*Armenia, Geography

Location:
  Southeastern Europe, 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 km2
 land area:
  28,400 km2
 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; some irredentism by Armenians living in
  southern Georgia; traditional demands on former Armenian lands in Turkey
  have greatly subsided
Climate:
  continental, hot, and subject to drought
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:
  29%
 permanent crops:
  0%
 meadows and pastures:
  15%
 forest and woodland:
  0%
 other:
  56%
Irrigated land:
  3,050 km2 (1990)
Environment:
  pollution of Razdan and Aras Rivers; air pollution in Yerevan; energy
  blockade has led to deforestation as citizens scavenge for firewood, use of
  Lake Sevan water for hydropower has lowered lake level, threatened fish
  population
Note:
  landlocked

*Armenia, People

Population:
  3,481,207 (July 1993 est.)
Population growth rate:
  1.23% (1993 est.)
Birth rate:
  25.79 births/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Death rate:
  6.77 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Net migration rate:
  -6.76 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
  28.2 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
 total population:
  71.77 years
 male:
  68.36 years
 female:
  75.36 years (1993 est.)
Total fertility rate:
  3.31 children born/woman (1993 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:
  1.63 million
 by occupation:
  industry and construction 42%, agriculture and forestry 18%, other 40%
  (1990)

*Armenia, Government

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:
  23 September 1991 (from Soviet Union)
Constitution:
  adopted NA April 1978; post-Soviet constitution not yet adopted
Legal system:
  based on civil law system
National holiday:
  NA
Political parties and leaders:
  Armenian National Movement, Husik LAZARYAN, chairman; National Democratic
  Union; National Self-Determination Association; Armenian Democratic Liberal
  Organization, Ramkavar AZATAKAN, chairman; Dashnatktsutyan Party (Armenian
  Revolutionary Federation, ARF), Rouben MIRZAKHANIN; Chairman of
  Parliamentary opposition - Mekhak GABRIYELYAN; Christian Democratic Union;
  Constitutional Rights Union; Republican Party
Suffrage:
  18 years of age; universal
Elections:
 President:
  last held 16 October 1991 (next to be held NA); results - Levon Akopovich
  TER-PETROSYAN 86%; radical nationalists about 7%; note - Levon TER-PETROSYAN
  was elected Chairman of the Armenian Supreme Soviet 4 August 1990
 Supreme Soviet:
  last held 20 May 1990 (next to be held NA); results - percent of vote by
  party NA; seats - (240 total) non-aligned 149, Armenian National Movement
  52, Armenian Democratic Liberal Organization 14, Dashnatktsutyan 12,
  National Democratic Union 9, Christian Democratic Union 1, Constitutional
  Rights Union 1, National Self-Determination Association 1, Republican Party
  1
Executive branch:
  president, council of ministers, prime minister
Legislative branch:
  unicameral Supreme Soviet
Judicial branch:
  Supreme Court
Leaders:
 Chief of State:
  President Levon Akopovich TER-PETROSYAN (since 16 October 1991), Vice
  President Gagik ARUTYUNYAN (since 16 October 1991)

*Armenia, Government

 Head of Government:   Prime Minister Hrant BAGRATYAN (since NA February 1993); Supreme Soviet
  Chairman Babken ARARKTSYAN (since NA 1990)
Member of:
  BSEC, CIS, CSCE, EBRD, IBRD, ICAO, IMF, NACC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO,
  UPU, WHO
Diplomatic representation in US:
 chief of mission:
  Ambassador Rouben SHUGARIAN
 chancery:
  122 C Street NW, Suite 360, Washington, DC 20001
 telephone:
  (202) 628-5766
US diplomatic representation:
 chief of mission:
  Ambassador Designate Harry GILMORE
 embassy:
  18 Gen Bagramian, Yerevan
 mailing address:
  use embassy street address
 telephone:
  (7) (885) 215-1122, 215-1144
 FAX:
  (7) (885) 215-1122
Flag:
  three equal horizontal bands of red (top), blue, and gold

