Armenia




                                 Geography


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


                                  People


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)






                                Government


Names:
conventional long form:
     Republic of Armenia
conventional short form:
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
Constitution:
     adopted NA April 1978; post-Soviet constitution not yet adopted
Legal system:
     based on civil law system
Suffrage:
     18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state:
     President Levon Akopovich TER-PETROSYAN (since 16 October 1991), Vice
     President Gagik ARUTYUNYAN (since 16 October 1991); election last held
     16 October 1991 (next to be held NA); results - Levon Akopovich
     TER-PETROSYAN 86%; radical nationalists about 7%; note - Levon
     Akopovich TER-PETROSYAN was elected Chairman of the Armenian Supreme
     Soviet 4 August 1990 before becoming president
head of government:
     Prime Minister Hrant BAGRATYAN (since 16 February 1993); First Deputy
     Prime Minister Vigen CHITECHYAN (since 16 February 1993)
cabinet:
     Council of Ministers; appointed by the president
Legislative branch:
     unicameral
Supreme Soviet:
     elections last held 20 May 1990 (next to be held NA); results -
     percent of vote by party NA; seats - (260 total) non-aligned 125, ANM
     52, DPA 23, Democratic Liberal Party 17, ARF 17, NDU 9, Christian
     Democratic Party 1, Constitutional Rights Union 1, UNSD 1, Republican
     Party 1, Nagorno-Karabakh representatives 13




Judicial branch:
     Supreme Court
Political parties and leaders:
     Armenian National Movement (ANM), Ter-Husik LAZARYAN, chairman;
     National Democratic Union (NDU), David VARTANYAN, chairman; Armenian
     Revolutionary Federation (ARF, Dashnaktsutyun), Arutyun ALISTAKESYAN,
     chairman; Democratic Party of Armenia (DPA; Communist Party), Aram
     SARKISYAN, chairman; Christian Democratic Party, Azat ARSHAKYAN,
     chairman; Greens Party, Hakob SANASARIAN, chairman; Democratic Liberal
     Party, Rouben MIRZAKHANYAN, chairman; Republican Party, Ashot
     NAVARSARDYAN, chairman; Union for Self-Determination (UNSD), Paruir
     AIRIKYAN, chairman
Member of:
     BSEC, CCC, CIS, CSCE, EBRD, ECE, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, ILO,
     IMF, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU, NACC, NAM (observer), UN, UNCTAD,
     UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO
Diplomatic representation in US:
chief of mission:
     Ambassador Rouben Robert SHUGARIAN
chancery:
     Suite 210, 1660 L Street NW, Washington, DC 20036
telephone:
     (202) 628-5766
US diplomatic representation:
chief of mission:
     Ambassador Harry J. GILMORE
embassy:
     18 Gen Bagramian, Yerevan
mailing address:
     use embassy street address
telephone:
     7-8852-151-144 or 8852-524-661
FAX:
     7-8852-151-138
Flag:
     three equal horizontal bands of red (top), blue, and gold


                                  Economy




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
Illicit drugs:
     illicit cultivator of cannabis mostly for domestic consumption; used
     as a transshipment point for illicit drugs to Western Europe
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


                              Communications


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


                              Defense Forces


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