GetWiki

{{Short description|Ethnic group native to the Armenian Highlands}}{{Distinguish|Arameans|Aromanians}}{{Expand Russian|date=August 2023}}{{Pp|small=yes}}{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2017}}

factoids

{{nobold>}}| flag = | flag_caption = Flag of Armenia| population = {{circa}} 8 millionDifferent sources:

• BOOK, Dennis J.D. Sandole, Peace and Security in the Postmodern World: The OSCE and Conflict Resolution, 24 January 2007, Routledge, 9781134145713, 182, The nearly 3 million Armenians in Armenia (and 3–4 million in the Armenian Diaspora worldwide) ‘perceive’ the nearly 8 million Azerbaijanis in Azerbaijan as ‘Turks.’,
• BOOK, McGoldrick, Monica, Giordano, Joe, Garcia-Preto, Nydia, Ethnicity and Family Therapy, Third Edition, 18 August 2005, Guilford Press, 9781606237946, 439, 3, The impact of such a horror on a group who presently number approximately 6 million, worldwide, is incalculable.,
• BOOK, Gevorg, Sargsyan, Ani, Balabanyan, Denzel, Hankinson, From Crisis to Stability in the Armenian Power Sector: Lessons Learned from Armenia’s Energy Reform Experience, 2006, World Bank Publications, 9780821365908, 18, illustrated, The country’s estimated 3–6 million diaspora represent a major source of foreign direct investment in the country.,archive.org/details/fromcrisistostab00sarg/page/18,
• BOOK, Arthur G. Sharp, The Everything Guide to the Middle East: Understand the people, the politics, and the culture of this conflicted region, 15 September 2011, Adams Media, 9781440529122, 137, Since the newly independent Republic of Armenia was declared in 1991, nearly 4 million of the world’s 6 million Armenians have been living on the eastern edge of their Middle Eastern homeland., to 11–16 milliondifferent sources:
• BOOK, Von Voss, Huberta, Portraits of Hope: Armenians in the Contemporary World, 2007, Berghahn Books, New York, 9781845452575, xxv, ...there are some 8 million Armenians in the world...,
• BOOK, Freedman, Jeri, The Armenian genocide, 2008, Rosen Publishing Group, New York, 9781404218253, 52, In contrast to its population of 3.2 million, approximately 8 million Armenians live in other countries of the world, including large communities in the America and Russia.,
• BOOK, Nations and Nationalism: A Global Historical Overview: A Global Historical Overview, 2008, ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara, Calif., 9781851099085, Guntram H. Herb, David H. Kaplan, 1705, A nation of some 8 million people, about 3 million of whom live in the newly independent post-Soviet state, Armenians are constantly battling not to lose their distinct culture, identity and the newly established statehood.,
• BOOK, Historical dictionary of the Russian Federation, 2010, Scarecrow Press, Lanham, MD, 9780810854758, Robert A. Saunders, Vlad Strukov, 50,
• BOOK, Philander, S. George, Encyclopedia of global warming and climate change, 2008, SAGE, Los Angeles, 9781412958783, 77, An estimated 60 percent of the total 8 million Armenians worldwide live outside the country...,
• BOOK, Historical dictionary of the Russian Federation, 2010, Scarecrow Press, Lanham, MD, 9780810874602, Robert A. Saunders, Vlad Strukov, 51, Worldwide, there are more than 8 million Armenians; 3.2 million reside in the Republic of Armenia.,

(File:Map of the Armenian Diaspora in the World.svg|center|frameless|250px)5}}2,961,514weblink {{Webarchivewww.armstat.am/file/article/sv_03_13a_520.pdf >date=21 November 2018 }} Õ°Õ¸Õ¯Õ¿Õ¥Õ´Õ¢Õ¥Ö€Õ« 12-21-Õ¨ Õ€Õ¡ÕµÕ¡Õ½Õ¿Õ¡Õ¶Õ« Հանրապետությունումանցկացված Õ´Õ¡Ö€Õ¤Õ¡Õ°Õ¡Õ´Õ¡Ö€Õ« Õ¡Ö€Õ¤ÕµÕ¸Ö‚Õ¶Ö„Õ¶Õ¥Ö€Õ¨ (The results of the census conducted in October 2011 in the Republic of Armenia). pp. 6–7. {{In lang|hy}}Ministry of Culture of Armenia “The ethnic minorities in Armenia. Brief information” {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010143439mincult.am/datas/media/azg.poqr.%20ev%20xorhurd%20mshak.nax.%20(1).doc |date=10 October 2017 }}. As per the most recent census in 2011. “National minority” {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170216082403mincult.am/national_minority.html |date=16 February 2017 }}.| region1 = RussiaTRANS-TITLE=NATIONAL MAKEUP OF THE POPULATION OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION PUBLISHER=RUSSIAN FEDERAL STATE STATISTICS SERVICELANGUAGE=RUARCHIVE-URL=HTTPS://WEB.ARCHIVE.ORG/WEB/20160105043245/HTTP://WWW.GKS.RU/FREE_DOC/NEW_SITE/POPULATION/DEMO/PER-ITOG/TAB5.XLSPUBLISHER=SCARECROW PRESSISBN=978-0-8108-5475-8AUTHOR2=VLAD STRUKOV, 50, | region2 = United StatesPUBLISHER=UNITED STATES CENSUS BUREAU, 22 December 2012, –1,500,000

• NEWS, Milliken, Mary, Armenian-American clout buys genocide breakthrough,www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-armenians-idUSN1144509820071012, 5 December 2012, 12 October 2007, Reuters, 5 November 2013,www.reuters.com/article/2007/10/12/us-usa-armenians-idUSN1144509820071012," title="web.archive.org/web/20131105223335www.reuters.com/article/2007/10/12/us-usa-armenians-idUSN1144509820071012,">web.archive.org/web/20131105223335www.reuters.com/article/2007/10/12/us-usa-armenians-idUSN1144509820071012, live,
• WEB,www.anca.org/press_releases/press_releases.php?prid=1365, Barack Obama on the Importance of US-Armenia Relations, 19 January 2008, Armenian National Committee of America, 24 July 2012, 6 January 2013,www.webcitation.org/6DSOLhXIG?url=http://www.anca.org/press_releases/press_releases.php?prid=1365, live, | region4 = France

