Armenians were formed as a distinct group by the sixth century BC as a result of various demographic processes that took place since the second millennium BC. The ancient Kingdom of Armenia reached its greatest extent under Tigranes the Great in the first century BC. In 301 AD, Armenia became the first country in the world to officially adopt Christianity as its national religion, thus becoming "the first Christian nation."[20][21] The last Armenian kingdom, Cilician Armenia, on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea fell in the 14th century. By the 19th century, the Armenian homeland was divided between the Ottoman and Russian empires. During World War I, the Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire were systematically exterminated in the Armenian Genocide. The Armenian presence in a large part of their homeland thus largely terminated.
The Armenian language is a separate branch of the Indo-European languages. It is written in the Armenian alphabet, invented by Mesrop Mashtots in 405 AD to prevent the assimilation of the Armenian people. The modern Armenian language has two standardized forms: Eastern Armenian, which is the official language of the Republic of Armenia and the Western Armenia, spoken in Western Armenia (eastern Turkey) prior to the genocide of 1915 and today mostly in the diaspora. Most Armenians today are adherents of the independent MonophysiteOriental OrthodoxArmenian Apostolic Church (simply called the "Armenian Church"). Since the 18th century, small number of Armenians have been followers of Armenian Catholic and Armenian Evangelical churches. Armenians are often considered an ethnoreligious group as adherence of the Armenian Apostolic Church has historically been equated to being Armenian. Their uniqueness in religion and language are important basis of the Armenian collective self-identity.[22]
The most convincing explanation of the Armenians name for themselves, Hayk, is that it derives linguistically from Urartian Khatini, meaning Hittite. Its use perhaps reflects the mingling of Armenians and Urartians, by whom the Armenians were outnumbered. Hittite was used by both the Assyrians and the Urartians for the several Syro-Hittite states which succeeded the Hittite empire.[24]
In the story, Hayk is portrayed as a "righteous man" who revolted against the "evil" Assyrian king Bel and later fled from Babylon to the area around Mount Ararat with his clan. When Bel chased him down to Armenia, Hayk defeated and killed him. Hayk founded the Armenian nation around Mount Ararat.[31] According to Mikayel Chamchian, the battle between Hayk and Bel, which is considered the formation date of the Armenian nation, took place in 2492 BC.[34]
In the Bronze Age, several states flourished in the Armenian Highlands, including the Hittite Empire (at the height of its power), Mitanni (South-Western historical Armenia), and Hayasa-Azzi (1600-1200BC). Soon after Hayasa-Azzi were Nairi (1400-1000BC) and the Kingdom of Urartu (900-600BC), who successively established their sovereignty over the region. Each of these nations and tribes participated in the ethnogenesis of the Armenian people.[37][38] The proto-Armenian speaking people of probable Thraco-Phrygian origin appeared in the Armenian Highlands in the 12th century BC.[39] There, the small numbered[40] proto-Armenians and the dominant Hurrian elements mixed.[41][42] Through intermarriage and other means the "long period of bilingualism" ended and they "merged into one Indo-European speaking, Armenian nation."[40][43] It is widely believed that Armenians were formed as a distinct group by the 6th century BC.[44][45][46][47] Many aspects of the processes that led to the formation of the Armenian people remain uncertain and a matter of dispute by historians.[41]
"Tigran the Great is the only king to have his image imprinted on an Armenian banknote."[49]
Middle Ages
Modern
During and following the Armenian Genocide, an estimated 100,000 to 200,000 Armenian women and children were forcibly converted to Islam or forced into slavery and raised as Turks and Kurds.[51][52] See Crypto-Armenians
Soviet era
Different ethnic groups were consigned, de facto if not de jure, positions within the Soviet Union. Hierarchy, Russians other Slavs. After them came people with whom the Russians had an ambiguous relationship - Christian Caucasian peoples such as Georgians and Armenians. Jews also fitted into this category. These three groups were well represented in the St. Petersburg and Moscow intelegentsias, playing an active part in many, if not all, parts of Soviet life. They were also in part mistrusted. Not only did all three possess cultures older than Russia's, they also enjoyed a tradition of trade, and therefore freedom, lacking in the culture of both the Russian empire and the Soviet Union.[53]
Homeland
The Armenian Highlands is the traditional homeland of the Armenian people.[55][56][57][58] Armenians made up its main ethnic group until the early modern period (16-17th centuries). As a result of the Armenian Genocide, no Armenians live in the western parts of the highlands, which are now part of the Turkish Republic.
