Armenia, republic in Western Asia, bordered by Georgia to the North, Azerbaijani to the East, Turkey to the West and South, and Iran to the South. The Azerbaijan enclave of Naxcivan (Nakhichevan) also forms part of its southern boundary. Armenia has a President and Prime Minister with a single legislative body. It has an independent court system.
Formerly a republic of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), Armenia is an extremely mountainous country with a limited amount of arable land. Population is concentrated in river valleys, especially along the river Hrazdan, Where Yerevan the capital and largest city, is located. The current republic of Armenia declared its independence from the Soviet Union on September 21, 1991. About 3 million Armenians live in Armenia and some 1.5 million more reside in other parts of the former Soviet Union. Another 4 million are scattered around the world, with the largest communities in the US, Canada, France, Iran, Argentina, Lebanon, Turkey, Syria and Australia.
Armenians also were the first nation to officially adopt Christianity as their national state religion (301 AD). The introduction of Christianity is ascribed to ST. Gregory the illuminator, who converted the pagan Armenian sovereign Trdat III in 301 AD. The Armenian language is a discrete branch of Indo-European, with unique alphabet, which has been established by Mesrop Mashtots in 405 AD.There is an institute of ancient manuscripts, which was named "Mesrop Mashtots". It has unique collection of approximatly 17,000 manuscripts includes almost every sphere of Armenian ancient and medieval science and culture.
Armenians constitute nearly all of the country's population; but there are also a small numbers of Kurds, Russians, Ukrainians, Assyrians and other groups. .
Historical documents show that the Armenian advance from Capadocia -- the region of Europe known as Thrace -- to the plateau of Erzerum, in the neighborhood of Mt.
