History UsefulNotes / Armenia

* Actor Creator/SimonAbkarian.

* Missak Manouchian, French-Armenian member of French Resistance during World War Two and led a resistance group referred as "Manouchian Group", active in the Paris and the surrounding region from February to November 1943. He was executed (with each of his men) by the Germans in 1944.

* '''Highest point:''' Mount Aragats (4090 m/13,419 ft) (44th)

* William Saroyan, Armenian-American writer, and patriarch of a veritable clan of American Saroyans, including his actress daughter Lucy, his writer son Aram, and journalist granddaughter Strawberry. ([[ItIsPronouncedTroPay And his last name is pronounced ''Sah-row-yawn'', not ''Ser-roy-yen'' as Americans typically pronounce it.]])

Before the Kingdom of Armenia arose the area of eastern Anatolia and the Caucasus was dominated by the Kingdom of Urartu (roughly 858 to 585 BC), where many historians believe the Armenian nationality had its genesis. Folk history denotes that the Armenians are descended from a legendary hero known as Hayk, who led the Armenian people out of Mesopotamia, defeating a tyrannic titan named Bel to ensure his people's freedom over 4,500 years ago. It is also said he was a grandson of Noah, though this aspect of the legend is likely a case of ancient Armenian mythology being HijackedByJesus [[note]] Moses Khorenatsi, the first Armenian historian, was a Christian; thus his viewpoints were painted by his religious beliefs. He would often take the oral history of remaining pagan Armenians (still around when he was writing in the 400's AD) and put a Christian spin on them. [[/note]]. Earliest references to the area as "Armenia" come from the annals of King Darius in the 500's B.C., where it is actually used interchangeably with Urartu, so it is likely that Urartians are the direct predecessors to Armenians. It's also been theorized that the Armenian ethnic group had been perhaps one of the several under Urartian rule, but scholars can't agree on whether or not Armenians were indigenous to the area or had migrated from the west. In any case, people have been living in the area for quite some time, as [[http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/06/100609-worlds-oldest-leather-shoe-armenia-science/ the world's oldest shoe]], found in a cave in Armenia, can attest to.



Armenia first became an independent Kingdom after Rome defeated the Selucid Empire, leading a former Selucid general from Armenia, Artashes I, to declare himself king. Though technically ruled over by a king, throughout ancient and medieval times Armenia would be more or less controlled by powerful noble families called ''nakharars'' that governed their own provinces and had their own armies, with a social system somewhat similar to feudalism, and also akin to the clans of Scotland. The king could be simply the head of the most powerful of these families. Armenia's influence grew to its zenith under the reign of Tigran the Great from 95-55 BC, when the Armenian Empire stretched from the Caspian Sea to Israel. This wasn't to last long however, due to Roman and Parthian-Persian invasions gradually chipping the empire down. Armenia became a buffer kingdom between Rome and Persia for centuries [[note]] in fact, for many years Persia would choose the candidate for the King of Armenia, and the king would travel to Rome to gain approval and be crowned, until eventually the title became hereditary; this system was agreed to by the nakharars [[/note]]. During this time Armenia's King Trdat III converted to Christianity (the traditional date given is 301 AD, though it may have been as late as 314), and made Christianity the official religion, becoming the first country to do so. The move would strengthen ties with Rome but alienate it from Persia, which had been taken over by the rival Sassanid dynasty. After Armenia was partitioned between Rome and Persia, in the year 451 a war was fought against the ruling Persians who were trying to convert Armenia to UsefulNotes/{{Zoroastrianism}}, and though Armenia was on the losing side initially, their guerrilla tactics paid off eventually and they were allowed to keep their new religion. Also in the 400's AD, the Armenian alphabet was created by Mesrob Mashtots [[note]] or adapted from a pre-existing pagan alphabet, as some have theorized; that the Armenian pantheon had Tir, the God of Writing, is telling, but again only Christian Armenian historical resources have survived [[/note]], initially for the purpose of translating Literature/TheBible into Armenian. One could argue this move ended up preserving Armenian identity over the centuries more than anything else.



Armenia continued to fall under the rule of almost anyone building an empire for the next thousand years or so with only brief moments of independence in between; of note being the Bagratuni Kingdom between 885 and 1045, which came about after the Arabs relinquished control of the area in hopes of appeasing the Armenians and gaining an ally against the [[UsefulNotes/ByzantineEmpire Eastern Roman Empire]]. The kingdom however was destined to fall due to the Armenian nakharar families [[FeudingFamilies not liking one another very much]], and splitting their land off into independent kingdoms, which one by one would then be conquered by Eastern Rome. The Romans didn't have the means to defend Armenia once they had it again (in fact they forcibly disbanded Armenia's defending armies after the conquest), paving the way for the Seljuk Turk invasions. The next two hundred years were chaotic for Greater Armenia, as it was then invaded in succession by the Mongolians, Georgia, and [[UsefulNotes/TimurTheLame Tamerlane]], only to finally fall under Ottoman Turkish rule for the majority of the last millennium (its location, between the Black and Caspian seas, makes it a hot commodity for empire builders, unfortunately for the Armenians themselves).

