Armenia

Airports

total: 12 usable: 10 with permanent-surface runways: 6 with runways over 3,659 m: 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m: 3 with runways 1,060-2,439 m: 2 note: a C-130 can land on a 1,060-m airstrip

Highways

total: 11,300 km paved: 10,500 km unpaved: earth 800 km (1990)

Inland waterways

NA km

Pipelines

natural gas 900 km (1991)

Ports

none; landlocked

Railroads

840 km; does not include industrial lines (1990)

Telecommunications

progress on installation of fiber optic cable and construction of facilities for mobile cellular phone service remains in the negotiation phase for joint venture agreement; Armenia has about 650,000 telephones; average telephone density is 17.7 per 100 persons; international connections to other former republics of the USSR are by landline or microwave and to other countries by satellite and by leased connection through the Moscow international gateway switch; broadcast stations - 100% of population receives Armenian and Russian TV programs; satellite earth station - INTELSAT

Affiliation

(part of the Dutch realm)

Branches

Army, Air Force, National Guard, Security Forces (internal and border troops)

Defense expenditures

250 million rubles, NA% of GDP (1992 est.); note - conversion of the military budget into US dollars using the current exchange rate could produce misleading results

Manpower availability

males age 15-49 862,921; fit for military service 690,113; reach military age (18) annually 28,458 (1994 est.)

Agriculture

accounts for about 45% of GDP; only 17% of land area is arable; employs 20%-30% of labor force as residents increasingly turn to subsistence agriculture; fruits (especially grapes) and vegetable farming, minor livestock sector; vineyards near Yerevan are famous for brandy and other liqueurs

Budget

revenues: $NA expenditures: $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA

Currency

1 dram = 100 luma; introduced separate currency in November 1993

Economic aid

recipient: considerable humanitarian aid, mostly food and energy products, from US and EC; Russia has granted 60 billion rubles in technical credits

Electricity

capacity: 2,875,000 kW production: 9 billion kWh consumption per capita: 2,585 kWh (1992)

Exchange rates

NA

Exports

$31 million to countries outside the FSU (f.o.b., 1993) commodities: machinery and transport equipment, light industrial products, processed food items, alcoholic products (1991) partners: NA

External debt

$NA

Fiscal year

calendar year

Illicit drugs

illicit cultivator of cannabis mostly for domestic consumption; used as a transshipment point for illicit drugs to Western Europe

Imports

$87 million from countries outside the FSU (c.i.f., 1993) commodities: grain, other foods, fuel, other energy (1991) partners: Russia, US, EC

Industrial production

growth rate -11% (1993 est.)

Industries

traditionally diverse, including (as a percent of output of former USSR) metalcutting machine tools (5.5%), forging-pressing machines (1.9%), electric motors (9%), tires (1.5%), knitted wear (4.4%), hosiery (3.0%), shoes (2.2%), silk fabric (0.8%), washing machines (2.0%), chemicals, trucks, watches, instruments, and microelectronics (1990); currently, much of industry is shut down

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

14% per month average (first 9 months, 1993)

National product

GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $7.1 billion (1993 estimate from the UN International Comparison Program, as extended to 1991 and published in the World Bank's World Development Report 1993; and as extrapolated to 1993 using official Armenian statistics, which are very uncertain because of major economic changes since 1990)

National product per capita

$2,040 (1993 est.)

National product real growth rate

-9.9% (1993 est.)

Overview

Under the old central planning system, Armenia had built up a developed industrial sector, supplying machine building equipment, textiles, and other manufactured goods to sister republics in exchange for raw materials and energy resources. Armenia is a large food importer and its mineral deposits (gold, bauxite) are small. The economic decline in the past three years (1991-93) has been particularly severe due to the ongoing conflict over the Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan and Turkey have blockaded pipeline and railroad traffic to Armenia for its support of the Karabakh Armenians. This has left Armenia with only sporadic deliveries of natural gas through unstable Georgia, while other fuel and raw materials are in critical short supply. Inflation, roughly 14% per month in the first nine months of 1993, surged even higher in the fourth quarter. In late 1993, most industrial enterprises were either shut down or operating at drastically reduced levels. Only small quantities of food were available (mostly humanitarian aid), heat was nonexistent, and electricity strictly rationed. An economic recovery cannot be expected until the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is settled and until transportation through Georgia improves.

Unemployment rate

6.5% of officially registered unemployed but large numbers of underemployed (1993 est.)

