1994 Edition
CIA World Factbook 1994 (Project Gutenberg)
Introduction
Administrative divisions
none (all rayons are under direct republic jurisdiction)
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
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
Area
total area: 29,800 sq km land area: 28,400 sq km comparative area: slightly larger than Maryland
Birth rate
24.21 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Branches
Army, Air Force, National Guard, Security Forces (internal and border troops)
Budget
revenues: $NA expenditures: $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA
Capital
Yerevan
Climate
highland continental, hot summers, cold winters
Coastline
0 km (landlocked)
Constitution
adopted NA April 1978; post-Soviet constitution not yet adopted
Currency
1 dram = 100 luma; introduced separate currency in November 1993
Death rate
6.72 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)
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
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
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)
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
Ethnic divisions
Armenian 93%, Azeri 3%, Russian 2%, other 2%
Exchange rates
NA
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
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
FAX
7-8852-151-138
Fiscal year
calendar year
Flag
three equal horizontal bands of red (top), blue, and gold
Highways
total: 11,300 km paved: 10,500 km unpaved: earth 800 km (1990)
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
Independence
28 May 1918 (First Armenian Republic); 23 September 1991 (from Soviet Union)
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
Infant mortality rate
27.1 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)
14% per month average (first 9 months, 1993)
Inland waterways
NA km
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)
Judicial branch
Supreme Court
Labor force
1.578 million by occupation: industry and construction 34%, agriculture and forestry 31%, other 35% (1992)
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%
Languages
Armenian 96%, Russian 2%, other 2%
Legal system
based on civil law system
Legislative branch
unicameral
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%
Location
Southwestern Asia, between Turkey and Azerbaijan
Manpower availability
males age 15-49 862,921; fit for military service 690,113; reach military age (18) annually 28,458 (1994 est.)
Map references
Africa, Asia, Commonwealth of Independent States - European States, Middle East, Standard Time Zones of the World
Maritime claims
none; landlocked
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
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.)
Nationality
noun: Armenian(s) adjective: Armenian
Natural resources
small deposits of gold, copper, molybdenum, zinc, alumina
Net migration rate
-6.72 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Note
landlocked
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.
Pipelines
natural gas 900 km (1991)
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
Population
3,521,517 (July 1994 est.)
Population growth rate
1.08% (1994 est.)
Ports
none; landlocked
Railroads
840 km; does not include industrial lines (1990)
Religions
Armenian Orthodox 94%
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
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
Terrain
high Armenian Plateau with mountains; little forest land; fast flowing rivers; good soil in Aras River valley
Total fertility rate
3.19 children born/woman (1994 est.)
Type
republic
Unemployment rate
6.5% of officially registered unemployed but large numbers of underemployed (1993 est.)
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