Ottoman rule was a relief to the Armenians at first; the region had been completely devastated by several invasions within decades of one another. Christians in the empire were second class citizens and more heavily taxed, but the Armenians made due by mostly becoming merchants. Eastern Armenia changed hands a few times over the centuries between Persia, Russia, and the Ottomans, until Armenia was partitioned again between Russia and Turkey under the 1828 Treaty of Turkmenchay after the Russo-Turkish War, ultimately causing the Eastern-Western split in the Armenian language still present today. The Ottoman Armenians then fell under suspicion during the latter half of the 19th century, as the Ottoman Empire lost territory in Greece and the Balkans, and the remaining Christians in the empire became a scapegoat of sorts, resulting in sporadic government-condoned massacres of the Armenians, particularly in the 1890's. This finally came to a head during UsefulNotes/WorldWarI under the Young Turks, and the matter of the Armenian Genocide that was to follow is still a very contentious one - few western observers doubt that there was a major humanitarian disaster in the area in 1915, precipitated by Turkish troops against the Ottoman Empire's Christian population, most of whom were put on death marches into the Syrian desert, when not massacred on the spot, killing over a million Armenians. And the common opinion of genocide scholars, in the face of overwhelming proof through contemporary photographic and eyewitness accounts, is that it falls under the definition of a genocide. The Young Turk government had delusions of creating a "racially pure" Pan-Turkish state stretching from Istanbul to Turkmenistan, something that the Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians stood in the way of, as well as of course Russia, who ended up defeating the Ottomans badly in the war and preventing the completion of the genocide.



Modern Turkey, nearly 100 years later, still [[WouldBeRudeToSayGenocide refuses to even discuss the genocide issue]], even though any crimes would have been committed by the government deposed by the current state. Overall, the Turkish government admits that atrocities occurred, though they deny this reached genocide level, or say it was not intended that way. Additionally, they contend the Armenian minority had rebelled and was aiding Russia [[note]] which, even if some groups were, couldn't possibly mean they ''all'' were [[/note]], then invading the Ottoman Empire, making the forced removal of Armenians in border areas, in their view, [[DisproportionateRetribution a reasonable measure]]. They claim that massacres were not ordered by the government, but committed by militia, soldiers and local Turkish villagers on their own, a claim that runs counter to certain contemporary documents that feature members of the Young Turk government giving explicitly genocidal orders [[http://www.genocide-museum.am/eng/turkish.php]]. But, the tides have been turning in recent years. Kurds living in Turkey on former Armenian lands, for instance, generally admit what happened and are apologetic, thanks to suffering oppression at the hands of the Turkish government themselves for several decades after the genocide. More Turkish scholars like Taner Akcam have come forward to speak about it with the easing of laws restricting its mention. Genocide deniers in Turkey tend to be of the more conservative, pro-government and nationalistic type, if not simply misinformed, though even a few liberal Turks like Cenk Uygur of ''The Young Turks'' have been outspoken deniers. However, they're rapidly becoming a (still very) VocalMinority, albeit one which controls the government.

Getting back to history, shortly before the end of UsefulNotes/WorldWarI Armenia would become independent for a brief period, thanks to the Russian and Ottoman empires collapsing. You see, just before the Russian Empire fell, Russia had ([[OverlyLongGag as usual]]) [[CurbStompBattle soundly beaten]] Turkey and retaken most of the historically Armenian territories, and when Armenia became independent it had inherited these territories. In Russia's absence from the war the Armenians were used as an UnwittingPawn by the allies toward the end of UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, with England promising them military aid and more territory if they prevented the Turkish advance into Baku and allowed them to use their territory as a springboard into Russia during the Russian Civil War, only to go back on its promise once the war was over to focus on more strategically important territories. Such betrayals were par the course for most countries Britain had backed in the Middle East during the war. As a result of the allies' neglect, the country was quickly weakened by wars with its neighbors and though it put up a valiant effort not to be reconquered by Turkey, Armenia was eventually assimilated into the Soviet Union after only two years--contested lands were surrendered to Turkey, another in a long series of government concessions throughout the western USSR made out of a fear of an escalating invasion of the USSR by European states, the USA and Japan, and the belief that a worldwide revolution would make the losses irrelevant or that the lands would at least improve relations with Turkey.



