Armenia

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Armenia is located on the border of Europe and Asia, bounded by Georgia, Azerbaijan, Iran, and Turkey. Its area is 29,800 square kilometers (18,517 square miles) and its capital city is Yerevan. Armenia's population of 3.2 million (according to 2003 estimates) is homogeneous: 98 percent Armenian. An additional 7million Armenians live outside of the country—more than twice the resident population. Many members of this Armenian diaspora are descendants of refugees who fled the country during the Armenian Genocide of 1915; they continue to exert significant influence over Armenia's economic and political processes.

About 94 percent of Armenians practice the Christian Apostolic faith. Armenia was the first nation to adopt Christianity as a state religion in 301 B.C.E., eleven years before Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire.

Founded in 190 B.C.E., the Armenian Kingdom expanded steadily; by 55 B.C.E. its borders stretched from the Caspian Sea in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west, and from Mesopotamia in the south to the Kura River in the north. In C.E. 634, Arabs invaded Armenia, finally conquering the country in C.E. 654. Armenia once again regained its independence in C.E. 886, reaching its peak in political, social, and cultural development. Near the end of the tenth century, Armenia began to weaken; Turks eventually invaded the country and annexed it in 1045. In 1080 a new Armenian Kingdom was founded in Cilicia, a region at the northeastern corner of the Mediterranean Sea, where many Armenians lived.

Historically, Russia and the Ottoman Empire (1299–1922) fought to gain control of Armenia. In 1915 the Turkish government massacred more than 1.5 million Armenians, an event that is regarded as the first genocide of the twentieth century.

In the aftermath of World War I (post-1918) Armenia was briefly independent, but it soon became part of the Soviet Union. Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin put the Armenian regions of Nakhidjevan and Nagorno-Karabakh under the jurisdiction of Azerbaijan. Most of Armenia regained its independence in 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union, but the nation has been embroiled in a conflict with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabagh since 1988.

Levon Ter-Petrossian became the first popularly elected president of Armenia in 1991 and was reelected in 1996. He resigned in February 1998 due to lack of public support for his policies on the territorial conflict with Azerbaijan. Robert Kocharyan was elected president in March 1998 and again in March 2003.

In 2002, 50 percent of the total population lived in poverty and the unemployment rate was 20 percent. Liberal reforms in the early 2000s significantly improved the economy, however: inflation decreased from 3.1 percent in 2000 to 1.1 percent in 2002; and GDP real growth rate increased from 5 percent in 2000 to 12.7 percent in 2002. As of 2005, Armenia's continued economic development was limited by a blockade by its neighbors, Turkey and Azerbaijan.

Armenia's constitution, adopted on July 5, 1995, declares that Armenia is a sovereign and democratic state under the rule of law and social justice with a multiparty system. Although the government is quite similar to that of France, Armenia's president is much more powerful. The president is elected by popular vote for a five-year term. He or she has powerful leverage over the judicial and legislative branches. The president appoints, and may dismiss, the prime minister and members of the government. He or she can also dissolve the National Assembly and designate special elections after consulting with the speaker of the National Assembly and the prime minister.

Legislative power is vested in the unicameral National Assembly. The National Assembly consists of 131 deputies elected for four-year terms by a combined proportional and majority system. Political blocs must win at least 5 percent of the vote in order to gain any seats in the National Assembly. The National Assembly may adopt a no-confidence vote in the government by a majority vote of the total number of deputies. The National Assembly has strong formal power, but in practice it lacks the capacity to use that power.

Judicial power is vested in a three-level court system and Constitutional Court, which in reality has limited power and a limited role. The Constitutional Court is composed of nine members, five of whom are appointed by the National Assembly and four by the president. Judges and members of the Constitutional Court are appointed for life and may be removed from office only in accordance with the constitution. Although nominally independent, the judiciary is reportedly subject to executive pressure and corruption.

Political parties in Armenia are not stable. Although there are more than 140 registered political parties, only six of them were represented in the 2004 National Assembly.

The constitution declares that all citizens are entitled to basic rights and freedoms and are subject to the civic duties defined by the constitution and its laws. In practice, citizens' rights in Armenia are not strongly protected. Voters may change government leadership and policies through the ballot box, but electoral corruption remains a problem. Freedom House has rated Armenia as only partly free.

Ethnic Cleansing; Genocide.

"Armenia." In CIA World Factbook. Washington, DC: Central Intelligence Agency, 2005. <http://www.cia.gov/cia/publicat ions/factbook/goes/am.html>.

Constitution of the Republic of Armenia. <http://www.parliament.am/parlia ment.php?id=constitution&lang=en g>.

Freedom House. "Armenia." Freedom in the World 2003: The Annual Survey of Political Rights and Civil Liberties. New York: Freedom House, 2004. <http://www.freedomhouse.org/res earch/freeworld/2003/countryratings/arm enia.htm>.

Karatnycky, Adrian, et al., eds. Nations in Transit 2003: Democratization in East Central Europe and Eurasia. New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2003.

Libaridian, Gerard. Armenia at the Crossroads. Watertown, MA: Blue Crane Books, 1991.

Libaridian, Gerard. The Challenge of Statehood. Watertown, MA: Blue Crane Books, 1999.

Mkrtchian, Nerses, and Bagrat Sadoyan. Armenia's Constitution and the Separation of Powers Among the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial Branches of Government: The New System of Separation of Powers. Armenian Center for National and International Studies. <http://www.nato.int/acad/fellow /96–98/hovannis.pdf>.

U.S. Department of State. "Armenia." In Country Reports on Human Rights Practices—2003. <http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/ hrrpt/2003/27823.htm>.

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