*Armenia, Economy

Overview:
  Armenia under the old centrally planned Soviet system had built up textile,
  machine-building, and other industries and had become a key supplier to
  sister republics. In turn, Armenia had depended on supplies of raw materials
  and energy from the other republics. Most of these supplies enter the
  republic by rail through Azerbaijan (85%) and Georgia (15%). The economy has
  been severely hurt by ethnic strife with Azerbaijan over control of the
  Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast, a mostly Armenian-populated enclave
  within the national boundaries of Azerbaijan. In addition to outright
  warfare, the strife has included interdiction of Armenian imports on the
  Azerbaijani railroads and expensive airlifts of supplies to beleaguered
  Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh. An earthquake in December 1988 destroyed
  about one-tenth of industrial capacity and housing, the repair of which has
  not been possible because the supply of funds and real resources has been
  disrupted by the reorganization and subsequent dismantling of the central
  USSR administrative apparatus. Among facilities made unserviceable by the
  earthquake are the Yerevan nuclear power plant, which had supplied 40% of
  Armenia's needs for electric power and a plant that produced one-quarter of
  the output of elevators in the former USSR. Armenia has some deposits of
  nonferrous metal ores (bauxite, copper, zinc, and molybdenum) that are
  largely unexploited. For the mid-term, Armenia's economic prospects seem
  particularly bleak because of ethnic strife and the unusually high
  dependence on outside areas, themselves in a chaotic state of
  transformation. The dramatic drop in output in 1992 is attributable largely
  to the cumulative impact of the blockade; of particular importance was the
  shutting off in the summer of 1992 of rail and road links to Russia through
  Georgia due to civil strife in the latter republic.
National product:
  GDP $NA
National product real growth rate:
  -34% (1992)
National product per capita:
  $NA
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
  20% per month (first quarter 1993)
Unemployment rate:
  2% of officially registered unemployed but large numbers of underemployed
Budget:
  revenues $NA; expenditures $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA
Exports:
  $30 million to outside the successor states of the former USSR (f.o.b.,
  1992)
 commodities:
  machinery and transport equipment, light industrial products, processed food
  items (1991)
 partners:
  NA
Imports:
  $300 million from outside the successor statees of the former USSR (c.i.f.,
  1992)
 commodities:
  machinery, energy, consumer goods (1991)
 partners:
  NA
External debt:
  $650 million (December 1991 est.)
Industrial production:
  growth rate -50% (1992 est.)

*Armenia, Economy

Electricity:
  2,875,000 kW capacity; 9,000 million kWh produced, 2,585 kWh per capita
  (1992)
Industries:
  diverse, including (in 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)
Agriculture:
  accounts for about 20% of GDP; only 29% of land area is arable; employs 18%
  of labor force; citrus, cotton, and dairy farming; vineyards near Yerevan
  are famous for brandy and other liqueurs
Illicit drugs:
  illicit producer of cannabis mostly for domestic consumption; used as a
  transshipment point for illicit drugs to Western Europe
Economic aid:
  wheat from US, Turkey
Currency:   retaining Russian ruble as currency (January 1993)
Exchange rates:
  rubles per US$1 - 415 (24 December 1992) but subject to wide fluctuations
Fiscal year:
  calendar year

*Armenia, Communications

Railroads:
  840 km; does not include industrial lines (1990)
Highways:
  11,300 km total; 10,500 km hard surfaced, 800 km earth (1990)
Inland waterways:
  NA km
Pipelines:
  natural gas 900 km (1991)
Ports:
  none; landlocked
Airports:
 total:
  12
 useable:
  10
 with permanent-surface runways:
  6
 with runways over 3,659 m:
  1
 with runways 2,440-3,659 m:
  4
 with runways 1,220-2,439 m:
  3
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 260,000 telephones, of which about
  110,000 are in Yerevan; average telephone density is 8 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

*Armenia, Defense Forces

Branches:
  Army, Air Force, National Guard, Security Forces (internal and border
  troops)
Manpower availability:
  males age 15-49 848,223; fit for military service 681,058; reach military
  age (18) annually 28,101 (1993 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