Not all Armenians took Soviet occupation laying down; the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, headed by Garegin Nzhdeh, led a successful rebellion in 1921 after the Soviets threatened to make Armenia's Zangezur region (modern Syunik) a part of the Azerbaijani SSR, forming the very short-lived Republic of Mountainous Armenia, and even capturing Yerevan for 42 days before being pushed back by the Soviets. The Red Army then pushed into Zangezur and quelled the rebellion, ensuring their surrender by promising to keep Zangezur a part of the Armenian SSR, as it remains today. In the aftermath, however, Artsakh, or Nagorno-Karabakh, was put under Azeri control, something that would come back to haunt everyone involved decades later.



As the Armenian SSR, Armenia's fortunes rose and fell (along with the rest of the country). After the initial violence of the shift between governments, Moscow elected to compromise, expanding Armenian infrastructure, education and healthcare, and the republic benefited from Lenin's New Economic Policy. However, as elsewhere, the Great Purges exacted an serious toll, both in the area of rapid industrialization than targeted arrests and deportations (the ancient Armenian church was a frequent target, as during the period of the Romanov-mandated Russian Orthodox domination). Many of the 'Old Bolsheviks', now the Armenian political elite, were targeted. The fact that Soviet-drawn boundaries seemed to be giving Armenia the short end of the stick in almost every way possible (Western Armenia going to Turkey, Javakh going to Georgia, Nakhichevan going to Azerbaijan, Artsakh being made an autonomous oblast within Azerbaijan) left many Armenians feeling very bitter towards Moscow both at home and abroad; sadly most of the outspoken ones within the Armenian SSR ended up in TheGulag. Fortunately, the [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII Great Patriotic War]] spared Armenia (especially compared to the other republics). As elsewhere, the republic contributed thousands to the war effort (as much as 500,000 soldiers and officers), many of whom didn't return, but the war also created a number of celebrated war heroes (including many recipients of the country's top decoration, Hero of the USSR), and sixty Armenians were promoted to the rank of general. In an effort to bolster the war effort, Stalin's government allowed limited nationalistic and religious expression. Armenia's contributions, and a generation of political and military elite, were able to lobby the post-war government to redress the contested lost territories and succeeded, with Foreign Minister Molotov annulling its treaties with Turkey (intervention by NATO prevented anything further though).

After the initial celebrations when the country became independent, Armenia was essentially in shambles, faced with war, economic collapse, an energy shortage, and it still needed to clean up after the 1988 earthquake. Locals will recall the early 1990's as being a bleak and grim time where citizens of Yerevan were only allotted one hour of electricity per day, and in winter had to burn furniture, books and tree branches to stay warm. People began emigrating from the country in large numbers. Amazingly, Armenia eventually picked itself up and persevered; currently this is the longest Armenia has ever been independent since the Bagratuni Kingdom fell in 1045. Modern Armenia still has poor relations with Turkey, and also with its neighbor, Azerbaijan, over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, nominally an autonomous Arminopohone part of the Azerbaijani SSR [[note]]ItsALongStory, but the gist of it is: Stalin's DivideAndConquer tactics (minus the usual infighting component--dramatic ethnic violence didn't rise until decades after Stalin's death) basically carved up the Caucasus and placed lots of ethnic groups that didn't like each other in the same administrative area, on basis of ancient communities that delved deeply into each other territories, in order to justify Soviet presence in the region. Nagorno-Karabakh, being a traditionally Armenian area, was made an autonomous oblast within Soviet Azerbaijan, a move that kept conflict at a minimum for decades while the Soviets kept forces there, and has also been suggested as meant to placate Turkey. What happened when the USSR collapsed and there was suddenly no force to stop open conflict should be easy to guess.[[/note]], but which the region's native Armenians, [[UsefulNotes/ArmosWithArmor with help from the country itself]], freed after a war between 1992-1994. It's now declared itself an independent country known as the Republic of Artsakh, which no one recognizes - no, not even Armenia, because the situation's basically been frozen ever since the 1994 ceasefire and [[StatusQuoIsGod understandably, the Armenian government is not eager to restart armed conflict]]. Azerbaijan, on the other hand, hasn't been quite as passive, and violates the ceasefire almost daily. At least until 2020, the country was only stopped from unleashing a full-on war by international pressure, and the fact that it fared poorly last time.



Turkey, showing solidarity with its ally Azerbaijan, shut its borders with Armenia during the war, and the borders remain closed to this day. Which only adds insult to injury when you consider Armenia's former historic lands that Turkey annexed in the 1920's, including Mt. Ararat, sits just on the other side of the border. Armenia has since depended on friendly ties with Georgia and Iran to get anything imported and exported, so despite the strain the blockades have caused, the country has managed. On the other side, Russia, despite having pretty amicable relations with both Turkey and Azerbaijan, has generally sided with Armenia in the Karabakh matter, and it's an open secret that the war was basically won with the Russian equipment and aid. Of course, exactly because of its good relations with all involved countries Russia has the ''least'' incentive to restart the conflict, or as some political analysts suggest, solving it [[note]] an Armenian victory would mean there'd be two independent Armenian countries that would no longer require Russia's military aid; an Azeri victory would mean Russia would lose much of it's influence in the region as well[[/note]]. UsefulNotes/{{Pakistan}}, being closely allied with both Turkey and Azerbaijan, refuses to even recognize Armenia as a sovereign state, and firmly sides with Azerbaijan on the Nagorno-Karabakh issue; in retaliation Armenia recognized the disputed territory of Kashmir as part of India, and enjoys healthy relations with India. Armenia also blocked Pakistan from becoming an observer state in the CSTO.



