REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA Official name: Hayastani Hanrapetut'yun (Republic of Armenia). (The Armenians call their country Hayastan. "Armenia" is a classical name for the western Caucasus.) Location: European Caucasus International organisations: The Commonwealth of Independent States, The Council of Europe, The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, The United Nations, The World Trade Organisation Borders: Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, Turkey Coastline: None

Land area: 29,800 Km2
Population: 3,300,000
Ethnicity: Armenian 93%, Kurdish 4%, Russian 2%.
Languages: Armenian is the official language and is spoken by over 95% of the population. Russian is widely used.
Religion: Orthodox Christian 95%. There is a small Moslem minority.
Form of government: Presidential democratic republic. Armenia is divided into 11 provinces.
Capital: Yerevan
Constitution: The Constitution of the Republic of Armenia came into effect on 5 July 1995.
Head of state: The President, elected by direct universal suffrage for a five-year term.
Head of government: The Prime Minister, appointed by the President. the Prime Minister is the leader of the largest party in the legislature and is accountable to it.
Legislature: Armenia has a unicameral legislature, the National Assembly (Azgayin Zhoghov), which has 131 members elected for four-year terms. Of these, 56 are elected from single-member constituencies and 75 are elected by proportional representation.
Electoral authority: The Central Elections Commission administers national elections.
Freedom House 2005 rating: Political Rights 5, Civil Liberties 4

Political history

The remnants of the ancient kingdom of Armenia, which at various times extended over what is now eastern Turkey and the Caucasus, were absorbed into the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century. In 1828 Russia acquired the Caucasian territory of Armenia, but the great majority of Armenians lived in eastern Anatolia. Between 1894 and 1915 most of these Armenians were massacred or driven out by the Ottomans, leaving only the small Armenian territory under Russian rule.

This territory briefly became independent in 1918, but in 1920 it was conquered by the Russian communists, becoming part of the Federative Union of Soviet Socialist Republics of Transcaucasia in 1922. In 1936 it became the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic.

Armenia has historically viewed the Russians as its protector against the Turks, and was thus reluctant to become independent in 1991 until the Soviet Union's collapse left it no choice. Independent Armenia was soon entangled in a war with Azerbaijan over Nagorny-Karabakh, an Armenian enclave in Azeri territory. Armenia now occupies a large slice of Azerbaijan.

In 1991 Levon Ter-Petrossian was elected as first president of Armenia. In 1995 voters approved a new constitution that strengthened the president's powers. Ter-Petrossian was re-elected in 1996 but resigned in 1998, and Robert Kocharian was elected president. In October 1999 terrorists stormed the parliament in a coup attempt, killing the prime minister.

The dominant party in Armenia is President Kocharian's Republican Party of Armenia, which is mainly a personal vehicle for the president. It is opposed by the centrist Justice Party, Rule of Law Party and Armenian Democratic Liberal Party, and by the left-wing Armenian Revolutionary Federation. The Communist Party of Armenia now has little support.