Guided walks and treks in Armenia

Practical Information Armenia

This page provides brief background information on Armenia. For more practical information about out trips to Armenia please see our practical information page. We also have a have a Frequently Asked Questions page with answers to general questions about booking and payment.

Armenia is one of the oldest cultures in Eurasia, but encapsulated within the Soviet Union for 70 years it is relatively unknown in the West. The starkly beautiful Armenian landscape, the infectious cameraderie of its proud people, and the sheer tenacity with which they have kept their culture alivethrough many disasters - both natural and man-made - goes some way to describing this country.

The modern Republic of Armenia is the heir to people and culture dating back over 3000 thousand years. Historically centred around Lake Van (now in eastern Turkey) and the Arax river, at its zenith, Armenia was a kingdom stretching over much of the Caucasus and eastern Anatolia (modern-day Turkey). With the gradual migration westwards of Turkic nomads from the Central Asian steppes, the Armenians soon found themselves one of several minorities in the rising Ottoman Empire. The notion of a nation-state did not exist until the 19th century, and the Armenians lived across Anatolia side by side with Turks, Greeks, Kurds and other minorities, until driven out of Turkish Armenia in 1915 during the Genocide.

The small Armenian province of Czarist Russia won from the Turks in the Russo-Turkish wars was to form the basis for the Republic of Armenia once Russia's own revolution weakened it enough for the Armenians to declare their own republic. However, the new Soviet Union soon recolonized, and Armenia became part of that country, their hopes for freedom dashed like so many of the its other minorities.

In 1991 Armenia declared its independance from the Soviet Union, and almost immediately war broke out with neighbouring Azerbaijan over the fate of the ethnic-Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh. The war lasted from 1992 until 1994, with the result that the Karabakh Armenians declared their own Republic of Mountainous Karabakh, only officially recognised by Armenia. Turkey and Azerbaijan closed their borders with Armenia, and they remain closed today, leaving land-locked Armenia dependant on its borders with Georgia and Iran for all external trade.

While there has been no official settlement of the Karabakh conflict, Armenia today is peaceful and with the help of investment by foreign donors and the large diaspora, Armenia is making progress in shaking off the legacy of the Soviet years.

Resources (external links)
History of Armenia (Wikipedia)
armenianhistory.info

With any discussion of Armenia and the Armenians, it is necessary to understand the large Diaspora, who according to most accounts number more than in Armenia itself at around 5 million, mainly in the Middle East, Europe and North America, and more recently Russia. Most are descendants of Anatolian Armenians who escaped the Genocide of 1915-1923 and have gone on establish themselves around the world.

Armenians consider themselves the world's first Christians - the first Christians in Armenia were converted in the 1st century AD by Christ's apostles Thaddeus and Bartholomew, and Armenia officially accepted Christianity in 301 AD - and attribute the survival of the people and its culture to their strong faith. Armenian communities around the world from Los Angeles to Calcutta are centred around their churches.

About 94 percent of the population of Armenia belongs to the Armenian Apostolic Church. Small Roman Catholic and Protestant communities also exist in Armenia. Catholic missionaries began converting Armenians in the Ottoman and Persian empires in the early modern era, and American Protestant missionaries were active in the nineteenth century. The Kurdish population, which totaled 56,000 in 1993, is mostly Muslim but also includes many Christians. Kurds now constitute the largest Muslim group in Armenia because most Azerbaijani Muslim emigrated in the early 1990s. A Russian Orthodox community also exists.

Armenian is one of the oldest of the Indo-European languages at around 3000 years old. It is fairly unique but shares some words with Farsi (Persian) and some grammatical features with Caucasian languages such as Georgian. Its alphabet of 38 letters was invented in the 4th century. During the Soviet period Armenian was taught alongside Russian in all schools, and the majority of the population can speak both. Since independance the emphasis for foreign languages has shifted to English, and many young people, especially in the cities, speak it well.

There are two distinct forms of Armenia; Eastern which is spoken in Armenia, and Western which is spoke by the majority of the Diaspora.

Resources (external links)
Armenian Language (Wikipedia)
Armenian Lessons Online

Situated in the southern Caucasus, Armenia is a mountainous country with an average height of 1,800 metres of above sea level. The climate is continental, with hot summers and cold winters. The best time to visit is from late August to November, and from April to June, although in the mountains even mid-summer is pleasant.

The landscape is varied, with towering mountain ranges, deep gorges, forests, alpine meadows, volcanic craters, desert and mountain steppe. Freshwater Lake Sevan in the centre of the country is at 2,000 metres above sea level and creates Armenia's only 'coast'.

With its position on a major migration route, and the existance of such varied terrain with a small area, Armenia has a surprisingly diverse wildlife. 346 species of birds have been officially recorded there out of 550 for the whole of Europe. These include the Caspian Snowcock, Radde's Accentor, Finch's Wheatear, Armenian Gull, Caucasian Black Grouse, Red-fronted Serin and White-talied Lapwing.

For the biologist, Armenia is heaven for exploration. It varies from dry semi-desert species of flowers and insects to typical temperate forest inhabitants like bears and wolves. There are 3000 species of plants in Armenia.

Resources (external links)
A Field Guide to Birds of Armenia
Birds of Armenia Project
Armenia's Flora

Armenian cuisine is rich and varied, and contains traces of all the invaders who come this way. Notable foods include:

lavash, a flatbread made with flour, water and salt, traditionally baked in clay-lined ovens called toneer
dolma, grape leaves (or often cabbage, eggplants, paprikas) stuffed with a savoury mixture (usually rice, onions, minced beef or other ingredients)
bastourma, a cured and spiced beef
khorovats, an Armenian-style barbecue, with beef, lamb, or chicken
matzoun, Armenian yogurt
boreg, a filo pastry case stuffed with cheese and chopped parsley
pakhlava, layered pastry with a walnut filling

Above all, vegetables and fruit are very fresh and taste excellent, as there is little use of pesticides and most agricultural produce is consumed near where it is grown.

Resources (external links)
Adventures in Armenian Cooking
Dining at Noah's Table (warning - music!)

While carpet-weaving is famous throughout the Middle East, there is good reason to believe it orginated in Armenia, and there is evidence that it was already a refined art there by the 5th century B.C. Records and historical accounts from the Greek, Roman, Persians and Arabs mention the receipt of carpets from the Armenians paid in tribute or as taxes, or taken as booty.

Unfortunately the cottage industry of carpet-weaving was discouraged as were most forms of individual enterprise. Since independance, this situation has started to reverse itself, and Armenia is once again a great place to buy a carpet.

For questions on our booking and payment procedures, please see our Frequently Asked Questions page. For more practical information about out trips to Armenia please see our practical information page.