Armenia Map

Description: This map shows governmental boundaries of countries; lake Sevan, provinces, province capital cities, major cities and towns in Armenia.

Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia, in the South Caucasus region. Georgia borders it to the north, Azerbaijan to the east, Iran to the south and Turkey to the west, and the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan lies to the southwest. Yerevan is the capital and largest city. The country covers 29,743 square kilometres and has a population of about three million.

People have lived in the Armenian Highlands since prehistoric times. In the 9th century BC the Kingdom of Urartu formed around Lake Van. Its fortress of Erebuni, founded in 782 BC, is considered the predecessor of modern Yerevan. After periods of Achaemenid and Seleucid rule, the Kingdom of Armenia reached its greatest size under Tigranes the Great in the 1st century BC. According to tradition, in 301 AD Armenia became the first state to make Christianity its official religion. Mesrop Mashtots created the Armenian alphabet in 405.

The Bagratid dynasty restored an independent Armenian kingdom in the 9th century. The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia existed on the Mediterranean coast from 1198 to 1375. Between the 16th and 19th centuries, the historical Armenian lands were divided between the Ottoman and Persian empires. The Russian Empire annexed Eastern Armenia after the Russo-Persian War of 1826–1828.

During the First World War, the Ottoman government carried out the Armenian genocide, in which up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed. The First Republic of Armenia was proclaimed in 1918. In 1920 it was taken over by Soviet forces and became the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic.

Armenia declared independence on 21 September 1991. The conflict with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh led to wars in 1988–1994 and 2020. After an Azerbaijani military offensive in September 2023, more than 100,000 ethnic Armenians left the region. In August 2025 the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan initialled the text of a peace agreement in Washington, D.C.

Armenia is a unitary parliamentary republic. Under constitutional amendments approved in a 2015 referendum, the prime minister holds executive power and the president has a largely ceremonial role. The unicameral National Assembly holds legislative power. Armenia is a member of the United Nations, the Council of Europe, the Eurasian Economic Union and the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Armenia is mountainous, with an average elevation of about 1,800 metres above sea level. The highest point is Mount Aragats at 4,090 metres. Lake Sevan is the largest body of water in Armenia and the Caucasus and one of the largest high-altitude freshwater lakes in Eurasia. The country is divided into ten provinces plus the city of Yerevan, which has special status.

Ethnic Armenians make up about 98% of the population, and Yazidis are the largest minority. The only official language is Armenian, which forms its own branch of the Indo-European language family. Most people belong to the Armenian Apostolic Church, whose spiritual centre is Etchmiadzin Cathedral in Vagharshapat. The Armenian diaspora is much larger than the population of Armenia itself.

The national currency is the Armenian dram. Major sectors of the economy include mining, especially of copper and molybdenum, as well as information technology, agriculture and tourism. The Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant produces a significant share of the country's electricity.

Armenia has three UNESCO World Heritage Sites: the Monasteries of Haghpat and Sanahin; the Cathedral and Churches of Echmiatsin and the Archaeological Site of Zvartnots; and the Monastery of Geghard and the Upper Azat Valley.