Civilitas Foundation

Armenia ( ar-MEE-nee-ə), officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to the east, and Iran and the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan to the south. Yerevan is the capital, largest city and financial center. Armenia is a unitary, multi-party, democratic nation-state with an ancient cultural heritage. The first Armenian state of Urartu was established in 860 BC, and by the 6th century BC it was replaced by the Satrapy of Armenia. The Kingdom of Armenia reached its height under Tigranes the Great in the 1st century BC and in the year 301 became the first state in the world to adopt Christianity as its official religion. Armenia still recognises the Armenian Apostolic Church, the world's oldest national church, as the country's primary religious establishment. The ancient Armenian kingdom was split between the Byzantine and Sasanian Empires around the early 5th century. Under the Bagratuni dynasty, the Bagratid Kingdom of Armenia was restored in the 9th century before falling in 1045. Cilician Armenia, an Armenian principality and later a kingdom, was located on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea between the 11th and 14th centuries. Between the 16th and 19th centuries, the traditional Armenian homeland composed of Eastern Armenia and Western Armenia came under the rule of the Ottoman and Persian empires, repeatedly ruled by either of the two over the centuries. By the 19th century, Eastern Armenia had been conquered by the Russian Empire, while most of the western parts of the traditional Armenian homeland remained under Ottoman rule. During World War I, 1.5 million Armenians living in their ancestral lands in the Ottoman Empire were systematically exterminated in the Armenian genocide. In 1918, following the Russian Revolution, all non-Russian countries declared their independence after the Russian Empire ceased to exist, leading to the establishment of the First Republic of Armenia. By 1920, the state was incorporated into the Soviet Union. The modern Republic of Armenia became independent in 1991 during the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Armenia is a developing country and ranks 85th on the Human Development Index (2021). Its economy is primarily based on industrial output and mineral extraction. While Armenia is geographically located in the South Caucasus, it is generally considered geopolitically European. Since Armenia aligns itself in many respects geopolitically with Europe, the country is a member of numerous European organizations including the Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe, the Council of Europe, the Eastern Partnership, Eurocontrol, the Assembly of European Regions, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Armenia is also a member of certain regional groups throughout Eurasia, including the Asian Development Bank, the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the Eurasian Economic Union, and the Eurasian Development Bank. Armenia supported once de facto independent Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), which was proclaimed in 1991 on territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan until September 2023.

The capture of Erivan (or Erevan/Yerevan; Persian: فتح ایروان, romanized: Fath e Iravān; Russian: Взятие Эривани, romanized: Vzyatie Ėrivani) took place on 1 October 1827, during the Russo-Persian War of 1826–28. The city fell to the Russians after being besieged for a week and opened up the path for the eventual capture of Tabriz, the second largest city in Iran and an important trading post.

Northern Avenue (Armenian: Հյուսիսային պողոտա, romanized: Hyusisayin poghota) is a pedestrian avenue in Yerevan, Armenia, opened in 2007. It is in the central Kentron district and links Abovyan Street with Freedom Square on Tumanyan street. It is 450 metres (1,480 ft) long and 27 metres (89 ft) wide. Located in downtown Yerevan, the avenue is mainly home to luxurious residential buildings, high-end branded shops, commercial offices, coffee shops, hotels, restaurants, and nightclubs.

The Erivan Governorate was a province (guberniya) of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, with its centеr in Erivan (present-day Yerevan). Its area was 27,830 sq. kilometеrs, roughly corresponding to what is now most of central Armenia, the Iğdır Province of Turkey, and the Nakhchivan exclave of Azerbaijan. At the end of the 19th century, it bordered the Tiflis Governorate to the north, the Elizavetpol Governorate to the east, the Kars Oblast to the west, and Persia and the Ottoman Empire to the south. Mount Ararat and the fertile Ararat Valley were included in the center of the province. In 1828, the khanates of Erivan and the Nakhichevan were annexed from Persia by the Russian Empire through the Treaty of Turkmenchay. The newly annexed territories were incorporated into a single administrative unit known as the Armenian Oblast. In 1849, the oblast was reorganized into a governorate,

The Freedom Square or Liberty Square (Armenian: Ազատության հրապարակ, Azatut'yan hraparak), also known as Opera Square and Theatre Square (Թատերական հրապարակ, T'aterakan hraparak) until 1991, is a town square located in Kentron (Center) district of Yerevan, Armenia. The square is part of the Yerevan Opera Theater complex, located just to the south of the main opera building, between the opera park and the Swan lake. Along with the Republic Square, the Freedom Square is one of the two main squares in central Yerevan. It is bordered with four streets: Tumanyan Street, Teryan Street, Sayat Nova Avenue and Mashtots Avenue. The statues of writer Hovhannes Tumanyan and composer Alexander Spendiaryan are located in the square.

