Social
Armenia has an area of about 29,800 sq. km. (11,500 sq. mi.), which means it is slightly larger than Maryland. The terrain is high plateau with mountains, and little forest land, and the climate is highland continental, with hot summers and cold winters.
Of the ethnic groups in Armenia, 95% are Armenian, 2% are Kurds, and Russian, Greek, and other ethnic groups make up the last 3%. This shows that it is not a very diverse society in terms of ethnicity. The main religion is the Armenian Apostolic Church (more than 90% nominally affiliated). Freedom of religion is not always protected under existing law. All churches apart from the Armenian Apostolic Church must register with the government, and the law forbids proselytizing.
The main language is Armenian (96%), with Russian also being a main language spoken. This makes it easy to communicate to all the people through the media, because there is not much of a need to continuously translate from one language to the other. There are thirteen radio stations, which are broadcast in Armenian, Russian and Kurdish.
Politics
At its zenith, from 95 to 65 BC, Armenia extended its rule over the entire Caucasus and the area that is now eastern Turkey, Syria and Lebanon. For a time, Armenia was the strongest state in the Roman East. This shows how influential it used to be, and that it could still be very influential. It is important for Armenia’s reputation to stay strong.
The 248 members of Armenia's unicameral parliament (Geraguin khorhurt in Armenian, officially retaining the term "Supreme Soviet" from the communist era) are elected for five-year terms and meet for six months each year. The prime minister and the Council of Ministers, which together constitute the executive branch of the government, are chosen from parliament. The nation is democratic, with the different branches of government, which is a positive. There are many political parties, which gives the people something that everyone can belong to. The people are able to pick from the many different parties and choose which one suits them the best. After the fall of the Soviet Union, Armenia has become a democratic nation, one of the best of the Former Soviet countries.
The main problem in Armenia today in terms of politics is corruption. Police brutality still goes largely unreported, and defendants are often beaten to extract confessions and are denied visits from relatives and lawyers. Public demonstrations usually take place without government interference, though one rally in November 2000 by an opposition party was followed by the arrest and imprisonment for a month of its organizer. There is also a lot of corruption in terms of elections, including the most recent presidential election of Robert Kocharian in 2003, where many people believe there was ballot-stuffing. This corruption extends to a controlling of the media to a certain extent, although not as much as in years past. There have been recent imprisonments of journalists who have written articles against the government and the corruption involved with it.
As far as the press goes, the corruption could continue through the press as well. However, there are many different newspapers, that each provides a different viewpoint, which shows that the press is not wholly controlled by the government. The government does put out a newspaper, called Hayasdani Hanrabedootyoun.
Economy
The annual GDP is $2.4 billion, and the GDP growth rate is 12.9%. The main agriculture produced are fruits and vegetables, wines, dairy, and some livestock. The main industry types are chemicals, electronic products, machinery, processed food, synthetic rubber, and textiles.
Armenia is the second most densely populated of the former Soviet republics. Up until independence, Armenia's economy was based largely on industry and highly dependent on outside resources. Agriculture accounted for only 20% of net material product and 10% of employment before the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. The Soviet Union had quite a significant influence on the country, but since the fall, Armenia has been working very hard to get back on its feet. This is with the help of the rest of the world as well. The IMF, World Bank, EBRD, as well as other IFIs and foreign countries are extending considerable grants and loans. Total loans extended to Armenia since 1993 exceed $800 million. Armenia is a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the United Nations, the Council of Europe, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, NATO's Partnership for Peace, the North Atlantic Cooperation Council, the International Monetary Fund, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the World Trade Organization.
Over the past decade the U.S. has provided over $1.4 billion in assistance to Armenia, the highest per capita amount in the NIS. Humanitarian aid originally accounted for up to 85% of this total, reflecting the economic effects caused by closed borders with Turkey and Azerbaijan related to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, destruction in northern Armenia left from the devastating 1988 earthquake, and the virtual paralysis of most of the country's factories. As conditions in Armenia have improved, with the stabilization of the economy and increased energy production--including the restarting of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant at Metsamor--U.S. assistance programs have moved away from humanitarian goals to longer term development ones.
Like other New Independent States, Armenia's economy suffers from the legacy of a centrally planned economy and the breakdown of former Soviet trading patterns. In addition, the effects of the 1988 earthquake, which killed more than 25,000 people and made 500,000 homeless, are still being felt. Although a cease-fire has held since 1994, the conflict with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh has not been resolved. The consequent closure of both the Azerbaijani and Turkish borders has devastated the economy, because of Armenia's dependence on outside supplies of energy and most raw materials. Land routes through Azerbaijan and Turkey are closed; routes through Georgia and Iran are inadequate or unreliable.
In 1988, the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, a predominantly ethnic Armenian enclave within Azerbaijan, voted to secede and join Armenia. This eventually developed into a full-scale armed conflict. Armenian support for the separatists led to an economic embargo by Azerbaijan, which has crippled Armenia's foreign trade and restricted its imports of food and fuel, three-quarters of which transited Azerbaijan under Soviet rule. Peace talks in early 1993 were disrupted by the seizure of Azerbaijan's Kelbajar district by Nagorno-Karabakh Armenian forces and the forced evacuation of thousands of ethnic Azeris. Turkey in protest then followed with an embargo of its own against Armenia. A cease-fire was declared between Azeri and Armenian/N-K forces in 1994 and has been maintained by both sides since then in spite of occasional shooting along the line of contact between the two.

*The information in this paper was found at www.state.gov, www.worldbank.org and lcweb2.loc.gov.

Ani Jerikian

Class of 2005

Prof. Zaharna, International Public Relations

American University

LiLani01@aol.com