There was a brief moment in 2009 in which it looked like Turkey and Armenia ''might'' reconcile, with the signing of Protocols that would open their border, but as it turns out Turkey soon began attaching preconditions that included Armenia dropping the genocide issue and forfeiting Nagorno-Karabakh, so the Protocols went into limbo, which for several years conveniently allowed Turkey to threaten to pull out of them at the slightest hint that a country (most notably the US) was thinking about recognizing the Armenian Genocide. Most countries stopped buying the excuse as the years passed, until finally in February 2015, President Sargsyan of Armenia withdrew the protocols from Parliament, citing Turkey's inactivity and unreasonable preconditions.



The country was plagued with government corruption for many years; a side effect in many post-Soviet countries. However, the Armenian people have begun to stand up to it. In the 2010's alone there were protests nearly every year starting with a peaceful protest against rising bus fares in 2014, followed by the "Electric Yerevan" protests against rising electricity prices in 2015. In 2016 protests broke out after a nationalist group known as Sasna Dzerer (Daredevils of Sassoun) took over a police station and held officers hostage while demanding President Sargsyan resign; these ended with the arrests of the group. The most unprecedented protest occurred in 2018; President Serge Sargsyan oversaw constitutional amendments which transferred most of the President's powers to the Prime Minister, and shortly after his final term as President became the Prime Minister. The people, tired of government corruption which had caused a large class gap and rampant emigration from the country, revolted; but peacefully. From April to May 2018 protesters blocked streets for ten full days, holding dances and barbecues, filling the streets of Yerevan and Armenia's smaller cities. It was called a VelvetRevolution in the media. This gave the government two choices: violently put an end to the protests and incite an even worse reaction from their own people and look much worse internationally than they already did, or give in to their demands. Sargsyan resigned as Prime Minister, and protest leader Nikol Pashinyan took his place a couple weeks later, after parliament very reluctantly elected him. Commentators marked this as Armenia finally declaring independence from the Soviet Union, 27 years after its fall.


The year 2020 was a difficult one for many countries in the world, but was especially catastrophic for Armenia. While the spread of the coronavirus did hurt the economy especially in the tourism sector, the worst came on September 27th, when Azerbaijan, emboldened by support from Turkey and arms from Israel, renewed the conflict over Artsakh. With the help of the Turkish army, Israeli military equipment and Syrian mercenaries, Azerbaijan managed to take swaths of land in the next 44 days before Russia finally stepped in and brokered another ceasefire; Armenia was forced to agree to cede roughly two thirds of Artsakh, leaving only Stepanakert and Martakert as the two main cities, no longer under Armenian control but under Russian protection. In the ceasefire agreement Armenia was also forced to allow Azerbaijan to use the southern border of Armenia as a transport corridor between itself and its exclave Nakhichevan, the ramifications of which remains to be seen; it has yet to be implemented because Azerbaijan refuses to release some 200 Armenian prisoners of war, instead bartering them a few at a time in exchange for landmine maps of Artsakh. Azerbaijan was forced to agree to this after accidentally downing a Russian jet, but not before capturing the strategically important city of Shushi/Shusha. Citizens living in the lands that were to be ceded were given some time to leave, most of them opting to burn their own houses down rather than have them fall into the hands of the Azeris. In the aftermath, Armenia faced a refugee crisis from incoming Armenians fleeing the ceded lands. Russian peacekeepers will patrol the remaining area of Artsakh, as well as Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan, until at least 2025, by which time the final status of Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabakh may be decided. Russia has a way of not leaving once they get a foothold into former Soviet countries (see also Crimea, South Ossetia and Abkhazia), however, so it is possible that their protection of Artsakh may extend well beyond 2025. If this is the case, the conflict may end up entering another long frozen period, because trying to take the rest of Artsakh would also mean firing on Russian Peacekeepers stationed in the area, which didn't work great for the last country that did that.[[note]]Georgia in 2008[[/note]].