TITLE=ARMENIANS IN HAMBURG: AN ETHNOGRAPHIC EXPLORATION INTO THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DIASPORA AND SUCCESSURL-ACCESS=REGISTRATIONPUBLISHER=LIT VERLAG MüNSTERISBN=978-3-643-90226-925, –750,000TAYLORTITLE=DENIAL: HISTORY BETRAYEDPUBLISHER=MELBOURNE UNIVERSITY PUB.ISBN=978-0-522-85482-4, 4, | region5 = GeorgiaACCESS-DATE=24 MAY 2016 ARCHIVE-DATE=5 FEBRUARY 2017, dead, 2}}∟ AbkhaziaNEWSPAPER=DELFI (WEB PORTAL)>DATE=29 DECEMBER 2011LANGUAGE=RUARCHIVE-URL=HTTPS://WEB.ARCHIVE.ORG/WEB/20190728183140/HTTPS://RUS.DELFI.LV/NEWS/DAILY/ABROAD/V-ABHAZII-OBYAVILI-DANNYE-PEREPISI-NASELENIYA.D?ID=42015926, live, (According to the 2011 census).| region7 = Azerbaijan| pop7 = 50-1,000| region8 = LebanonTITLE=IMMIGRATION AND ASYLUM: FROM 1900 TO THE PRESENTPUBLISHER=ABC-CLIOISBN=978-1-57607-796-213>URL=HTTPS://ARCHIVE.ORG/DETAILS/IMMIGRATIONASYLU00MATT/PAGE/13, | region9 = IranTRANS-TITLE=THE IRANIAN-ARMENIAN COMMUNITYFIRST=TAMARAPUBLISHER=NORAVANK FOUNDATIONLANGUAGE=HYARCHIVE-URL=HTTPS://WEB.ARCHIVE.ORG/WEB/20200519010713/HTTP://WWW.NORAVANK.AM/ARM/ISSUES/DETAIL.PHP?ELEMENT_ID=2376, live, | region10 = GermanyLAST=SARGSYANDATE=8 DECEMBER 2012LANGUAGE=HYARCHIVE-URL=HTTPS://WEB.ARCHIVE.ORG/WEB/20160303220846/HTTP://WWW.ARMENIALIBERTY.ORG/CONTENT/ARTICLE/2279357.HTML, live, The number of Ukrainian Armenians is estimated to be far lower due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as these are pre-war figures.}}url=http://www.ukrcensus.gov.ua/eng/results/nationality_population/nationality_1/s5/?botton=cens_db&box=5.1W&k_t=00&p=20&rz=1_1&rz_b=2_1%20&n_page=2 year=2001 location=Kiev date=December 2017 fix-attempted=yes }}| region12 = BrazilComunidade armênia prospera no Brasil, mas não abandona luta pela memória do massacre {{Webarchive>url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610033244oglobo.globo.com/mundo/comunidade-armenia-prospera-no-brasil-mas-nao-abandona-luta-pela-memoria-do-massacre-15908325 O Globo, 24 April 2015FEDERAL SENATE OF BRAZIL RECOGNIZES ARMENIAN GENOCIDEAGENCY=ARMENIAN WEEKLYACCESS-DATE=12 MAY 2016ARCHIVE-URL=HTTPS://WEB.ARCHIVE.ORG/WEB/20150714132430/HTTP://ARMENIANWEEKLY.COM/2015/06/03/FEDERAL-SENATE-OF-BRAZIL-RECOGNIZES-ARMENIAN-GENOCIDE/, live, | region13 = GreeceLAST=BEDEVYANAGENCY=RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY ARMENIAN SERVICEACCESS-DATE=10 JANUARY 2015ARCHIVE-DATE=3 MARCH 2016URL-STATUS=LIVE, | region14 = ArgentinaAyvazyanp=100}}| region15 = TurkeyNEWSPAPER=TODAY’S ZAMANACCESS-DATE=5 JANUARY 2013ARCHIVE-URL=HTTPS://WEB.ARCHIVE.ORG/WEB/20110520084230/HTTP://WWW.TODAYSZAMAN.COM/NEWSDETAIL_GETNEWSBYID.ACTION?LOAD=DETAY&LINK=161291Hidden Armenians)BASYURT TITLE=ANNEANNEM BIR ERMENI’YMIÅŸ! [MY GRANDMOTHER IS ARMENIAN] ACCESS-DATE=10 NOVEMBER 2013 AKSIYON >DATE=26 DECEMBER 2005 QUOTE=300 BIN RAKAMıNıN ABARTıLı OLDUÄŸUNU DüşüNMüYORUM. BENCE DAHA DA FAZLADıR. AMA, BU KONU MAALESEF AKADEMIK BIR çABAYA DöNüşMEMIÅŸ. KEÅŸKE AKADEMISYEN OLSAYDıM VE SıRF BU KONU üZERINDE BIR çALışMA YAPSAYDıM. ARCHIVE-URL=HTTPS://WEB.ARCHIVE.ORG/WEB/20131110052648/HTTP://WWW.AKSIYON.COM.TR/AKSIYON/HABER-12945-26-ANNEANNEM-BIR-ERMENIYMIS.HTML DF=DMY-ALL, DANIELYAN>FIRST=DIANAURL=HTTP://HAYERNAYSOR.AM/EN/%D5%A1%D5%A6%D5%A3-%D5%B0%D5%B6%D5%A1%D6%80%D5%A1%D5%BE%D5%B8%D5%9E%D6%80-%D5%A7-%D5%A1%D6%80%D5%A9%D5%B6%D5%A1%D6%81%D5%B6%D5%A5%D5%AC-%D5%A9%D5%B8%D6%82%D6%80%D6%84%D5%AB%D5%A1%D5%B5/NEWSPAPER=HAYERN AYSORQUOTE=DAGCH SAYS ACCORDING TO DIFFERENT CALCULATIONS, THERE ARE 3–5 MILLION ISLAMIZED ARMENIANS IN TURKEYARCHIVE-URL=HTTPS://WEB.ARCHIVE.ORG/WEB/20131110053116/HTTP://HAYERNAYSOR.AM/EN/%D5%A1%D5%A6%D5%A3-%D5%B0%D5%B6%D5%A1%D6%80%D5%A1%D5%BE%D5%B8%D5%9E%D6%80-%D5%A7-%D5%A1%D6%80%D5%A9%D5%B6%D5%A1%D6%81%D5%B6%D5%A5%D5%AC-%D5%A9%D5%B8%D6%82%D6%80%D6%84%D5%AB%D5%A1%D5%B5/DF=DMY-ALL, | region16 = Canadatitle=Canada National Household Survey year=2021 access-date=20 December 2022 archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221221045015www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810033701 |url-status=live }}. Of those, 38,010 reported single and 30,835 mixed Armenian ancestry.| region17 = UzbekistanTITLE=Õ€Ô±Õ…Ô¿Ô±Ô¿Ô±Õ† ՏԵՂԵԿԱՏՎԱԿԱՆ Õ€Ô±Õ„Ô±Õ…Õ†Õ”Ô±Õ…Ô»Õ† ՌԵՍՈՒՐՍՆԵՐԸ ՀԵՏԽՈՐՀՐԴԱՅԻՆ ԵՐԿՐՆԵՐՈՒՄISBN=9789939900070PUBLISHER=NORAVANKÊ»ACCESS-DATE=19 MAY 2022ARCHIVE-URL=HTTPS://WEB.ARCHIVE.ORG/WEB/20190818055417/HTTP://WWW.NORAVANK.AM/UPLOAD/PDF/1.BOOK.PDF, live, | region18 = PolandWEBSITE=DIASPORA.GOV.AMARCHIVE-DATE=21 APRIL 2023URL-STATUS=LIVE, HTTPS://POLAND.MFA.AM/EN/COMMUNITY-OVERVIEW/#:~:TEXT=IT+IS+ESTIMATED+THAT+THERE,-CALLED+%27OLD+EMIGRATION%27.>TITLE=ABOUT COMMUNITYACCESS-DATE=24 APRIL 2023ARCHIVE-URL=HTTPS://WEB.ARCHIVE.ORG/WEB/20230424165945/HTTPS://POLAND.MFA.AM/EN/COMMUNITY-OVERVIEW/#:~:TEXT=IT+IS+ESTIMATED+THAT+THERE,-CALLED+%27OLD+EMIGRATION%27.WEBSITE=WWW.THEFREELIBRARY.COMARCHIVE-DATE=25 APRIL 2023URL-STATUS=LIVE, | region19 = BelgiumWORK=1LURERACCESS-DATE=17 OCTOBER 2020, {{Dead linkbot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}| region20 = SpainWEBSITE=EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA TO SPAINACCESS-DATE=7 APRIL 2016ARCHIVE-URL=HTTPS://WEB.ARCHIVE.ORG/WEB/20160331221826/HTTP://SPAIN.MFA.AM/EN/COMMUNITY-OVERVIEW/, dead, | region21 = BulgariaWEBSITE=OFFICE OF THE HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR DIASPORA AFFAIRS ARCHIVE-DATE=21 JUNE 2023 URL-STATUS=LIVE, The number of Syrian Armenians is difficult to estimate due to the Syrian Civil War. Many fled to Lebanon, Armenia, and the West respectively.}}TITLE=Սիրիայում Õ´Õ¸Õ¿ 25–28 Õ°Õ¡Õ¦Õ¡Ö€ Õ°Õ¡Õµ Õ§ մնացել, Õ¡Õ¼Õ¡Õ»Õ¶Õ¡Õ°Õ¥Ö€Õ© Õ¥Õ¶ սոցիալական խնդիրները․ Õ¤Õ¥Õ½ÕºÕ¡Õ¶ NEWSPAPER=«Ազատ ÔµÕ¾Ö€Õ¸ÕºÕ¡/Ազատություն» Ռադիոկայան ARCHIVE-URL=HTTPS://WEB.ARCHIVE.ORG/WEB/20190829121517/HTTPS://WWW.AZATUTYUN.AM/A/30130087.HTML LANGUAGE=ARMENIAN WEBSITE=OFFICE OF THE HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR DIASPORA AFFAIRS ARCHIVE-DATE=21 JUNE 2023 URL-STATUS=LIVE, | region23 = KazakhstanPUBLISHER=Комитет по статистике Министерства национальной экономики Республики КазахстанARCHIVE-DATE=27 MAY 2020URL-STATUS=DEAD, | region24 = Australiaaccess-date=2022-09-30 archive-date=26 March 2023 profile.id.com.au/australia/ancestry?WebID=10&BMID=20 >url-status=live }}| region25 = United KingdomWEBSITE=ARMENIAN COMMUNITY COUNCIL OF THE UK ARCHIVE-DATE=21 JUNE 2023 URL-STATUS=LIVE, AHMED IQBAL ULLAH EDUCATION TRUST SUPPORTS ARMENIAN EXHIBITION >URL=HTTPS://WWW.MANCHESTER.AC.UK/DISCOVER/NEWS/AHMED-IQBAL-ULLAH-EDUCATION-TRUST-SUPPORTS-ARMENIAN-EXHIBITION/ ACCESS-DATE=2023-06-20 ARCHIVE-DATE=21 