Today, Armenians form the majority of the population of the Republic of Armenia (around 3 million), Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (approximately 140,000) and Samtskhe-Javakheti province of neighboring Georgia (over 100,000). Up to 1930s, Armenians used to be the second largest ethnic group in Nakhichevan, however, most Armenians in Nakhichevan were massacred or expelled from their homes during the Ottoman and Azerbaijani control of the area in 1918-1920.
Armenians living in the Republic of Armenia are informally known as hayastantsi/-ci (հայաստանցի).[59][60][61] It is also used for Armenian-born Armenians (temporarily) living abroad.[62] Furthermore, there are names for people from locations such as provinces or cities: loretsi (լոռեցի) for Lori Province, kyavartsi (քյավառցի) for Gavar, yerevantsi (երևանցի) for Yerevan, etc. Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh are known as gharabaghtsi (ղարաբաղցի) or artsakhtsi (արցախցի) and Armenians of Javakheti region of Georgia are called javakhk'tsi (ջավախքցի). Today, these three groups of Armenians are considered to be living in their ancestral homeland.[63]
Officially, there are no Armenians living in eastern parts of Turkey, however, two groups of Armenian origin still reside there: Crypto-Armenians and Hemshin peoples.
However, most Armenians have scattered throughout the world as a direct consequence of the genocide of 1915, constituting the Armenian diaspora. Armenian communities in and around the Georgian capital city of Tbilisi, in Syria and in Iran existed since antiquity.
Within the diasporan Armenian community, there is an unofficial classification of the different kinds of Armenians. For example, Armenians who originate from Iran are referred to as Parskahay (պարսկահայ), while Armenians from Lebanon are usually referred to as Lipananahay (լիբանանահայ). Armenians of the Diaspora are the primary speakers of the Western dialect of the Armenian language. This dialect has considerable differences with Eastern Armenian, but speakers of either of the two variations can usually understand each other. Eastern Armenian in the diaspora is primarily spoken in Iran and European countries such as Ukraine, Russia, and Georgia. In diverse communities (such as in Canada and the U.S.) where many different kinds of Armenians live together, there is a tendency for the different groups to cluster together.
Hovyan, Vahram. "Transformations of the Armenian Diaspora: Challenges and Possibilities". Noravank Foundation. Archived from the original on 22 July 2013. Retrieved 22 July 2013. "In consequence of the Genocide the Armenian communities were established in the Middle and Near East countries – Syria, Lebanon, Iran, Egypt, etc. The groups of Armenians who managed to escape from the Genocide also settled in the European countries – Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, France, and other European countries, as well as in the United States, Canada, etc. As a result, however, the migration of the Armenians from the Middle and Near East countries towards the West – Europe, U.S., Canada and other developed western European countries had been observed. This is proved by the continuous shrinkage of the number of the people in the Armenian communities in the Middle and Near East countries against the background of the continuous growth of the Armenian communities in the western countries."
