considerable humanitarian aid, mostly
food and energy products, from US and EC; Russia has granted 60 billion rubles
in technical credits
Currency: 1 dram = 100 luma; introduced
separate currency in November 1993
Exchange rates: NA
Fiscal year: calendar year
Railroads: 840 km; does not include industrial lines (1990)
Highways:
total 11,300 km
paved 10,500 km
unpaved earth 800 km (1990)
Inland waterways: NA km
Pipelines: natural gas 900 km (1991)
Ports:
none; landlocked
Airports:
total 12
usable 10
with permanent-surface runways 6
with runways over 3,659 m
1
with runways 2,440-3,659 m 3
with runways 1,060-2,439 m
2
note a C-130 can land on a 1,060-m airstrip
Telecommunications: progress on installation of fiber optic cable and
construction of facilities for mobile cellular phone service remains in the
negotiation phase for joint venture agreement; Armenia has about 650,000 telephones;
average telephone density is 17.7 per 100 persons; international connections
to other former republics of the USSR are by landline or microwave and to
other countries by satellite and by leased connection through the Moscow international
gateway switch; broadcast stations - 100% of population receives Armenian
and Russian TV programs; satellite earth station - INTELSAT
Branches: Army, Air Force, National
Guard, Security Forces (internal and border troops)
Manpower availability:
males age 15-49 862,921; fit for military service 690,113; reach military
age (18) annually 28,458 (1994 est.)
Defense expenditures:
250 million rubles, NA% of GDP (1992 est.); note - conversion of the
military budget into US dollars using the current exchange rate could produce
misleading results