JUNE 2023 URL-STATUS=LIVE, UNITED KINGDOM >URL=HTTP://DIASPORA.GOV.AM/EN/PAGES/92/GREATBRITAIN ACCESS-DATE=2023-06-20 ARCHIVE-URL=HTTPS://WEB.ARCHIVE.ORG/WEB/20230621022150/HTTP://DIASPORA.GOV.AM/EN/PAGES/92/GREATBRITAIN, live, | region26 = United Arab Emiratesn}}–8,374{{CrefACCESS-DATE=16 JANUARY 2022ARCHIVE-URL=HTTPS://WEB.ARCHIVE.ORG/WEB/20190528100807/HTTPS://STATLINE.CBS.NL/STATWEB/PUBLICATION/?DM=SLNL&PA=37230NED&D1=0,17&D2=39,66,88,121&D3=(L-4)-L&VW=T#/CBS/EN/DATASET/37325ENG/TABLE?TS=1570590894624PUBLISHER=CENTRAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS (CBS)DATE=22 JULY 2021ARCHIVE-DATE=28 MAY 2019URL-STATUS=LIVE, | region28 = Israel and PalestineWEBSITE=THE OFFICE OF THE HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR DIASPORA AFFAIRS ARCHIVE-DATE=5 MAY 2023 URL-STATUS=LIVE, see Armenian diaspora#Population by country>Armenian population by country for other regionsArmenian language>Armenian, Armenian Sign| religions = Mostly Christianity(Apostolic{{·}}Catholic{{·}}Protestant)Minorities: Non-religious{{·}}Armenian paganism (neopaganism){{·}}Sunni IslamHemshin people>Hemshin, Hayhurum, Lomnm|by nationality, naturalisation and descendant background}}}}Armenians (, {{IPA-hy|hɑˈjɛɾ|}}) are an ethnic group and nation native to the Armenian highlands of West Asia.Hewsen, Robert H. “The Geography of Armenia” in The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiquity to the Fourteenth Century. Richard G. Hovannisian (ed.) New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1997, pp. 1–17WEB, 2020, Armenian Rarities Collection,www.loc.gov/collections/armenian-rarities/about-this-collection/, live, www.loc.gov, Washington, D.C., Library of Congress,web.archive.org/web/20230307021523/https://www.loc.gov/collections/armenian-rarities/about-this-collection/, 7 March 2023, 27 March 2023, The lands of the Armenians were for millennia located in Eastern Anatolia, on the Armenian Highlands, and into the Caucasus Mountains, Caucasus Mountain range. First mentioned almost contemporaneously by a Greek and Persian source in the 6th century BC, modern DNA studies have shown that Origin of the Armenians, the people themselves had already been in place for many millennia. Those people the world know as Armenians call themselves Hay and Armenia, their country Hayots’ ashkharh–the land of the Armenians, today known as Hayastan. Their language, Armenian language, Hayeren (Armenian) constitutes a separate and unique branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European linguistic family tree. A spoken language until Christianization of Armenia, Christianity became the state religion in 314 AD, Armenian alphabet, a unique alphabet was created for it in 407, both for the propagation of the new faith and to avoid assimilation into the Persian literature, Persian literary world., WEB, Armenia: Ancient and premodern Armenia, Encyclopædia Britannica Online,www.britannica.com/place/Armenia/Administration-and-social-conditions#ref481320, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 17 July 2018, The Armenians, an Indo-European people, first appear in history shortly after the end of the 7th century BCE[, d]riving some of the ancient population to the east of Mount Ararat [...], 26 April 2019,web.archive.org/web/20190426135102/https://www.britannica.com/place/Armenia/Administration-and-social-conditions#ref481320, live, Armenians constitute the main population of the Republic of Armenia and constituted the main population of the breakaway Republic of Artsakh until the 2023 Azerbaijani offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh and the subsequent flight of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians.NEWS, Press, Associated, 2023-09-30, Almost all ethnic Armenians have left Nagorno-Karabakh,www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/30/almost-all-ethnic-armenians-have-left-nagorno-karabakh-azerbaijan, 2024-03-04, The Guardian, en-GB, 0261-3077, There is a wide-ranging diaspora of around five million people of full or partial Armenian ancestry living outside modern Armenia. The largest Armenian populations today exist in Russia, the United States, France, Georgia, Iran, Germany, Ukraine, Lebanon, Brazil, Argentina, Syria, and Turkey. The present-day Armenian diaspora was formed mainly as a result of the Armenian genocide with the exceptions of Iran, former Soviet states, and parts of the Levant.Richard G. Hovannisian, The Armenian people from ancient to modern times: the fifteenth century to the twentieth century, Volume 2, p. 421, Palgrave Macmillan, 1997.Armenian is an Indo-European language.WEB,www.britannica.com/topic/Armenian-people, Armenian (people) | Description, Culture, History, & Facts, 5 September 2018, 26 April 2019,web.archive.org/web/20190426130529/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Armenian-people, live, It has two mutually intelligible spoken and written forms: Eastern Armenian, today spoken mainly in Armenia, Artsakh, Iran, and the former Soviet republics; and Western Armenian, used in the historical Western Armenia and, after the Armenian genocide, primarily in the Armenian diasporan communities. The unique Armenian alphabet was invented in 405 AD by Mesrop Mashtots.Most Armenians adhere to the Armenian Apostolic Church, a non-Chalcedonian Christian church, which is also the world’s oldest national church. Christianity began to spread in Armenia soon after Jesus’ death, due to the efforts of two of his apostles, St. Thaddeus and St. Bartholomew.see BOOK, Adrian, Hastings, A World History of Christianity, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 289, 2000, 978-0-8028-4875-8, In the early 4th century, the Kingdom of Armenia became the first state to adopt Christianity as a state religion,WEB,www.ncccusa.org/news/01news36a.html, Armenia first nation to adopt Christianity as a state religion, 2007-02-27,www.ncccusa.org/news/01news36a.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20110106104636www.ncccusa.org/news/01news36a.html,">web.archive.org/web/20110106104636www.ncccusa.org/news/01news36a.html, 6 January 2011, live, followed by the first pilgrimages to the Holy Land where a community established the Armenian Quarter of Old Jerusalem.MAGAZINE, Davis, Joyce M., July 1992, Jerusalem’s Armenian Quarter,cnewa.org/magazine/jerusalems-armenian-quarter-30548/, ONE Magazine, Catholic Near East Welfare Association, 2023-06-21, 21 June 2023,web.archive.org/web/20230621214853/https://cnewa.org/magazine/jerusalems-armenian-quarter-30548/, live,