"Until the conversion of the Armenians to Christianity, with its Byzantine and Syrian cultural and political links, Armenia was to remain in the Iranian cultural orbit almost exclusively."[65]
Armenians worldwide have achieved success in fields such as sports (especially chess, wrestling and boxing), the arts, business, science, politics and military.[66]
Luther George Simjian - ATM (contributor), invented: self-focusing camera, a flight speed indicator for airplanes, an automatic postage metering machine, teleprompter, Range Estimation Trainer[76][77]
Gabriel Kazanjian patented the first blow dryer in America in 1911[82]
Emik Avakian- Many of his inventions were geared towards the improvement of disabled peoples lives and he won many awards recognizing these efforts.[83]
The Armenian society is mainly monoethnic.[95] It "tends to be a collective society with strong traditions",[upper-alpha 12] in which "relational aspects of family are very important."[97] "A history replete with war, invasion, massacre, genocide, and natural disaster shaped the Armenian family into a basic unit for viability and self-preservation."[98]
According to Simon Payaslian, the Armenian society is "dominated by notions of family honor [known as namus] and social shame,[99] and where one does not 'air dirty laundry in public'."[100] The Armenian society has been compared to that of Japan due to its monoethnicity,[101] low rate of mixed marriages and "powerful social pressure towards conformity".[102] In addition, "understanding and accepting diversity is still a great challenge" for the Armenian society.[95]
According to the Heinrich Böll Foundation, "the conservatism [of the Armenian society] results not only from the legacy of the Soviet Union. Even more significant [is that the] Armenian society perceives a sense of permanent threat to its own language, religion, culture and ethnos, as they existed during centuries of foreign rule. In addition plays the ubiquitous and continually revived trauma" of the Armenian Genocide.[103] Overall, the genocide is seen as a "one of the most important factors determining Armenian society today."[104] Historian and political scientist Armen Ayvazyan identifies the impact of the genocide as "indelible" and an event "which hampered the natural development" of the Armenian people.[105]
The Armenian society is usually described as a pessimistic one. Payaslian suggests that the Armenian worldview is "essentially pessimistic."[106] The pessimism is also demonstrated in Armenian proverbs.[107] Furthermore, the political turmoil and economic hardships of the late 1980s and the 1990s caused widespread depression, pessimism, cynicism and apathy that have dominated the social and political climate in Armenia since.[108] Ethnographer Hranush Kharatyan suggests that apathy and nihilism dominate the Armenian society.[109] A 2013 survey by Gallup found that only 55% of Armenians reported positive emotions, one of the lowest in the world, though comparable to its neighbors and former Eastern Bloc countries.[110] In a 2013 press conference, President Serzh Sargsyan famously[upper-alpha 13] stated that Armenia's "greatest problem is the lukewarm attitude [that exists in the Armenian society]."[114] Beginning in 2007 and expanding in the early 2010s, civil activism emerged in Armenia.[115] The 2008 Armenian presidential election protests that resulted in the death of 10 people especially contributed to this phenomenon.[116]
The majority of Armenians believe that government should be "like a parent" as opposed to being "like an employee" (77% vs 23%),[117] and that state ownership of business should be increased as opposed to the increase of private ownership of business (60% vs 14%).[118]
A recent study have shown that the Armenian youth "appear to be moving toward a bi-cultural identity, not abandoning traditions, but also embracing Western popular culture and values to a greater or lesser degree."[97]
"Men's premarital sexual life was always common and acceptable in Armenia."[119]
For females, premarital sex is widely considered a taboo. "In post-Soviet comparison, Armenia constitutes an intermediate case between countries with liberal sexual practices, such as Russia, and Central Asian societies, where traditional norms of sexual behavior and community control are still in force."[120] However, the findings of a 2009 study indicate "either on trend to gradual removal of social taboo on female premarital sexual relationships or on speaking more openly about sexuality-related issues."[119]
There is a high level of importance given to religion in daily activities (56% in 2011), but 88% of respondents never fasted. This, combined with their low level of church attendance show that in fact Armenian society has a low level of religiousness.
Physically the Armenians are middle-sized, with a swarthy, yellowish complexion, less yellow, however, than that of the Persians [...] black straight hair, a forehead rather wide than high, and a large nose. The women are often handsome, with an erect carriage, regular features, and fine dark eyes.
[121]
Some key historical events have also been included for context, but this timeline is not intended to cover history not related to migrations.
More information Date, Event ...
