Armenia





The Republic of Armenia is a landlocked country in southern Transcaucasia,
between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, with Turkey to the west and
Georgia to the north, and sharing borders with Azerbaijan in the east, and
Iran and the Naxcivan exclave of Azerbaijan in the south.

                                       Official language Armenian
                                       Capital           Yerevan
History
                                       Capital's         40¡ 16' N, 44¡ 34'
                                       coordinates       E
                                       Largest City      Yerevan
Armenia was incorporated into Russian
Empire in 1828 and the USSR in 1920.   President         Robert Kocharian
Armenian leaders remain preoccupied by Prime minister    Andranik Markaryan
the long conflict with Azerbaijan over Area              Ranked 138th
Nagorno-Karabakh, a primarily          Ê- Total          29'800 km2
Armenian-populated exclave, assigned   Ê- % water        4.7%
to Soviet Azerbaijan in the 1920s by
Moscow. Armenia and Azerbaijan began   Population
fighting over the exclave in 1988; the Ê- Total (2003    Ranked 128th
struggle escalated after both          est)              3'326'448
countries attained independence from   Ê- Density        112/km2
the Soviet Union in 1991. By May 1994, Independence      From Soviet Union
when a cease-fire took hold, Armenian  Ê                 September 23, 1991
forces held not only Nagorno-Karabakh  Currency          Dram (AMD)
but also a significant portion of
Azerbaijan proper.                     Time zone         UTC +5

The economies of both sides have been  National anthem   Mer Hayrenik (Our
                                                         Fatherland)
hurt by their inability to make
substantial progress toward a peaceful Internet TLD      .AM
resolution, and the Turkish economic   Calling Code      374
blockade of Armenia.

Provinces

Armedia is divided into 11 provinces (marzer, singular - marz):
    * Aragatsotn       * Shirak
    * Ararat           * Syunik'
    * Armavir          * Tavush
    * Geghark'unik'    * Vayots' Dzor
    * Kotayk'          * Yerevan
    * Lorri