Etymology

File:Mkrtum Hovnatanian. Hayk Nahapet.jpeg|left|thumb|upright=0.75|Hayk, the legendary founder of the Armenian nation. Painting by Mkrtum HovnatanianMkrtum HovnatanianThe earliest attestations of the exonym Armenia date around the 6th century BC. In his trilingual Behistun Inscription dated to 517 BC, Darius I the Great of Persia refers to Urashtu (in Babylonian) as (wikt:𐎠𐎼𐎷𐎡𐎴#Old Persian|Armina) (Old Persian: 𐎠𐎼𐎷𐎡𐎴) and Harminuya (in Elamite).In Greek, Armenios () is attested from about the same time, perhaps the earliest reference being a fragment attributed to Hecataeus of Miletus (476 BC).” (The Armenians border on the Chalybes to the south)”. BOOK, Chahin, Mark, The Kingdom of Armenia, Routledge, 2001, London, fr. 203, 978-0-7007-1452-0, Xenophon, a Greek general serving in some of the Persian expeditions, describes many aspects of Armenian village life and hospitality in around 401 BC.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}Some have linked the name Armenia with the Early Bronze Age state of Armani (Armanum, Armi) or the Late Bronze Age state of Arme (Shupria).BOOK,books.google.com/books?id=3WqaAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA42, Armenia Country Study Guide Volume 1 Strategic Information and Developments, Ibp Inc., 42, 9781438773827, September 2013, International Business Publications, USA, Armini, Urartian for “inhabitant of Arme” or “Armean country”, referring to the region of Shupria, to the immediate west of Lake Van.Armen Petrosyan. The Indo-European and Ancient Near Eastern Sources of the Armenian Epic. Journal of Indo-European Studies. Institute for the Study of Man. 2002. p. 184. weblink {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709184415www.academia.edu/3656244/The_Indo_European_and_Ancient_Near_Eastern_Sources_of_the_Armenian_Epic_Washington_D_C_2002?auto=download|date=9 July 2021}} The Arme tribe of Urartian texts may have been the Urumu, who in the 12th century BC attempted to invade Assyria from the north with their allies the Mushki and the Kaskians. The Urumu apparently settled in the vicinity of Sason, lending their name to the regions of Arme and the nearby lands of Urme and Inner Urumu.Armen Petrosyan. The Indo-European and Ancient Near Eastern Sources of the Armenian Epic. Journal of Indo-European Studies. Institute for the Study of Man. 2002. pp. 166–167. weblink {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709184415www.academia.edu/3656244/The_Indo_European_and_Ancient_Near_Eastern_Sources_of_the_Armenian_Epic_Washington_D_C_2002?auto=download|date=9 July 2021}} The location of the older site of Armani is a matter of debate. Some modern researchers have placed it in the same general area as Arme, near modern Samsat,JOURNAL, Archi, Alfonso, Egypt or Iran in the Ebla Texts?, Orientalia, 2016, 85, 3,www.academia.edu/34915656, 8 June 2019, 15 August 2021,web.archive.org/web/20210815194611/https://www.academia.edu/34915656, live, and have suggested it was populated, at least partially, by an early Indo-European-speaking people.JOURNAL, Kroonen, Guus; Gojko Barjamovic; Michaël Peyrot, Linguistic supplement to Damgaard et al. 2018: Early Indo-European languages, Anatolian, Tocharian and Indo-Iranian, 9 May 2018, 3, 10.5281/zenodo.1240524,zenodo.org/record/1240524, 8 June 2019, 29 June 2019,web.archive.org/web/20190629152739/https://zenodo.org/record/1240524, live, The relationship between Armani and the later Arme-Shupria, if any, is undetermined. Additionally, their connections to Armenians is inconclusive as it is not known what languages were spoken in these regions.It has also been speculated that the land of Ermenen (located in or near Minni), mentioned by the Egyptian pharaoh Thutmose III in 1446 BCE, could be a reference to Armenia.Armenians call themselves (wikt:Õ°Õ¡Õµ|Hay) (, pronounced [ˈhaj]; plural: Õ°Õ¡ÕµÕ¥Ö€, [haˈjɛɾ]). The name has traditionally been derived from Hayk (), the legendary patriarch of the Armenians and a great-great-grandson of Noah, who, according to Movses Khorenatsi (Moses of Khorene), defeated the Babylonian king Bel in 2492 BC and established his nation in the Ararat region.Razmik Panossian, The Armenians: From Kings And Priests to Merchants And Commissars, Columbia University Press (2006), {{ISBN|978-0-231-13926-7}}, p. 106. It is also further postulatedRafael Ishkhanyan, “Illustrated History of Armenia”, Yerevan, 1989Elisabeth Bauer. Armenia: Past and Present (1981), p. 49 that the name Hay comes from, or is related to, one of the two confederated, Hittite vassal states—Hayasa-Azzi (1600–1200 BC). Ultimately, Hay may derive from the Proto Indo-European words póti (meaning “lord” or “master“)JOURNAL, Petrosyan, Armen, Towards the Origins of the Armenian People: The Problem of Identification of the Proto-Armenians: A Critical Review (in English), Journal for the Society of Armenian Studies, 2007, 16, 30,www.academia.edu/3657764, 6 June 2019, 4 October 2020,web.archive.org/web/20201004180224/https://www.academia.edu/3657764/Towards_the_Origins_of_the_Armenian_People_The_Problem_of_Identification_of_the_Proto_Armenians_A_Critical_Review_in_English_, live, or *h₂éyos/*áyos (meaning “metal“).BOOK, Martirosyan, Hrach, Etymological Dictionary of the Armenian Inherited Lexicon, 2010, Leiden: Brill, 382–385, Khorenatsi wrote that the word Armenian originated from the name Armenak or Aram (the descendant of Hayk).{{citation needed|date=March 2022}} Khorenatsi refers to both Armenia and Armenians as Hayk’ (Armenian: Õ€Õ¡ÕµÖ„) (not to be confused with the aforementioned patriarch, Hayk).{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}