Date
Event
2492 BC
The mythological establishment of the Armenian Armenian nation by Hayk
The "dark ages" of the Armenian history, major socio-demographic decline, emigration to Crimea, Central Europe (Hungary, Poland, Romania) and to large urban areas in the Ottoman Empire, and Iran.[124]
1441
The seat of the Armenian church returned to Ejmiatsin
1555
Peace of Amasya; Armenia divided between Ottoman Empire and Safavid Iran
Some 40,000 Middle Eastern Armenians repatriate to Soviet Armenia
1941–1945
Almost half of the estimated 300,000 to 500,000 Armenians that served in the Soviet Army were killed in World War II[128]
1946–1948
Some 90,000 to 100,000 Armenians from the Middle East, Greece, France, Romania repatriate to Soviet Armenia
1950s– present
Armenians from the Middle East (Egypt, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Iran, Iraq) emigrate to the West (US, France, Canada) due to political instability
1962–1982
About 20,000 Iranian Armenians settle in Soviet Armenia
1988–1990
Between 300,000 to 400,000 Armenians from Azerbaijan forced to leave to Armenia, Russia due to Nagorno-Karabakh War
1991– present
Up to 1 million emigrate from Armenia to Russia, the US, Europe due to harsh economic conditions (475,000 just in 1992–1994); many Armenians from Georgia, Abkhazia, Central Asia migrate to Russia
Historically, the name Armenian has come to internationally designate this group of people. It was first used by neighbouring countries of ancient Armenia. The earliest attestations of the exonymArmenia 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 Armina (in Old Persian) and Harminuya (in Elamite).
In Greek, Αρμένιοι "Armenians" is attested from about the same time, perhaps the earliest reference being a fragment attributed to Hecataeus of Miletus (476BC).[131]
Armenians call themselves Hye (Հայ, pronounced Háï; plural: Հայեր, Haïer). The word has traditionally been linked to the name of the legendary founder of the Armenian nation, Hayk, which is also a popular Armenian name.[132][133] It is also further postulated that the name Hay comes from the name of an Armenian tribe, the Hayasa.
The Nagorno Karabakh Republic is de facto independent and largely integrated into Armenia, however, it remains internationally unrecognized and de jure part of Azerbaijan.
The data for Turkey includes only "official" Armenians who are in some way part of the organized Armenian community, mostly living in Istanbul. It excludes Crypto-Armenians and Hemshin people, whose Armenian identity is debated.
Singular masculine: հայhay or hye (pronounced "high"),[15][16] singular feminine: հայուհի hayuhi. Historically, the word հայք hayk' has been used to refer to both the Armenian people and Armenia.[17] Other terms used in Armenian include հայ ազգ hay azg "Armenian nation", հայ ժողովուրդ hay zhoghovurd "Armenian people" and հայություն hayutyun meaning "Armenians"[18] or "Armenianness".[19]
Although it is widely accepted that Noah's Ark landed on Mount Ararat, Vahan Kurkjian suggests that the assumption that "mountains of Ararat" is the same as the Mount Ararat comes from the "erroneous reading" of the Book of Genesis. According to him, the Hebrew word "Ararat" is the name "not of the mountain but of the country around it." He concludes that the "mountains of Ararat" "may mean any part of the tangled mountain mass" of Armenia.[30]
"The traditional date given by Armenians for the conversion is 301, but the more probable date now accepted by a growing number of historians is after Emperor Constantine's Edict of Milan in 313 when Christianity was legalised in the Roman empire."[49]
Pomegranate is a popular ornament in Armenian architecture. It is widely used in arts and crafts and also symbolizes fertility.[69][70]
A great number of historic sites (including many of Armenia's former capitals) are concentrated along the banks of Araxes,[85] which Armenians often call their "mother river."[86][87]
Apricot is Armenia's "national symbol, the number one fruit."[92] Its scientific (Latin) name is Prunus armeniaca or "Armenian plum."[93] The Yerevan International Film Festival is called "Golden Apricot."[94]
According to a 2013 Caucasus Barometer survey, 85% of respondents in Armenia said following traditions is important for a good citizen, and 4% saying it is not.[96]
The phrase "lukewarm attitude" (alternatively translated as "lukewarm atmosphere", Armenian: գաղջ մթնոլորտ) was widely commented on by Armenian politicians and pundits and became a catchphrase frequently used by the media.[111] Among others, some of Sargsyan's long-time political opponents publicly agreed with it.[112][113]
Guntram H. Herb, David H. Kaplan (2008). Nations and Nationalism: A Global Historical Overview: A Global Historical Overview. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. p.1705. ISBN9781851099085.