The National Children's Library Named After Khnko Aper (Armenian: Խնկո Ապոր անվան ազգային մանկական գրադարան, romanized: Khnko Apor anvan azgayin mankakan gradaran) is a national children's library in Yerevan, Armenia. It was founded in 1933 and renamed after the famous children's writer Khnko Aper (Atabek Khnkoyan) after his death in 1935. Since 1980, the library has been located on Teryan Street in Kentron district, next to the Swan Lake of the Opera House. The architects of the library building were Levon Ghulumyan and Rouzan Alaverdyan. The library is home to a collection of 500,000 books. It has a large reading room with a capacity of 100 seats.The library has three more sections for Chinese, Iranian, and German literature.

Gethsemane Chapel (Armenian: Գեթսեմանի մատուռ, romanized: Get’semani matur’) was a small Armenian Apostolic church in the historical Shahar district of Yerevan, Armenia, that was destroyed during the 1920s to make way for the construction of the Yerevan Opera Theater on what is known today as the Tumanyan street.The Gethsemane Chapel was built by the end of the 17th century, replacing a 13th-century domed basilica ruined during the 1679 earthquake. However, the chapel of Gethsemane had a shape of single-nave basilica with no dome. It was surrounded by the old Yerevan cemetery. It was entirely renovated in 1901 through the donation of the wealthy Yerevanian Melik-Aghamalyan family. The chapel was eventually destroyed during the 1920s.

The Alexander Spendiaryan National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre (Armenian: Ալեքսանդր Սպենդիարյանի անվան օպերայի և բալետի ազգային ակադեմիական թատրոն, romanized: Aleksandr Spendiaryani anvan operayi yev baleti azgayin akademiakan t’atron), simply known by locals as Opera, is an opera theatre in Yerevan. It officially opened on 20 January 1933, with a performance of Alexander Spendiaryan's opera Almast as its first show. The opera building was designed by architect Alexander Tamanian. It consists of two concert halls: the Aram Khatchaturian Concert Hall with 1,400 seats and the Alexander Spendiaryan Opera and Ballet National Theatre with 1,200 seats.

Officially State Russian Drama Theatre named after Konstantin Stanislavski (Armenian: Կոնստանտին Ստանիսլավսկու անվան ռուսական պետական դրամատիկական թատրոն), more commonly Stanislavski Russian Theatre, is a state theatre in the Armenian capital of Yerevan located on Abovyan Street in the central Kentron district of the city, next to Charles Aznavour Square. It was opened in 1937 and named after the Russian actor and theatre director Constantin Stanislavski since 1938. The theatre director is Alexander Grigoryan since 1965. The shows of the theatre are mainly from the Russian works of art and literature with some shows of Armenian classical writers. There are also afternoon shows for children at the weekends. The Stanislavski theatre is constructed on the place of a demolished Russian church.

The Erivan uezd was a county (uezd) of the Erivan Governorate of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire. The uezd bordered the Etchmiadzin and Surmalu uezds to the west, the Nor Bayazet uezd to the east, the Sharur-Daralayaz uezd to the south, and Iran to the southwest. It included most of the Ararat Province and southern parts of the Kotayk Province of central Armenia, the Sadarak District of the Nakhchivan exclave of Azerbaijan, and the Aras corridor of the Aralık District of the Iğdır Province of Turkey. The administrative centre of the county was the city of Erivan (present-day Yerevan, the capital of Armenia).

Belavia Flight 1834 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Yerevan, Armenia, to Minsk, Belarus, operated by Belavia. On the morning of February 14, 2008, the Bombardier Canadair Regional Jet carrying 18 passengers and three crew crashed and burst into flames shortly after take off from Zvartnots International Airport near Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. All on board survived, with at least seven people being injured.

The Hovhannes Tumanyan Puppet Theatre of Yerevan, officially the Yerevan State Puppet Theatre named after Hovhannes Tumanyan (Armenian: Երևանի Հովհաննես Թումանյանի անվան Պետական Տիկնիկային Թատրոն [Yerevani Hovhannes T'umanyani anvan Petakan Tiknikayin T'atron]), is a puppet theatre founded in 1935 and located in Yerevan, Armenia. It is also the location of the Pavlos Boroyan Puppet Museum.