More Armenians live outside Armenia than inside - latest estimates are that, of 9 million Armenians worldwide, just under 3 million live in Armenia and the rest are scattered around the world, mainly in Russia (1 to 2 million), the US (0.5 - 1 million) and France (300 to 500 thousand), whose large Armenian population means that France often gives Armenia high votes in the Series/EurovisionSongContest, and is one of the few countries in Europe that will stick up for Armenia on issues like genocide recognition and Karabakh. Surprisingly there are still Armenians in Turkey, mostly situated in Istanbul. Official estimates of the population are between 40 to 70 thousand. However - those are just the ones who admit to being Armenian; some experts guess there may be several million "crypto-Armenians" in Turkey who've been Islamized and either don't know about their Armenian ancestry or are keeping it secret. There is also the matter of the Hemshin peoples, an ethnic group originating from Islamized Armenians from the early Medieval period which still resides in northern Turkey, and has been in recent years less likely to hide their roots.


Within Armenia, Armenians make up an overwhelming majority of the population. The biggest minority group in the country is the Yazidis, a nomadic people with a unique religion, and similarly to the Armenians themselves, have often been targets of discrimination in the Middle East. In 2014 Armenians stood in solidarity with Yazidis in condemning the Islamic State's attempted genocide against the Yazidis in Iraq. But the demographics in Armenia are in continual flux. While emigration is still a problem for the country and has been since independence, since the start of Syria's Civil War, members of Syria's very old Armenian diaspora community have been fleeing to Armenia in droves.



Armenia is best described as an oddity - in an area mainly Muslim or Orthodox, it has its own form of Christianity, a language that seems to be in its own little branch of the Indo-European family (as far as anyone can guess, it descended from Phrygian and may be sorta-kinda related to Greek, but no one is 100% sure), its own alphabet [[note]]which draws a little inspiration from the Greek alphabet but also uses it's own original symbols; St. Mesrob Mashtots actually customized it for the Armenian language in order to translate the Bible into Armenian [[/note]] and friendly relations towards Russia and Iran in a region increasingly hostile to them (having the Turks on one side, the Azeris on the other, both closing their borders and placing it in an economic stranglehold tends to make them grateful for all the help they can get.) Armenia and Iran have had a friendship going back centuries, despite religious differences, and in modern times its one of Iran's only trading partners with the economic sanctions placed on it. Armenia also has a bit of a love/hate relationship with its northern neighbor Georgia, through which it imports and exports to Russia and uses its ports on the Black Sea. [[note]] Though also Christian and sharing many cultural similarities with the Armenians, Georgia chooses to remain neutral regarding Armenia's difficulties with its other neighbors, plus they're a little bitter over Armenia's good relations with Russia.[[/note]]



Armenia sits on the Europe/Asia boundary, but culturally it's considered European (being the first officially Christian country helped), plays its sport in European federations and usually competes in the Series/EurovisionSongContest as mentioned. Armenia's loyalties to Europe came into some question in September 2013 however, when Armenia opted to join Russia's new Customs Union over a free-trade deal with UsefulNotes/TheEuropeanUnion, sparking a rivalry between the two organizations. Seeing as how Russia is a much closer and more essential ally to Armenia than the EU is, this decision went over a lot better in Armenia than it later would in Ukraine, though there were minor protests. It would be until 2017 that Armenia finally struck a trade deal with the EU that was also acceptable to Russia. In fact, looking at the bigger picture, the closed border between Turkey and Armenia serves not just as a separation between Turks and Armenians, despite having good relations on countries on both sides, is a sort of boundary between NATO and Russia-aligned countries, the last modern vestige of the UsefulNotes/IronCurtain; one reason Russia sees Armenia as very valuable. As the 2020 war showed, this arrangement is likely the only thing keeping Turkey from attacking and annexing Armenia from the west.

* '''Highest point:''' Mount Aragats (4090 m/13,419 ft) (63rd)

Modern Turkey, nearly 100 years later, still [[WouldBeRudeToSayGenocide refuses to even discuss the genocide issue]], even though any crimes would have been committed by the government deposed by the current state. Overall, the Turkish government admits that atrocities occurred, though they deny this reached genocide level, or say it was not intended that way. Additionally, they contend the Armenian minority had rebelled and was aiding Russia [[note]] which, even if some groups were, couldn't possibly mean they ''all'' were [[/note]], then invading the Ottoman Empire, making the forced removal of Armenians in border areas, in their view, [[DisproportionateRetribution a reasonable measure]]. They claim that massacres were not ordered by the government, but committed by militia, soldiers and local Turkish villagers on their own, a claim that runs counter to certain contemporary documents that feature members of the Young Turk government giving explicitly genocidal orders [[http://www.genocide-museum.am/eng/turkish.php]]. But, the tides have been turning in recent years. Kurds living in Turkey on former Armenian lands, for instance, generally admit what happened and are apologetic, thanks to suffering oppression at the hands of the Turkish government themselves for several decades after the genocide. More Turkish scholars like Taner Akcam have come forward to speak about it with the easing of laws restricting its mention. Genocide deniers in Turkey tend to be of the more conservative, pro-government and nationalistic type, if not simply misinformed, though even a few liberal Turks like Cenk Uygur of Radio/TheYoungTurks have been outspoken deniers. However, they're rapidly becoming a (still very) VocalMinority, albeit one which controls the government.