Thon, Caroline (2012). Armenians in Hamburg: an ethnographic exploration into the relationship between diaspora and success. Berlin: LIT Verlag Münster. p.25. ISBN978-3-643-90226-9.
Knippling, Alpana Sharma, ed. (1996). New Immigrant Literatures in the United States: A Sourcebook to Our Multicultural Literary Heritage. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. p.20. ISBN9780313289682.
Avetisyan, Kamsar[in Armenian] (1979). Հայրենագիտական էտյուդներ [Armenian studies sketches] (in Armenian). Yerevan: Sovetakan Grogh. p.262. Այսպիսով «հայք» բառը իր մեջ ամփոփում է հայեր և Հայաստան հասկացությունները։
Shirinian, Lorne (1990). Armenian-North American literature: a critical introduction: genocide, diaspora, and symbols. Lewiston, New York: Edwin Mellen Press. p.60. ISBN9780889463929. ..."haiutiun" means the Armenians...
Croissant, Michael P. (1998). The Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict: Causes and Implications. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group. p.4. ISBN9780275962418.
Guibernau & Hutchinson 2004, p.23: "Indeed, Smith emphasizes that the myth of divine election sustains the continuity of cultural identity, and, in that regard, has enabled certain pre-modern communities such as the Jews, Armenians, and Greeks to survive and persist over centuries and millennia (Smith 1993: 15–20)."
Smith 1999, p.21: "It emphasizes the role of myths, memories and symbols of ethnic chosenness, trauma, and the 'golden age' of saints, sages, and heroes in the rise of modern nationalism among the Jews, Armenians, and Greeks—the archetypal diaspora peoples."
Sennott, Charles M. (2008). The Body and the Blood: The Middle East's Vanishing Christians and the Possibility for Peace. PublicAffairs. p.50. ISBN9780786724642.
Geukjian, Ohannes (2012). Ethnicity, nationalism and conflict in the South Caucasus: Nagorno-Karabakh and the legacy of Soviet nationalities policy. Farnham, United Kingdom: Ashgate Publishing. p.23. ISBN9781409436300. This process, which began in the twelfth century BC in the Armenian highland, was completed in the sixth century BC.
Goldhagen, Daniel Jonah (2010). Worse Than War: Genocide, Eliminationism, and the Ongoing Assault on Humanity. New York: Public Affairs. p.38. ISBN9781586489007.
Naimark, Norman M. (2002). Fires of Hatred: Ethnic Cleansing in Twentieth-century Europe. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p.42. ISBN9780674009943.
State Committee of the Real Estate Cadastre of the Republic of Armenia (2007). Հայաստանի Ազգային Ատլաս (National Atlas of Armenia), Yerevan: Center of Geodesy and Cartography SNPO, p. 102
Minahan 2000, p.51: "The Armenian Homeland: The historic Armenian homeland lies in the Transacuacsus region of Southeastern Europe and the northwestern part of Anatolia."
Adalian 2010, p.143: "In the process, the population of historic Armenia at the eastern extremity of Anatolia was wiped off the map. With their disappearance, an ancient people which had inhabited the Armenian highlands for three thousand years, lost its historic homeland and was forced into exile and a new diaspora."
Herzig & Kurkchiyan 2005, p.89: "...Armenians lived everywhere from Constantinople to Baku, with most of them still ihabiting their traditional homelands, known as the Armenian Plateau..."
