Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia to the north, Azerbaijan to the east, and Iran and the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan to the south. Yerevan is the capital, largest city and financial center.
The Armenian highlands have been home to the Hayasa-Azzi, Shupria, and Nairi peoples. By at least 600 BC, an archaic form of Proto-Armenian, an Indo-European language, had diffused into the Armenian highlands.Robert Drews (2017). Militarism and the Indo-Europeanizing of Europe. Routledge. . p. 228: "The vernacular of the Great Kingdom of Biainili was quite certainly Armenian. The Armenian language was obviously the region's vernacular in the fifth century BC, when Persian commanders and Greek writers paired it with Phrygian. That it as brought into the region between the early sixth and the early fifth century BC, and that it immediately obliterated whatever else had been spoken there, can hardly be supposed; [...] Because Proto-Armenian speakers seem to have lived not far from Hurrian speakers our conclusion must be that the Armenian language of Mesrop Mashtots was descended from an Indo-European language that had been spoken in southern Caucasia in the Bronze Age." The first Armenian state of Urartu was established in 860 BC, and by the 6th century BC it was replaced by the Satrapy of Armenia. The Kingdom of Armenia reached its height under Tigranes the Great in the 1st century BC and in AD 301 became the first state in the world to adopt Christianity as its official religion.. Estimated dates vary from 284 to 314. Garsoïan (op.cit. p. 82), following the research of Ananian, favours the latter. Armenia still recognises the Armenian Apostolic Church, the world's oldest national church, as the country's primary religious establishment. The ancient Armenian kingdom was split between the Byzantine and Sasanian Empires around the early 5th century. Under the Bagratuni dynasty, the Bagratid Kingdom of Armenia was restored in the 9th century before falling in 1045. Cilician Armenia, an Armenian principality and later a kingdom, was located on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea between the 11th and 14th centuries.
Between the 16th and 19th centuries, the traditional Armenian homeland composed of Eastern and Western Armenia was divided between the Ottoman and Persian empires, with control of various regions shifting between the two powers over time. By the 19th century, Eastern Armenia had been conquered by the Russian Empire while most of Western Armenia remained under Ottoman rule. During World War I, up to 1.5 million Armenians were systematically exterminated in the Armenian genocide. Following the Russian Revolution, the First Republic of Armenia declared independence in 1918. By 1920, the state was incorporated into the Soviet Union as the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic. The Republic of Armenia became independent in 1991 during the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
Modern Armenia is a unitary, multi-party, democratic nation-state. It is a developing country and ranks 69th on the Human Development Index as of 2023. Its economy is primarily based on industrial output and mineral extraction. While Armenia is geographically located in the South Caucasus, it views itself as part of Europe and is generally considered geopolitically European. The country is a member of numerous European organisations including the Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe, the Council of Europe, the Eastern Partnership, Eurocontrol, the Assembly of European Regions, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Armenia is a member of certain regional groups throughout Eurasia, including the Asian Development Bank, the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the Eurasian Economic Union, and the Eurasian Development Bank. Armenia supported the once de facto independent Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), which had seceded from Azerbaijan in 1991, until Azerbaijan reincorporated the region through a siege and military offensive in 2023.
Etymology
The original native Armenian name for the country was () after the legendary founder Hayk Nahapet; however, it is currently rarely used. The contemporary name (Hayastan) became popular in the Middle Ages by addition of the Persian suffix -stan (place). However the origins of the name Hayastan trace back to much earlier dates and were first attested in in the works of Agathangelos,Ագաթանգեղոս §§ 13 (ի Հայաստան աշխարհէս), 16 (Հայաստան աշխարհիս 2x, ի Հայաստան աշխարհիս), 35 (Հայաստան աշխարհին), 160 (Հայաստան աշխարհիս), 249 (Հայաստան աշխարհիս), 715 (Հայաստան աշխարհիս), 776 (Հայաստան աշխարհին), 784 (Հայաստան աշխարհին), 796 (ի մէջ Հայաստան աշխարհի), 808 (հասանէին ի Հայաստան աշխարհն)։Ագաթանգեղոս § 885 (ի Հայաստան երկրին) Faustus of Byzantium,Փաւստոս Բուզանդ 1883=1984, էջ 1 (Հայաստան աշխարհին)Փաւստոս Բուզանդ 1883=1984, 4.բ, էջ 56 (Հայաստան երկրին) Ghazar Parpetsi,904=1985, էջ 2 (Հայաստան աշխարհիս), 110 (կանայս ի Հայաստան աշխարհիս) Koryun,Կորիւն 1994, էջ 83 (Հայաստան աշխարհի), 93 (Հայաստան աշխարհին), 103 (ի Հայաստան աշխարհին), 120 (ի Հայաստան աշխարհէս) and Sebeos.ժը (սեռ. Հայաստանեայց, բացառ. ի Հայաստանեայց), տես Աբգարյան 1979, էջ 66, 90
The name has traditionally been derived from Hayk (), the legendary patriarch of the Armenians and a great-great-grandson of Noah, who, according to the 5th-century AD author Movsis Khorenatsi, defeated the Babylonian king Bel in 2492 BC and established his nation in the Ararat region. Further origin of the name is uncertain. It is postulatedRafael Ishkhanyan, "Illustrated History of Armenia," Yerevan, 1989Elisabeth Bauer. Armenia: Past and Present (1981), p. 49 that the name Hay comes from one of the two confederated, Hittite vassal statesthe Ḫayaša-Azzi (1600–1200 BC).