* '''ISO-3166-1 Code:''' AM

Tucked away in the Caucasus mountains, in that little clutch of former UsefulNotes/{{Soviet|RussiaUkraineAndSoOn}} republics where UsefulNotes/{{Russia}} meets UsefulNotes/{{Turkey}}, is the Eastern European/Western Asian country of Armenia ('''Armenian:''' Հայաստան Hayastan), officially known as the '''Republic of Armenia''' ('''Armenian:''' Հայաստանի Հանրապետություն Hayastani Hanrapetutyun). Though the current republic formed after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, it's not a new country by any means - the first Kingdom of Armenia goes back to 331 BC, and was the first country to officially adopt Christianity, in 301 AD. It also used to be ''much'' bigger than it is now, most of its former historical lands now being part of Turkey (this includes Mt. Ararat, which while considered a national symbol of Armenia and actually visible from the capital Yerevan, is rather awkwardly located over the border in Turkey).

The year 2020 was a difficult one for many countries in the world, but was especially catastrophic for Armenia. While the spread of the coronavirus did hurt the economy especially in the tourism sector, the worst came on September 27th, when Azerbaijan, emboldened by support from Turkey and arms from Israel, renewed the conflict over Artsakh. With the help of the Turkish army, Israeli military equipment and Syrian mercenaries, Azerbaijan managed to take swaths of land in the next 44 days before Russia finally stepped in and brokered another ceasefire; Armenia was forced to agree to cede roughly two thirds of Artsakh, leaving only Stepanakert and Martakert as the two main cities, no longer under Armenian control but under Russian protection. In the ceasefire agreement Armenia was also forced to allow Azerbaijan to use the southern border of Armenia as a transport corridor between itself and its exclave Nakhichevan, the ramifications of which remains to be seen; it has yet to be implemented because Azerbaijan refuses to release some 200 Armenian POWs, instead bartering them a few at a time in exchange for landmine maps of Artsakh. Azerbaijan was forced to agree to this after accidentally downing a Russian jet, but not before capturing the strategically important city of Shushi/Shusha. Citizens living in the lands that were to be ceded were given some time to leave, most of them opting to burn their own houses down rather than have them fall into the hands of the Azeris. In the aftermath, Armenia faced a refugee crisis from incoming Armenians fleeing the ceded lands. Russian peacekeepers will patrol the remaining area of Artsakh, as well as Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan, until at least 2025, by which time the final status of Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabakh may be decided. Russia has a way of not leaving once they get a foothold into former Soviet countries (see also Crimea, South Ossetia and Abkhazia), however, so it is possible that their protection of Artsakh may extend well beyond 2025. If this is the case, the conflict may end up entering another long frozen period, because trying to take the rest of Artsakh would also mean firing on Russian Peacekeepers stationed in the area, which didn't work great for the last country that did that.[[note]]Georgia in 2008[[/note]].

The year 2020 was a difficult one for many countries in the world, but was especially catastrophic for Armenia. While the spread of the coronavirus did hurt the economy especially in the tourism sector, the worst came on September 27th, when Azerbaijan, emboldened by support from Turkey and Israel, renewed the conflict over Artsakh. With the help of the Turkish army, Israeli military equipment and Syrian mercenaries, Azerbaijan managed to take swaths of land in the next 44 days before Russia finally stepped in and brokered another ceasefire; Armenia was forced to agree to cede roughly two thirds of Artsakh, leaving only Stepanakert and Martakert as the two main cities, no longer under Armenian control but under Russian protection. Armenia was also forced to allow Azerbaijan to use the southern border of Armenia as a transport corridor between itself and its exclave Nakhichevan; the ramifications of which remains to be seen. Azerbaijan was forced to agree to this after accidentally downing a Russian jet, but not before capturing the strategically important city of Shushi/Shusha. Citizens living in the lands that were to be ceded were given some time to leave, most of them opting to burn their own houses down rather than have them fall into the hands of the Azeris. In the aftermath, Armenia faced a refugee crisis from incoming Armenians fleeing the ceded lands. Russian peacekeepers will patrol the remaining area of Artsakh, as well as Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan, until at least 2025, by which time the final status of Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabakh may be decided. Russia has a way of not leaving once they get a foothold into former Soviet countries (see also Crimea, South Ossetia and Abkhazia), however, so it is possible that their protection of Artsakh may extend well beyond 2025. If this is the case, the conflict may end up entering another long frozen period, because trying to take the rest of Artsakh would also mean firing on Russian Peacekeepers stationed in the area, which didn't work great for the last country that did that.[[note]]Georgia in 2008[[/note]].