Wilson, Andrew (2005). Virtual Politics: Faking Democracy in the Post-Soviet World (1sted.). New Haven: Yale University Press. p.143. ISBN9780300095456.
Stokes, Jamie, ed. (2008). Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Africa and the Middle East. New York: Infobase Publishing. p.65. ISBN9781438126760. Etchmiatzin is located in the west of modern Armenia, close to the border with Turkey, and its fourth-century cathedral is generally regarded as the oldest in the world.
Papazian, Dennis R. (2013). "Armenians and Armenian Americans, 1870-1940". In Barkan, Elliott Robert (ed.). Immigrants in American History: Arrival, Adaptation, and Integration. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. p.206. ISBN9781598842197. Armenians are fundamentally an ethno-religious people.
"Michel M. Ter-Pogossian, 71; Led Research on PET Scanner". New York Times. 21 June 1996. Retrieved 7 October 2013. Dr. Michel Mathew Ter-Pogossian, who led the research that turned the positron emission tomography (PET) scanner from an intriguing concept to a medical tool used in hospitals and laboratories everywhere, died on Wednesday while vacationing in Paris.
Arax, Mark (2009). West of the west: dreamers, believers, builders, and killers in the golden state. New York: Public Affairs. p.380. ISBN978-1-58648-983-0.
Hagopian, Gayané V. (2008). "Armenian Proverbs and the Biblical Scripture"(PDF). California State University, Northridge. p.29. Although several ideological adages parallel to the optimistic mentality 'don't worry about tomorrow' of the New Testament (see below), pessimism about the future, along with a sad present at hand is more common in Armenian proverbs.
Ishkhanian, Armine (2013). "Civil Society, development and environmental activism in Armenia"(PDF). Yerevan: London School of Economics. p.5. Until recently, Armenia, similar to many other post-socialist countries, has had a rather weak civil society characterised by high level of anomie, apathy and cynicism. Civil initiatives, which began to emerge in 2007 and expanded in larger numbers in 2010-2011, have achieved important, albeit small victories on diverse set of issues...
Donal Stewart, Angus (2001). The Armenian Kingdom and the Mamluks: War and Diplomacy During the Reigns of Het'um II (1289–1307). Netherlands: Brill Academic Publishers. pp.33–34. ISBN978-90-04-12292-5.
Ghazarian, Jacob G. (2000). The Armenian Kingdom in Cilicia during the Crusades: The Integration of Cilician Armenians with the Latins (1080–1393). Routledge. pp.39–42. ISBN0-7007-1418-9.
"Χαλύβοισι πρὸς νότον Ἀρμένιοι ὁμουρέουσι (The Armenians border on the Chalybes to the south)". Chahin, Mark (2001). The Kingdom of Armenia. London: Routledge. pp.fr. 203. ISBN0-7007-1452-9.
Suny, Ronald Grigor (1993). Looking Toward Ararat: Armenia in Modern History. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN9780253207739.
Diakonoff, Igor (1968). "The Formation of the Armenian People". The Pre-history of the Armenian People. Translated by Lori Jennings (Delmar, New York, 1984). Yerevan: Armenian Academy of Sciences Publishing. pp.101–130.
Hacikyan, Agop Jack (2000). The Heritage of Armenian Literature: From the Oral Tradition to the Golden Age. Vol.1. Detroit: Wayne State University Press. ISBN9780814328156.{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
Payaslian, Simon (2011). The Political Economy of Human Rights in Armenia: Authoritarianism and Democracy in a Former Soviet Republic. New York: I.B. Tauris. ISBN9780857731692.
Minahan, James B. (2000). One Europe, Many Nations: A Historical Dictionary of European National Groups (1sted.). Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. ISBN9780313309847.
Herzig, Edmund; Kurkchiyan, Marina (2005). The Armenians: Past and Present in the Making of National Identity. Oxon, England: RoutledgeCurzon. ISBN9780203004937.
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