The exonym Armenia is attested in the Old Persian Behistun Inscription (515 BC) as Armina (). The Ancient Greek terms (Armenía) and (Arménioi, "Armenians") are first mentioned by Hecataeus of Miletus ( – )." (The Armenians border on the Chalybes to the south)". Xenophon, a Greek general serving in some of the Persian expeditions, describes many aspects of Armenian village life and hospitality in around 401 BC.
Some scholars have linked the name Armenia with the Early Bronze Age state of Armani (Armanum, Armi) or the Late Bronze Age state of Arme (Shupria). These connections are inconclusive as it is not known what languages were spoken in these kingdoms. Additionally, while it is agreed that Arme was located to the immediate west of Lake Van (probably in the vicinity of Sason, and therefore in the greater Armenia region), the location of the older site of Armani is a matter of debate. Some modern researchers have placed it near modern Samsat, and have suggested it was populated, at least partially, by an early Indo-European-speaking people. It is possible that the name Armenia originates in Armini, Urartian for "inhabitant of Arme" or "Armean country".Armen Petrosyan. The Indo-European and Ancient Near Eastern Sources of the Armenian Epic. Journal of Indo-European Studies. Institute for the Study of Man. 2002. p. 184. The Arme tribe of Urartian texts may have been the Urumu, who in the 12th century BC attempted to invade Assyria from the north with their allies the Mushki and the Kaskians. The Urumu apparently settled in the vicinity of Sason, lending their name to the regions of Arme and the nearby lands of Urme and Inner Urumu.Armen Petrosyan. The Indo-European and Ancient Near Eastern Sources of the Armenian Epic. Journal of Indo-European Studies. Institute for the Study of Man. 2002. pp. 166–167.
According to the histories of both Movsis Khorenatsi and Michael Chamchian, Armenia derives from the name of Aram, a lineal descendant of Hayk.Moses of Chorene,The History of Armenia , Book 1, Ch. 12 History of Armenia by Father Michael Chamich from B.C. 2247 to the Year of Christ 1780, or 1229 of the Armenian era, Bishop's College Press, Calcutta, 1827, p. 19: "[Aram] was the first to raise the Armenian name to any degree of renown; so that contemporary nations... called them the Aramians, or followers of Aram, a name which has been corrupted into Armenians; and the country they inhabited, by universal consent, took the name of Armenia." In the Hebrew Bible, the Table of Nations lists Aram as the son of Shem, to whom the Book of Jubilees attests, Jubilees 8:21 also apportions the Mountains of Ararat to Shem, which Jubilees 9:5 expounds to be apportioned to Aram.
Jewish historian Flavius Josephus states in his Antiquities of the Jews,
History
Prehistoric
The first human traces are supported by the presence of Acheulean tools, generally close to the obsidian outcrops more than 1 million years ago. The most recent and important excavation is at the Nor Geghi 1 Stone Age site in the Hrazdan river valley. Thousands of 325,000 year-old artifacts may indicate that this stage of human technological innovation occurred intermittently throughout the Old World, rather than spreading from a single point of origin (usually hypothesized to be Africa), as was previously thought.
Many early Bronze Age settlements were built in Armenia (Valley of Ararat, Shengavit, Harich, Karaz, Amiranisgora, Margahovit, Garni, etc.). One of the important sites of the Early Bronze Age is Shengavit settlement. It was located on the site of today's capital of Armenia, Yerevan.
Antiquity
Armenia lies in the highlands surrounding the mountains of Ararat. There is evidence of an early civilisation in Armenia in the Bronze Age and earlier, dating to about 4000 BC. Archaeological surveys in 2010 and 2011 at the Areni-1 cave complex have resulted in the discovery of the world's earliest known leather shoe, skirt, and wine-producing facility.
Several Bronze Age cultures and states flourished in the area of Greater Armenia, including the Trialeti-Vanadzor culture, Hayasa-Azzi, and Mitanni (located in southwestern historical Armenia), all of which are believed to have had Indo-European populations.Joan Aruz, Kim Benzel, Jean M. Evans, Beyond Babylon: Art, Trade, and Diplomacy in the Second Millennium B.C. Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.) (2008) pp. 92 pp. 254Peter I. Bogucki and Pam J. Crabtree Ancient Europe, 8000 B.C. to A.D. 1000: An Encyclopedia of the Barbarian World. Charles Scribner's Sons, 2004 Paul Thieme, The 'Aryan' Gods of the Mitanni Treaties. JAOS 80, 1960, 301–17 The Nairi confederation and its successor, Urartu, successively established their sovereignty over the Armenian Highlands. Each of the aforementioned nations and confederacies participated in the ethnogenesis of the Armenians. A large cuneiform lapidary inscription found in Yerevan established that the modern capital of Armenia was founded in the summer of 782 BC by King Argishti I. Yerevan is one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities.
After the fall of the state of Urartu at the beginning of the 6th century BC, the Armenian highlands were for some time under the hegemony of the Medes, and after that they were part of the Achaemenid Empire. Armenia was part of the Achaemenid state from the second half of the 6th century BC until the second half of the 4th century BC divided into two satrapies: XIII (western part, with the capital in Melitene) and XVIII (northeastern part).История Востока: в шести томах. Т. 1. Восток в древности / Отв. ред. В. А. Якобсен. — М.: Вост. лит., 1997. — 688 с. — . Раздел «Закавказье и сопредельные страны в период эллинизма » During the late 6th century BC, the first geographical entity that was called Armenia by neighbouring populations was established under the Orontid dynasty.