Russia has treaty agreements to protect Armenia in case of an attack, but Artsakh, being unrecognized, was not covered under the treaty. Commentators speculated that Russia waited to intervene as punishment to Armenia’s new pro-West Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, and the loss of the war did indeed do a lot to shake the public’s confidence in his administration. He refused to resign, however, despite calls for him to do so, and so far managed to successfully cling to power by associating the protests with the previous regime, as many Armenians consider Pashinyan ALighterShadeOfGrey.

* Andre Agassi, whose father is Iranian-Armenian (as noted above, Iran and Armenia get along pretty well--Armenians are the largest Christian group in Iran and are guaranteed two seats in the ''Majlis'' or Parliament--and Iranians can occasionally get fairly chummy, especially abroad).

* '''Area:''' 29,743 sq km (11,484 sq mi) (138th)

* '''Area:''' 29,743 km (11,484 sq mi) (138th)

* Unitary parliamentary constitutional republic

* '''Area:''' 29,743 km
(11,484 sq mi)

** President of Parliament: Ararat Mirzoyan

Tucked away in the Caucasus mountains, in that little clutch of former UsefulNotes/{{Soviet|RussiaUkraineAndSoOn}} republics where UsefulNotes/{{Russia}} meets UsefulNotes/{{Turkey}}, is the Eastern European/Western Asian country of Armenia ('''Armenian:''' Հայաստան Hayastan), officially known as the Republic of Armenia ('''Armenian:''' Հայաստանի Հանրապետություն Hayastani Hanrapetutyun). Though the current republic formed after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, it's not a new country by any means - the first Kingdom of Armenia goes back to 331 BC, and was the first country to officially adopt Christianity, in 301 AD. It also used to be ''much'' bigger than it is now, most of its former historical lands now being part of Turkey (this includes Mt. Ararat, which while considered a national symbol of Armenia and actually visible from the capital Yerevan, is rather awkwardly located over the border in Turkey).

Russia has treaty agreements to protect Armenia in case of an attack, but Artsakh, being unrecognized, was not covered under the treaty. Commentators speculated that Russia waited to intervene as punishment to Armenia’s new pro-West Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, and the loss of the war did indeed do a lot to shake the public’s confidence in his administration. He refused to resign, however, despite calls for him to do so, and so far managed to successfully cling to power by associating the protests with the previous regime, as many Armenians consider Pashinyan [[ALighterShadeOfGrey]].

Russia has treaty agreements to protect Armenia in case of an attack, but Artsakh, being unrecognized, was not covered under the treaty. Commentators speculated that Russia waited to intervene as punishment to Armenia’s new pro-West Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, and the loss of the war did indeed do a lot to shake the public’s confidence in his administration. He refused to resign, however, despite calls for him to do so, and so far managed to successfully cling to power by associating the protests with the previous regime, whom many Armenians consider [[ADarkerShadeOfGrey]].

Russia has treaty agreements to protect Armenia in case of an attack, but Artsakh, being unrecognized, was not covered under the treaty. Commentators speculated that Russia waited to intervene as punishment to Armenia’s new pro-West Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, and the loss of the war did indeed do a lot to shake the public’s confidence in his administration. He refused to resign, however, despite calls for him to do so.

Armenia sits on the Europe/Asia boundary, but culturally it's considered European (being the first officially Christian country helped), plays its sport in European federations and usually competes in the Series/EurovisionSongContest as mentioned. Armenia's loyalties to Europe came into some question in September 2013 however, when Armenia opted to join Russia's new Customs Union over a free-trade deal with UsefulNotes/TheEuropeanUnion, sparking a rivalry between the two organizations. Seeing as how Russia is a much closer and more essential ally to Armenia than the EU is, this decision went over a lot better in Armenia than it later would in Ukraine, though there were minor protests. It would be until 2017 that Armenia finally struck a trade deal with the EU that was also acceptable to Russia. In fact, looking at the bigger picture, the closed border between Turkey and Armenia serves not just as a separation between Turks and Armenian, despite having good relations on countries on both sides, is a sort of boundary between NATO and Russia-aligned countries, the last modern vestige of the UsefulNotes/IronCurtain; one reason Russia sees Armenia as very valuable. Tensions late in 2015 between Russia and Turkey relating to the Syrian Civil War have led to this border possibly becoming a hot spot in the near future, and is heavily fortified by the Russians.

