Armenians

The Armenians emerged as a people in about 600 BCE, occupying a rugged region in the Transcaucasus in western Asia. Although at various times the Armenians created an independent state, which under the ruler Tigranes the Great (c. 140– c. 55 BCE) extended from the Caspian to the Mediterranean, the strategic importance of the Transcaucasus and Caucasus ensured that foreign powers continually struggled to control the region. Thus the Achaemenid Persians, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Seljuk Turks, Mongols, Ottomans, and Russians, among others, successively controlled the Armenian peoples, and the Armenians, severely treated by the various foreign invaders, again and again emigrated to avoid persecution.

Although Armenians are thought to have descended from both native Transcaucasian populations and foreign invaders, the Armenian language is Indo-European, written with a unique thirty-eight-letter alphabet. The Armenian Apostolic (Orthodox) Church is one of the oldest Christian churches, having been established in the region two decades before Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Roman empire (c. 313).

Present-day Armenia, located in the Transcaucasus, occupies but a fraction of the territory of ancient Armenia, then known as eastern Armenia. Most of the land of the ancient kingdom (western Armenia) is now located in eastern Turkey. A small part of Georgia, another Transcaucasian country, falls within the region once occupied by ancient Armenia.

Of all the foreign powers that controlled the Armenians, the Persians were the most influential until the third century CE. Persian dominance was weakened, however, by the conversion of the Armenians to Christianity and the conquest of Persia (Iran) by the Arabs, Seljuk Turks, and Mongols. In the eleventh century, the Seljuk occupation of Armenia drove many Armenians into Iran.

The Ottomans began their penetration into Armenia in the sixteenth century, about three centuries after the Ottoman empire was established, and during numerous wars in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the Ottomans conquered and annexed parts of the Armenian land now located in eastern Turkey. These wars led to the forcible relocation of many Armenians, who moved to Iran; other areas of the Transcaucasus, including the current Armenia and Azerbaijan; and parts of the Ottoman empire. As the neighbor of Armenia, Iran became the home to the largest Armenian diaspora, concentrated in the current provinces of Isfahan, Tehran, and western and eastern Azerbaijan. Much smaller communities werecreated in present-day Turkey, especially in the areas close to the Transcaucasus and in Istanbul. In 1639, the Treaty of Zuhab partitioned Armenia between the Ottomans and the Iranians. The former took western Armenia (now part of eastern Turkey), and the latter took eastern Armenia (present-day Armenia). Turkey has kept its part to this date. The persecution of the Armenians in the Ottoman empire and their forcible relocation in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries led to the migration of many Armenians from western Armenia to Iran.

The fall of the Iranian Safavid empire in the early eighteenth century allowed the Russian empire to extend its influence to the Caucasus. This also encouraged the Ottoman empire to conquer the entire region. Consequently, the Caucasus and Transcaucasus, including Armenia, became the scene of wars and rivalry between Russia, the Ottomans who wanted to expand their territories, and the Iranians who wanted to regain their lost lands. For most of a century until 1828, the Armenians were ruled by three empires whose territories in the region expanded and contracted several times.

Two long series of wars between Iran and Russia led to the Turkmenchai Treaty of 1828. This confirmed Russia's annexation of the Caucasus and Transcaucasus, including present-day Armenia. The Bolshevik Revolution gave rise to a short period of independence for Armenia, which emerged in 1918 as the independent republic of Armenia.

After crushing the Armenian republican forces, the Soviet Union regained control over Armenia in November 1920 and incorporated the Armenians into the Soviet Union as part of the Transcaucasian federation, which also included the Azerbaijanis and the Georgians. In 1936, Armenia became a full republic of the Soviet Union. It regained full independence only after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

At the present time, the Armenians live in Armenia and many other countries. Their voluntary and involuntary migrations have created large Armenian diasporas throughout the world. The population of Armenia is about 3.5 million, but between 800,000 and 1.5 million Armenians have migrated to other countries since independence in 1991 because of economic reasons, political instability, or both. About 1 million Armenians live in the countries of the former Soviet Union, and there are about 4 million Armenians in large communities in Iran, India, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, the United States, Canada, Argentina, and Western Europe.

The relations between the Armenians and the Turks have been particularly hostile. The Ottomans' persecution and the forcible migration of the Armenians living in western Armenia have been two major factors in this hostility. The Armenian diaspora continues to press the Turkish republic to accept responsibility for the genocide of 1915, estimated at costing 500,000 to 1.5 million Armenian lives.

Country Profile 2000: Georgia-Armenia. (2000) London: Economist Intelligence Unit.

Hovannisian, Richard G. (1997) The Armenian People from Ancient to Modern Times. 2 vols. New York: St. Martin's Press.

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