History

{{Indo-European}}

Origin

While the Armenian language is classified as an Indo-European language, its placement within the broader Indo-European language family is a matter of debate. Until fairly recently, scholars believed Armenian to be most closely related to Greek and Ancient Macedonian. Eric P. Hamp placed Armenian in the “Pontic Indo-European” (also called Graeco-Armenian or Helleno-Armenian) subgroup of Indo-European languages in his 2012 Indo-European family tree.JOURNAL, Hamp, Eric P., The Expansion of the Indo-European Languages: An Indo-Europeanist’s Evolving View, Sino-Platonic Papers, August 2013, 239, 8, 10, 13,sino-platonic.org/complete/spp239_indo_european_languages.pdf, 8 February 2014, live, 2 August 2019,sino-platonic.org/complete/spp239_indo_european_languages.pdf," title="web.archive.org/web/20190802070158sino-platonic.org/complete/spp239_indo_european_languages.pdf,">web.archive.org/web/20190802070158sino-platonic.org/complete/spp239_indo_european_languages.pdf, There are two possible explanations, not mutually exclusive, for a common origin of the Armenian and Greek languages.

• In Hamp’s view, the homeland of the proposed Graeco-Armenian subgroup is the northeast coast of the Black Sea and its hinterlands. He assumes that they migrated from there southeast through the Caucasus with the Armenians remaining after Batumi while the pre-Greeks proceeded westward along the southern coast of the Black Sea.
• Ancient Greek historian Herodotus (writing {{circa|440 BCE}}), suggested that Armenians migrated from Phrygia, a region that encompassed much of western and central Anatolia during the Iron Age: “the Armenians were equipped like Phrygians, being Phrygian colonists” (7.73) (). This statement was interpreted by later scholars as meaning that Armenians spoke a language derived from Phrygian, a poorly attested Indo-European language. However, this theory has been discredited.James P.T. Clackson (2008). “Classical Armenian.”The Ancient Languages of Asia Minor. Cambridge University Press. p. 124Bartomeu Obrador-Cursach. “On the place of Phrygian among the Indo-European languages.” Journal of Language Relationship. 2019. p. 240.www.jolr.ru/files/(271)jlr2019-17-3-4(233-245).pdf {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210324071401www.jolr.ru/files/%28271%29jlr2019-17-3-4%28233-245%29.pdf |date=24 March 2021}} Ancient Greek writers believed that the Phrygians had originated in the Balkans, in an area adjoining Macedonia, from where they had emigrated to Anatolia during the Bronze Age collapse. This led later scholars to theorize that Armenians also originated in the Balkans. However, an Armenian origin in the Balkans, although once widely accepted, has been facing increased scrutiny in recent years due to discrepancies in the timeline and lack of genetic and archeological evidence.BOOK, Armen Petrosyan, The Problem Of Identification Of The Proto-Armenians: A Critical Review,www.academia.edu/3657764, 23 November 2018, 2007, Society For Armenian Studies, 49–54, 4 October 2020,web.archive.org/web/20201004180224/https://www.academia.edu/3657764/Towards_the_Origins_of_the_Armenian_People_The_Problem_of_Identification_of_the_Proto_Armenians_A_Critical_Review_in_English_, live, WEB, Martirosyan, Hrach, Origins and Historical Development of the Armenian Language, 2014, 1–23, Leiden University,ling.hse.ru/data/2014/09/01/1313574129/Hrach%20Martirosyan%20-%20Handout.pdf, 5 August 2019, 4 August 2019,web.archive.org/web/20190804193154/https://ling.hse.ru/data/2014/09/01/1313574129/Hrach%20Martirosyan%20-%20Handout.pdf, live, The view that Armenians are native to the South Caucasus is supported by ancient Armenian historical accounts and legends, which place the Ararat Plain as the cradle of Armenian culture, as well as modern genetic research. In fact, some scholars have suggested that the Phrygians or the apparently related Mushki people were originally from Armenia and moved westward.JOURNAL, Studi Micenei ed Egeo-Anatolici, 1997, 39, 2, 252–266,smea.isma.cnr.it/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Kossian_The-Mushki-problem-Reconsidered.pdf, Kossian, Aram, The Mushki Problem Reconsidered, live, 28 August 2020,smea.isma.cnr.it/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Kossian_The-Mushki-problem-Reconsidered.pdf," title="web.archive.org/web/20200828192604smea.isma.cnr.it/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Kossian_The-Mushki-problem-Reconsidered.pdf,">web.archive.org/web/20200828192604smea.isma.cnr.it/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Kossian_The-Mushki-problem-Reconsidered.pdf,