[[folder: Demographics, Culture and Geopolitics]]

After the initial celebrations when the country became independent, Armenia was essentially in shambles, faced with war, economic collapse, an energy shortage, and it still needed to clean up after the 1988 earthquake. Locals will recall the early 1990's as being a bleak and grim time where citizens of Yerevan were only allotted one hour of electricity per day, and in winter had to burn furniture, books and tree branches to stay warm. People began emigrating from the country in large numbers. Amazingly, Armenia eventually picked itself up and persevered; currently this is the longest Armenia has ever been independent since the Bagratuni Kingdom fell in 1045. Modern Armenia still has poor relations with Turkey, and also with its neighbor, Azerbaijan, over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, nominally an autonomous Arminopohone part of the Azerbaijani SSR [[note]]ItsALongStory, but the gist of it is: Stalin's DivideAndConquer tactics (minus the usual infighting component--dramatic ethnic violence didn't rise until decades after Stalin's death) basically carved up the Caucasus and placed lots of ethnic groups that didn't like each other in the same administrative area, on basis of ancient communities that delved deeply into each other territories, in order to justify Soviet presence in the region. Nagorno-Karabakh, being a traditionally Armenian area, was made an autonomous oblast within Soviet Azerbaijan, a move that kept conflict at a minimum for decades while the Soviets kept forces there, and has also been suggested as meant to placate Turkey. What happened when the USSR collapsed and there was suddenly no force to stop open conflict should be easy to guess.[[/note]], but which the region's native Armenians, [[UsefulNotes/ArmosWithArmor with help from the country itself]], freed after a war between 1992-1994. It's now declared itself an independent country known as the Republic of Artsakh, which no one recognizes - no, not even Armenia, because the situation's basically been frozen ever since the 1994 ceasefire and [[StatusQuoIsGod understandably, the Armenian government is not eager to restart armed conflict]], though the Armenian president has gone on the record stating Armenia would recognize it if another war broke out. Azerbaijan, on the other hand, hasn't been quite as passive, and violates the ceasefire almost daily. The country is only stopped from unleashing a full-on war by international pressure, and the fact that it fared poorly last time. It would also mean firing on Russian Peacekeepers stationed in the area, which didn't work great for the last country that did that.[[note]]Georgia in 2008[[/note]].

The year 2020 was a difficult one for many countries in the world, but was especially catastrophic for Armenia. While the spread of the coronavirus did hurt the economy especially in the tourism sector, the worst came on September 27th, when Azerbaijan, emboldened by support from Turkey and Israel, renewed the conflict over Artsakh. With the help of the Turkish army, Israeli military equipment and Syrian mercenaries, Azerbaijan managed to take swaths of land in the next 44 days before Russia finally stepped in and brokered another ceasefire; Armenia was forced to agree to cede roughly two thirds of Artsakh, leaving only Stepanakert and Martakert as the two main cities, no longer under Armenian control but under Russian protection. Armenia was also forced to allow Azerbaijan to use the southern border of Armenia as a transport corridor between itself and its exclave Nakhichevan; the ramifications of which remains to be seen. Azerbaijan was forced to agree to this after accidentally downing a Russian jet, but not before capturing the strategically important city of Shushi/Shusha. Citizens living in the lands that were to be ceded were given some time to leave, most of them opting to burn their own houses down rather than have them fall into the hands of the Azeris. In the aftermath, Armenia faced a refugee crisis from incoming Armenians fleeing the ceded lands. Russian peacekeepers will patrol the remaining area of Artsakh, as well as Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan, until at least 2025, by which time the final status of Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabakh may be decided. Russia has a way of not leaving once they get a foothold into former Soviet countries (see also Crimea, South Ossetia and Abkhazia), however, so it is possible that their protection of Artsakh may extend well beyond 2025.



More Armenians live outside Armenia than inside - latest estimates are that, of 9 million Armenians worldwide, 3 million live in Armenia and the rest are scattered around the world, mainly in Russia (1 to 2 million), the US (0.5 - 1 million) and France (300 to 500 thousand), whose large Armenian population means that France often gives Armenia high votes in the Series/EurovisionSongContest, and is one of the few countries in Europe that will stick up for Armenia on issues like genocide recognition and Karabakh. Surprisingly there are still Armenians in Turkey, mostly situated in Istanbul. Official estimates of the population are between 40 to 70 thousand. However - those are just the ones who admit to being Armenian; some experts guess there may be several million "crypto-Armenians" in Turkey who've been Islamized and either don't know about their Armenian ancestry or are keeping it secret. There is also the matter of the Hemshin peoples, an ethnic group originating from Islamized Armenians from the early Medieval period which still resides in northern Turkey, and has been in recent years less likely to hide their roots.

->''An old Armenian is on his deathbed. "Listen closely children," he says. They lean in, ears straining. "Above all else, treasure the Jews." "Why the Jews, father?" they ask. "Because once they've been dealt with,[[UsefulNotes/TheArmenianGenocide we'll be next!]]" he says.''

->''An old Armenian is on his deathbed. "Listen closely children," he says. They lean in, ears straining. "Above all else, treasure the Jews." "Why the Jews, father?" they ask. "Because once they've been dealt with,[[TheArmenianGenocide we'll be next!]]" he says.''