Area

total area: 29,800 sq km land area: 28,400 sq km comparative area: slightly larger than Maryland

Climate

highland continental, hot summers, cold winters

Coastline

0 km (landlocked)

Environment

current issues: soil pollution from toxic chemicals such as DDT; energy blockade, the result of conflict with Azerbaijan, has led to deforestation as citizens scavenge for firewood; pollution of Hrazdan (Razdan) and Aras Rivers; the draining of Lake Sevan, a result of its use as a source for hydropower, threatens drinking water supplies; air pollution in Yerevan natural hazards: occasionally severe earthquakes (25,000 people killed in major quake in 1988); subject to drought international agreements: party to - Biodiversity, Climate Change

International disputes

violent and longstanding dispute with Azerbaijan over ethnically Armenian exclave of Nagorno-Karabakh; traditional demands on former Armenian lands in Turkey have greatly subsided

Irrigated land

3,050 sq km (1990)

Land boundaries

total 1,254 km, Azerbaijan (east) 566 km, Azerbaijan (south) 221 km, Georgia 164 km, Iran 35 km, Turkey 268 km

Land use

arable land: 17% permanent crops: 3% meadows and pastures: 20% forest and woodland: 0% other: 60%

Location

Southwestern Asia, between Turkey and Azerbaijan

Map references

Africa, Asia, Commonwealth of Independent States - European States, Middle East, Standard Time Zones of the World

Maritime claims

none; landlocked

Natural resources

small deposits of gold, copper, molybdenum, zinc, alumina

Note

landlocked

Terrain

high Armenian Plateau with mountains; little forest land; fast flowing rivers; good soil in Aras River valley

Administrative divisions

none (all rayons are under direct republic jurisdiction)

Capital

Yerevan

Constitution

adopted NA April 1978; post-Soviet constitution not yet adopted

Digraph

AM

Diplomatic representation in US

chief of mission: Ambassador Rouben Robert SHUGARIAN chancery: Suite 210, 1660 L Street NW, Washington, DC 20036 telephone: (202) 628-5766

Executive branch

chief of state: President Levon Akopovich TER-PETROSYAN (since 16 October 1991), Vice President Gagik ARUTYUNYAN (since 16 October 1991); election last held 16 October 1991 (next to be held NA); results - Levon Akopovich TER-PETROSYAN 86%; radical nationalists about 7%; note - Levon Akopovich TER-PETROSYAN was elected Chairman of the Armenian Supreme Soviet 4 August 1990 before becoming president head of government: Prime Minister Hrant BAGRATYAN (since 16 February 1993); First Deputy Prime Minister Vigen CHITECHYAN (since 16 February 1993) cabinet: Council of Ministers; appointed by the president

FAX

7-8852-151-138

Flag

three equal horizontal bands of red (top), blue, and gold

Independence

28 May 1918 (First Armenian Republic); 23 September 1991 (from Soviet Union)

Judicial branch

Supreme Court

Legal system

based on civil law system

Legislative branch

unicameral

Member of

BSEC, CCC, CIS, CSCE, EBRD, ECE, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, ILO, IMF, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU, NACC, NAM (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO

Names

conventional long form: Republic of Armenia conventional short form: Armenia local long form: Hayastani Hanrapetut'yun local short form: Hayastan former: Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic; Armenian Republic

National holiday

Referendum Day, 21 September

Political parties and leaders

Armenian National Movement (ANM), Ter-Husik LAZARYAN, chairman; National Democratic Union (NDU), David VARTANYAN, chairman; Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF, Dashnaktsutyun), Arutyun ALISTAKESYAN, chairman; Democratic Party of Armenia (DPA; Communist Party), Aram SARKISYAN, chairman; Christian Democratic Party, Azat ARSHAKYAN, chairman; Greens Party, Hakob SANASARIAN, chairman; Democratic Liberal Party, Rouben MIRZAKHANYAN, chairman; Republican Party, Ashot NAVARSARDYAN, chairman; Union for Self-Determination (UNSD), Paruir AIRIKYAN, chairman

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

Supreme Soviet

elections last held 20 May 1990 (next to be held NA); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (260 total) non-aligned 125, ANM 52, DPA 23, Democratic Liberal Party 17, ARF 17, NDU 9, Christian Democratic Party 1, Constitutional Rights Union 1, UNSD 1, Republican Party 1, Nagorno-Karabakh representatives 13

Type

republic

US diplomatic representation

chief of mission: Ambassador Harry J. GILMORE embassy: 18 Gen Bagramian, Yerevan mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: 7-8852-151-144 or 8852-524-661

Birth rate

24.21 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Death rate

6.72 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Ethnic divisions

Armenian 93%, Azeri 3%, Russian 2%, other 2%

Infant mortality rate

27.1 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)

Labor force

1.578 million by occupation: industry and construction 34%, agriculture and forestry 31%, other 35% (1992)

Languages

Armenian 96%, Russian 2%, other 2%

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 72.07 years male: 68.65 years female: 75.65 years (1994 est.)

Literacy

age 9-49 can read and write (1970) total population: 100% male: 100% female: 100%

Nationality

noun: Armenian(s) adjective: Armenian

Net migration rate

-6.72 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Population

3,521,517 (July 1994 est.)

Population growth rate

1.08% (1994 est.)

Religions

Armenian Orthodox 94%

Total fertility rate

3.19 children born/woman (1994 est.)