Some linguists tentatively conclude that Armenian, Greek (and Phrygian) and Indo-Iranian were dialectally close to each other;Handbook of Formal Languages (1997) p. 6 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200518224126books.google.com/books?id=yQ59ojndUt4C&pg=PA6&dq=armeno-aryan&client=firefox-a#v=onepage&q=armeno-aryan&f=true |date=18 May 2020 }}.WEB,www.public.iastate.edu/~cfford/Indoeuropean%20language%20family%20tree.jpg, Indo-European tree with Armeno-Aryan, exclusion of Greek, 13 February 2021, 14 May 2018,www.public.iastate.edu/~cfford/Indoeuropean%20language%20family%20tree.jpg," title="web.archive.org/web/20180514140029www.public.iastate.edu/~cfford/Indoeuropean%20language%20family%20tree.jpg,">web.archive.org/web/20180514140029www.public.iastate.edu/~cfford/Indoeuropean%20language%20family%20tree.jpg, dead, Indo-European Language and Culture: An Introduction, Benjamin W. Fortson, John Wiley and Sons, 2009, p383.Hans J. Holm (2011): “Swadesh lists” of Albanian Revisited and Consequences for its position in the Indo-European Languages. The Journal of Indo-European Studies, Volume 39, Number 1&2.Hrach Martirosyan (2013). “The place of Armenian in the Indo-European language family: the relationship with Greek and Indo-Iranian*” Leiden University. p. 85-86.www.jolr.ru/files/(128)jlr2013-10(85-138).pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210324071400www.jolr.ru/files/%28128%29jlr2013-10%2885-138%29.pdf |date=24 March 2021 }}James P.T. Clackson (2008). “Classical Armenian.” The Ancient Languages of Asia Minor. Cambridge University Press. p. 124 within this hypothetical dialect group, Proto-Armenian was situated between Proto-Greek (centum subgroup) and Proto-Indo-Iranian (satem subgroup).Hrach Martirosyan. The place of Armenian in the Indo-European language family: the relationship with Greek and Indo-Iranian. Journal of Language Relationship • Вопросы языкового родства • 10 (2013) • Pp. 85—137 This has led some scholars to propose a hypothetical Graeco-Armenian-Aryan clade within the Indo-European language family from which the Armenian, Greek, Indo-Iranian, and possibly Phrygian languages all descend.Handbook of Formal Languages (1997), p. 6 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200518224126books.google.com/books?id=yQ59ojndUt4C&pg=PA6&dq=armeno-aryan&client=firefox-a#v=onepage&q=armeno-aryan&f=true |date=18 May 2020 }}. According to Kim (2018), however, there is insufficient evidence for a cladistic connection between Armenian and Greek, and common features between these two languages can be explained as a result of contact. Contact is also the most likely explanation for morphological features shared by Armenian with Indo-Iranian and Balto-Slavic languages.JOURNAL, Kim, Ronald, Greco-Armenian: The persistence of a myth, Indogermanische Forschungen, The University of British Columbia Library, 2018, 123, 1, 10.1515/if-2018-0009, 231923312,www.academia.edu/37844906, 9 June 2019, 24 March 2021,web.archive.org/web/20210324071419/https://www.academia.edu/37844906/Greco_Armenian_the_persistence_of_a_myth, live, It has been suggested that the Bronze Age Trialeti-Vanadzor culture and sites such as the burial complexes at Verin and Nerkin Naver are indicative of an Indo-European presence in Armenia by the end of the 3rd millennium BCE.JOURNAL, 603403, Greppin, John A. C., Diakonoff, I. M., Some Effects of the Hurro-Urartian People and Their Languages upon the Earliest Armenians, Journal of the American Oriental Society, 1991, 111, 4, 720–730, 10.2307/603403, Joan Aruz, Kim Benzel, Jean M. Evans, Beyond Babylon: Art, Trade, and Diplomacy in the Second Millennium B.C. Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.) (2008) pp. 92{{citation|url=https://docplayer.net/108120425-The-mushki-problem-reconsidered.html|title=The Mushki Problem Reconsidered|date=1997|first=Aram V.|last=Kossian|access-date=31 August 2019|archive-date=29 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190829005531docplayer.net/108120425-The-mushki-problem-reconsidered.html|url-status=live}} pp. 254Peter I. Bogucki and Pam J. Crabtree Ancient Europe, 8000 B.C. to A.D. 1000: An Encyclopedia of the Barbarian World. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160109082658lukashevichus.info/knigi/ancient_europe_encycl_bogucki_crabtree_1.pdf |date=9 January 2016 }} Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2004 {{ISBN|978-0684806686}}Daniel T. Potts A Companion to the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200519050325books.google.ca/books?id=7lK6l7oF_ccC&pg=PA681 |date=19 May 2020 }} Volume 94 of Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World. John Wiley & Sons, 2012 {{ISBN|1405189886}} p.681JOURNAL, Simonyan, Hakob Y., New Discoveries at Verin Naver, Armenia, Backdirt, 2012, The Puzzle of the Mayan Calendar, 110–113, The Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA,www.academia.edu/25380162, 5 August 2019, 8 November 2021,web.archive.org/web/20211108073841/https://www.academia.edu/25380162, live, The controversial Armenian hypothesis, put forward by some scholars, such as Thomas Gamkrelidze and Vyacheslav V. Ivanov, proposes that the Indo-European homeland was around the Armenian Highland.Thomas Gamkrelidze and Vyacheslav Ivanov (philologist)|Vyacheslav V. Ivanov, The Early History of Indo-European Languages, March 1990, p. 110. This theory was partially confirmed by the research of geneticist David Reich (et al. 2018), among others.BOOK, Reich, David, 2018, Who We Are and How We Got Here: Ancient DNA and the New Science of the Human Past, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, BOOK, Damgaard, Peter de Barros, 2018, The First Horse herders and the Impact of Early Bronze Age Steppe expansions into Asia, BOOK, Haak, Wolfgang, 2015, Massive migration from the steppe is a source for Indo-European languages in Europe, 10.1101/013433, 10.1101/013433, 196643946, Similarly Grolle (et al. 2018) supports not only a homeland for Armenians on the Armenian highlands, but also that the Armenian highlands are the homeland for the “pre-proto-Indo-Europeans”.Grolle, Johann (12 May 2018), “Invasion aus der Steppe”, Der Spiegel A large genetic study in 2022 showed that many Armenians are “direct patrilineal descendants of the Yamnaya”.WEB, Shaw, Jonathan, Seeking the First Speakers of Indo-European Language, 25 August 2022,www.harvardmagazine.com/2022/08/indo-european-languages, Harvard Magazine, 11 September 2022, 11 September 2022,web.archive.org/web/20220911053033/https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2022/08/indo-european-languages, live, Genetic studies explain Armenian diversity by several mixtures of Eurasian populations that occurred between 3000 and 2000 BCE. But genetic signals of population mixture cease after 1200 BCE when Bronze Age civilizations in the Eastern Mediterranean world suddenly and violently collapsed. Armenians have since remained isolated and genetic structure within the population developed ~500 years ago when Armenia was divided between the Ottomans and the Safavid Empire in Iran.JOURNAL, 10.1038/ejhg.2015.206, 26486470, 10.1101/015396, Genetic evidence for an origin of the Armenians from Bronze Age mixing of multiple populations, European Journal of Human Genetics, 24, 6, 931–936, 2015, Haber, Marc, Mezzavilla, Massimo, Xue, Yali, Comas, David, Gasparini, Paolo, Zalloua, Pierre, Tyler-Smith, Chris, 4820045, NEWS, Wade, Nicholas,www.nytimes.com/2015/03/11/science/study-backs-5th-century-historians-date-for-founding-of-armenia.html?_r=0, Date of Armenia’s Birth, Given in 5th Century, Gains Credence, The New York Times, 2015-03-10, 13 February 2017, 19 May 2020,web.archive.org/web/20200519014046/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/11/science/study-backs-5th-century-historians-date-for-founding-of-armenia.html?_r=0, live, A genetic study (Wang et al. 2018) supports the indigenous origin for Armenians in a region south of the Caucasus which he calls “Greater Caucasus”.Wang, Chuan-Chao (2018), The genetic prehistory of the Greater CaucasusIn the Bronze Age, several states flourished in the area of Greater Armenia, including the Hittite Empire (at the height of its power in the 14th century BCE), (Mitanni (South-Western historical Armenia, 1500–1300 BCE), and Hayasa-Azzi (1500–1200 BCE). Soon after Hayasa-Azzi came Arme-Shupria (1300s–1190 BCE), the Nairi Confederation (1200–900 BCE), and the Kingdom of Urartu (860–590 BCE), who successively established their sovereignty over the Armenian Highland. Each of the aforementioned nations and tribes participated in the ethnogenesis of the Armenian people.Vahan Kurkjian, “History of Armenia”, Michigan, 1968, History of Armenia by Vahan Kurkjian {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120527052930penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Asia/Armenia/_Texts/KURARM/home.html |date=27 May 2012 }}; Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia, v. 12, Yerevan 1987; Artak Movsisyan, “Sacred Highland: Armenia in the spiritual conception of the Near East”, Yerevan, 2000; Martiros Kavoukjian, “The Genesis of Armenian People”, Montreal, 1982 Under Ashurbanipal (669–627 BCE), the Assyrian empire reached the Caucasus Mountains (modern Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan).Curtis, John (November 2003). “The Achaemenid Period in Northern Iraq”. L’archéologie de l’empire achéménide (Paris, France): 12.Luwianologist John D. Hawkins proposed that “Hai” people were possibly mentioned in the 10th century BCE Hieroglyphic Luwian inscriptions from Carchemish.JOURNAL, 3642555, Building Inscriptions of Carchemish: The Long Wall of Sculpture and Great Staircase, Hawkins, J. D., Anatolian Studies, 1972, 22, 87–114, 10.2307/3642555, 191397893, A.E. Redgate later clarified that these “Hai” people may have been Armenians.JOURNAL, 40378911, Redgate, A. E., Reviewed work: The Pre-History of the Armenians, Gabriel Soultanian, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, 2007, 70, 1, 173–175, 10.1017/S0041977X07000195, 163000249,

