Country: Republic of Armenia
Population: 3 million people
Capital: Yerevan
Neighbors: Armenia is situated in north-eastern Anatolia, and it is bounded by Georgia to the north, by Azerbaijan to the east, by Iran to the south and by Turkey to the west.
Time: GMT + 4
National Holiday and Memorial days :
January 1-2 New Year
January 6 Christmas
April 7 Mother's and Beauty Day
April 24 Genocide Memorial Day
May 9 Victory and Peace Day
May 28 First Republic Day
July 5 Constitution Day
September 21 Independence Day
December 7 Earthquake Memorial Day
December 31 New Year's EveEthnic groups: Armenians - 96%, minorities: Russians, Ezidis, Kurds, Assyrians, Greeks, Ukrainians and others.
Religion: Christian
Church: Armenian Apostolic
State language: Armenian, Russian is widely spoken, English
Climate: Dry subtropicalVisa: An entry visa is required (except for the citizens of CIS countries). For the countries where there is an Armenian consulate it is obligatory to obtain an Armenian visa before the arrival. It is also possible to obtain a visa at the airport's consular service after arrival.
Electricity voltage: 220V
Traditional cuisine: Lavash is a thin ellipsoidal slip of baked dough up to one meter long and 50cm wide. Lavash has no crust and therefore no inside, it is soft and flexible. Tolma- is a mix of ground meet, rice and greens wrapped in grape leaves, immersed in water or stock and boiled over low fire. Harissa - is a kind of homogeneous porridge made of previously stewed and boned chicken and coarsely ground soaked wheat. Khorovats (barbecue) - the peculiarity of Armenian khorovats is the preparatory marinating of meat.
The Republic of Armenia is situated in the south of Caucasus Region. Georgia and Azerbaijan are to the north and to the east, Turkey and Iran are to the west and to the south. The territory of Armenia is 11,500 sq. miles. It is 225 miles long and 125 miles wide, with most of its territory lying from 3,300 to 8,200 feet above sea level. Armenia's highest mountain is Aragats (13,420 feet).
Armenia is described as a "sunny" country and it is a fact that sun shines here more than 250 days a year. The climate ranges from dry subtropical to cold mountain weather. In the plateaus and foothills the climate is dry and continental with hot summers and moderately cold winters. The mean temperature in July is +75- to +80 degrees Fahrenheit, and +25 F in January. The best time of the year in Armenia is dry, sunny, and long autumn with rich harvests of grapes, fruits, and vegetables. The numerous rivers of Armenia are turbulent and quite unfit for navigation, penned up as they are by steep mountain gorges; there are also more than 100 mountain lakes. Sevan is the world's biggest lake at the altitude of 6,000 feet and higher above sea level.
Armenia's forests cover approximately 13 % of its territory and are to be found mainly in the north - east and in Zangezur mountain region. The forests are predominantly beech, hornbeam, oak, elm, maple, plane, ash, pine and fir. The Armenian fauna abounds in rare species of animals and birds. The forests are populated by roe deer, boar, bear, and lynx and by such birds as a sparrow, woodcock, robin, warbler, tomtit and woodpecker.
Armenia is an ancient country - its history starts about 7 thousand years ago. Armenians belong to lndo-European family, with the origins not clearly known. Specialists guess that Armenians migrated Armenian Highland via the Balkans or the Caucasus. There are monuments of ancient times left by ancient tribes (16 thousand years BC) from the times of Paleolithic. Besides. there are 4,500 architectural monuments of an early middle ages.