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Country Guide > Asia > Armenia | |
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General Information Area 29,743 sq km (11,484 sq miles). Population 3,330,099 (official estimate 2002). Population Density 111.9 per sq km. Capital Yerevan. Population: 1,248,700 (official estimate 1999). Geography Armenia lies on the southern slopes of the Armenian Mountains in the Lesser Caucasus and is bordered by Georgia, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Iran. Its highest peak is Mount Aragats, 4090m (13,415ft), and even its deepest valleys lie 450 to 700m (1200 to 1870ft) above sea level. Its biggest lake is Lake Sevan in the east. Government Republic. Gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Head of State: President Robert Kocharyan since 1998. Head of Government: Prime Minister Andranik Markaryan since 2000. Language Armenian. Russian is usually understood, but rarely used; Kurdish is sometimes used in broadcasting as 56,000 Kurds inhabit Armenia. Religion 94 per cent Armenian Apostolic Church, with Catholic and Protestant communities and a Russian Orthodox minority. Armenia is the oldest Christian nation in the world, its conversion dating from the year AD 301. The Armenian Apostolic Church developed separately from both the Catholic and Orthodox branches of Christianity. Time GMT + 3 (GMT + 4 from last Sunday in March to Saturday before last Sunday in October). Electricity 220 volts AC, 50Hz. European plugs with two round pins are used. Communications Telephone IDD is available to Yerevan. Country code: 374. Yerevan city code: 1 (the city code is 9 when dialing mobile phones). Emergency numbers: 101 (fire); 102 (police); 103 (ambulance). Outgoing calls to other CIS countries can be made by dialling with the appropriate codes, but only with difficulty. Outgoing international calls to other countries must be made through the operator. Some hotels and many businesses now have satellite links. Mobile telephone GSM 900 network is in use. The main network operators include ArmenTel (website: www.armentel.com). GSM 900/1800 network operated by K Telecom (website: www.karabakhtelecom.com). Coverage is limited to Yerevan and the west of the country. Mobile phones can be rented from Rent A Phone (website: www.rentaphone.am). Fax Faxes can be sent from InfoCom offices and travel agencies, as well as Internet cafes. Telegram Telegrams can be sent from post offices and larger hotels. Internet There are many internet cafes in Yerevan. Some, such as the Zeon Club on 31 Tumanian Street, is open 24 hours. ISPs include Arminco (website: www.arminco.com) and Yerphi, set up and run by the Yerevan Physics Institute Computer Center (website: www.yerphi.am). Post International postal services are available to most countries but may be slow and unreliable, although there have been significant improvements in recent years. The main post office is located at Republic Square, Yerevan. Post office hours: Mon-Fri 0900-1700. Press The main newspapers are Aravot, Azg and Yerkir, all of which are published only in Armenian (Russian editions have been discontinued since the Russian minority in the republic has dropped from 8 per cent to less than 2 per cent in recent years). Golos Armenii (The Voice of Armenia) and Respublika Armenia survive as the main Russian-language papers. Noyan Tapan, an English-language weekly circulated primarily among the foreign missions and small foreign business community, is published by an independent information agency based in Yerevan. Radio BBC World Service (website: www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice) and Voice of America (website: www.voa.gov) can be received. From time to time the frequencies change and the most up-to-date can be found online. |