Antiquity

File:Armenian Empire.png|thumb|The Kingdom of Armenia at its greatest extent under Tigranes the GreatTigranes the GreatThe first geographical entity that was called Armenia by neighboring peoples (such as by Hecataeus of Miletus and on the Achaemenid Behistun Inscription) was the Satrapy of Armenia, established in the late 6th century BCE under the Orontid (Yervanduni) dynasty within the Achaemenid Persian Empire. The Orontids later ruled the independent Kingdom of Armenia. At its zenith (95–65 BCE), under the imperial reign of Tigran the Great, a member of the Artaxiad (Artashesian) dynasty, the Kingdom of Armenia extended from the Caucasus all the way to what is now central Turkey, Lebanon, and northern Iran.The Arsacid Kingdom of Armenia, itself a branch of the Arsacid dynasty of Parthia, was the first state to adopt Christianity as its religion (it had formerly been adherent to Armenian paganism, which was influenced by Zoroastrianism,Mary Boyce. Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221110954books.google.com/books?id=a6gbxVfjtUEC&pg=PA84&dq=armenians+zoroastrianism+christianity&hl=nl&sa=X&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAWoVChMIi5zf656SxgIVgbMsCh1xBQB1#v=onepage&q=armenians%20zoroastrianism%20christianity&f=false |date=21 December 2016 }} Psychology Press, 2001 {{ISBN|978-0415239028}} p 84 while later on adopting a few elements regarding identification of its pantheon with Greco-Roman deities).“The conversion of Armenia to Christianity was probably the most crucial step in its history. It turned Armenia sharply away from its Iranian past and stamped it for centuries with an intrinsic character as clear to the native population as to those outside its borders, who identified Armenia almost at once as the first state to adopt Christianity”. (Nina Garsoïan in Armenian People from Ancient to Modern Times, ed. R.G. Hovannisian, Palgrave Macmillan, 1997, Volume 1, p.81). In the early years of the 4th century, likely 301 CE,traditionally dated to 301 following Mikayel Chamchian (1784). 314 is the date favored by mainstream scholarship, so Nicholas Adontz (1970), p.82, following the research of Ananian, and Seibt The Christianization of Caucasus (Armenia, Georgia, Albania) (2002). partly in defiance of the Sassanids it seems.Mary Boyce. Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150919131431books.google.com/books?id=a6gbxVfjtUEC&pg=PA84 |date=19 September 2015 }} Psychology Press, 2001 {{ISBN|0415239028}} p 84 In the late Parthian period, Armenia was a predominantly Zoroastrian-adhering land, but by the Christianisation, previously predominant Zoroastrianism and paganism in Armenia gradually declined.Charl Wolhuter, Corene de Wet. International Comparative Perspectives on Religion and Education {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151018194514books.google.com/books?id=y4_4AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA30 |date=18 October 2015 }} AFRICAN SUN MeDIA, {{ISBN|1920382372}}. 1 March 2014 p 31 This is the period that an Armenian community was established in Judea (modern-day Palestine-Israel), leading to the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem.WEB, The Armenian Quarter in Jerusalem,www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jerusalem-s-the-armenian-quarter, 2023-05-05, Jewish Virtual Library, 6 July 2017,web.archive.org/web/20170706031430/https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jerusalem-s-the-armenian-quarter, live, Later on, to further strengthen Armenian national identity, Mesrop Mashtots invented the Armenian alphabet, in 405 CE. This event ushered the Golden Age of Armenia, during which many foreign books and manuscripts were translated to Armenian by Mesrop’s pupils. Armenia lost its sovereignty again in 428 CE to the rivaling Byzantine and Sassanid Persian empires, until the Muslim conquest of Persia overran also the regions in which Armenians lived.

Middle Ages

File:Ani-Cathedral, Ruine.jpeg|thumb|left|The Cathedral of AniCathedral of AniFile:Ptolemy Cosmographia 1467 - Central Europe.jpg|thumb|PtolemyPtolemyIn 885 CE the Armenians reestablished themselves as a sovereign kingdom under the leadership of Ashot I of the Bagratid Dynasty. A considerable portion of the Armenian nobility and peasantry fled the Byzantine occupation of Bagratid Armenia in 1045, and the subsequent invasion of the region by Seljuk Turks in 1064. They settled in large numbers in Cilicia, an Anatolian region where Armenians were already established as a minority since Roman times. In 1080, they founded an independent Armenian Principality then Kingdom of Cilicia, which became the focus of Armenian nationalism. The Armenians developed close social, cultural, military, and religious ties with nearby Crusader States,BOOK, Hodgson, Natasha, Kostick, Conor, The Crusades and the Near East: Cultural Histories, 2010, Routledge, 978-1136902475,books.google.com/books?id=HAPGBQAAQBAJ, 14 September 2015, live, 18 October 2015,web.archive.org/web/20151018194514/https://books.google.com/books?id=HAPGBQAAQBAJ, but eventually succumbed to Mamluk invasions. In the next few centuries, Djenghis Khan, Timurids, and the tribal Turkic federations of the Ak Koyunlu and the Kara Koyunlu ruled over the Armenians.

Early modern history

{{multiple image |direction=verticalcaption1=Persis, Parthia, Armenia. Rest Fenner, published in 1835.caption2=Armenia, Mesopotamia, Babylonia and Assyria with Adjacent Regions, Karl von Spruner, published in 1865.}}From the early 16th century, both Western Armenia and Eastern Armenia fell under Iranian Safavid rule.Donald Rayfield. Edge of Empires: A History of Georgia {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200518230604books.google.com/books?id=PxQpmg_JIpwC&pg=PA165&dq=shah+ismail+conquered+wester+and+eastern+armenia&hl=nl&sa=X&ei=wGNWVfTKD8WksgGwtYGAAQ&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=shah%20ismail%20conquered%20wester%20and%20eastern%20armenia&f=false |date=18 May 2020 }} Reaktion Books, 2013 {{ISBN|1780230702}} p 165Steven R. Ward. Immortal, Updated Edition: A Military History of Iran and Its Armed Forces {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200518230520books.google.com/books?id=MOuVAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA43&dq=shah+ismail+conquer+armenia&hl=nl&sa=X&ei=ymRWVdvgHYGUsgH_jICYCQ&ved=0CEgQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=shah%20ismail%20conquer%20armenia&f=false |date=18 May 2020 }} Georgetown University Press, 8 January 2014 {{ISBN|1626160325}} p 43 Owing to the century long Turco-Iranian geo-political rivalry that would last in Western Asia, significant parts of the region were frequently fought over between the two rivalling empires. From the mid 16th century with the Peace of Amasya, and decisively from the first half of the 17th century with the Treaty of Zuhab until the first half of the 19th century,BOOK,books.google.com/books?id=B8WRAgAAQBAJ&q=treaty+of+zuhab+confirms+amasya&pg=PA47, Armenians: Past and Present in the Making of National Identity, 30 December 2014, 9781135798376, Herzig, Edmund, Kurkchiyan, Marina, 2004-11-10, Routledge, 24 March 2021,web.archive.org/web/20210324071402/https://books.google.com/books?id=B8WRAgAAQBAJ&q=treaty+of+zuhab+confirms+amasya&pg=PA47, live, Eastern Armenia was ruled by the successive Iranian Safavid, Afsharid and Qajar empires, while Western Armenia remained under Ottoman rule. In the late 1820s, the parts of historic Armenia under Iranian control centering on Yerevan and Lake Sevan (all of Eastern Armenia) were incorporated into the Russian Empire following Iran’s forced ceding of the territories after its loss in the Russo-Persian War (1826-1828) and the outcoming Treaty of Turkmenchay.Timothy C. Dowling Russia at War: From the Mongol Conquest to Afghanistan, Chechnya, and Beyond {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160903022939books.google.com/books?id=KTq2BQAAQBAJ&pg=PA728&dq=russo+persian+war+1804-1813&hl=nl&sa=X&ei=QnOXVJXpCcz7UPevhPAK&ved=0CCcQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=russo%20persian%20war%201804-1813&f=false |date=3 September 2016 }} pp 728 ABC-CLIO, 2 December 2014 {{ISBN|1598849484}} Western Armenia however, remained in Ottoman hands.

Modern history

{{multiple image |direction=vertical |align=leftcaption1=An Armenian woman from Artvin in national costume, photographed by Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky between 1909 and 1912.caption2=About 1.5 million Armenians were killed during the Armenian genocide in 1915–1918.}}The ethnic cleansing of Armenians during the final years of the Ottoman Empire is widely considered a genocide, resulting in an estimated 1.2 million victims.WEB, The Armenian Genocide (1915–16): Overview,encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/the-armenian-genocide-1915-16-overview, 2023-05-05, Holocaust Encyclopedia, 4 May 2023,web.archive.org/web/20230504203406/https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/the-armenian-genocide-1915-16-overview, live, WEB, Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day,www.auschwitzinstitute.org/news/armenian-genocide-remembrance-day/, 2023-05-05, Auschwitz Institute, 5 May 2023,web.archive.org/web/20230505065029/https://www.auschwitzinstitute.org/news/armenian-genocide-remembrance-day/, live, The first wave of persecution was in the years 1894 to 1896, the second one culminating in the events of the Armenian genocide in 1915 and 1916. With World War I in progress, the Ottoman Empire accused the (Christian) Armenians as liable to ally with Imperial Russia, and used it as a pretext to deal with the entire Armenian population as an enemy within their empire.Governments of the Republic of Turkey since that time have consistently rejected charges of genocide, typically arguing either that those Armenians who died were simply in the way of a war, or that killings of Armenians were justified by their individual or collective support for the enemies of the Ottoman Empire. Passage of legislation in various foreign countries, condemning the persecution of the Armenians as genocide, has often provoked diplomatic conflict. (See recognition of the Armenian genocide)Following the breakup of the Russian Empire in the aftermath of World War I for a brief period, from 1918 to 1920, Armenia was an independent republic plagued by socio-economic crises such as large-scale Muslim uprisings. In late 1920, the communists came to power following an invasion of Armenia by the Red Army; in 1922, Armenia became part of the Transcaucasian SFSR of the Soviet Union, later on forming the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (1936 to 21 September 1991). In 1991, Armenia declared independence from the USSR and established the second Republic of Armenia. Also in 1991, the ethnic Armenian-majority Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (later the Republic of Artsakh), declared independence from Azerbaijan which lasted until 2023.

Geographic distribution

Armenia

File:Armenian distribution map.png|thumb|upright=1.35|Armenian presence in the early 20th century:{{legend inline|#967117|>50%}}{{nbsp|5}}{{legend inline|#FFA700|25–50%}}{{nbsp|5}}{{legend inline|#FBEC5D|