How do armenians live

This latter dialect was subjected to orthographic reforms during the Soviet era. There is also "Grabar" Armenian, the original written language, which is still used in the liturgy of the Armenian national Apostolic church.

Mount Ararat has had symbolic significance for all Armenians. Today it lies outside the boundaries of Armenia. It may be seen on the horizon from Yerevan, but like a mirage it remains inaccessible to Armenians. Ancient manuscripts depicting the history of Armenia are housed in the national library, Madenataran, and are valued national and historical treasures.

Particularly significant symbols of Armenian culture include the statue of Mother Armenia; Dsidsernagabert, a shrine with an ever-burning fire in memory of the Armenian victims of the genocide; the ruined ancient monasteries; khatchkars engraved stone burial crosses; the ruins of Ani, the last capital of historic Armenia, which fell in ; and the emblem of the first republic of Armenia, its tricolor flag.

Emergence of The Nation. Many prehistoric sites have been unearthed in and around Armenia, showing the existence of civilizations with advanced notions in agriculture, metallurgy, and industrial production, with diverse standardized manufacturing processes and pottery. The origins of the Armenians have long been subject to debate among historians, linguists, and archaeologists. In the s, linguists drew attention to the existence of many similarities between the Indo-European and Semitic languages.

The only way to explain the linguistic similarities between these two linguistic groups would be to geographically move the cradle of the Indo-European linguistic groups farther east, to the Armenian plateau. The Armenians and their plateau have been subject to various invasions. They witnessed Alexander the Great's expeditions toward the east. They fought the Roman legions and the Sassanid Persians, and in most cases lost. They stopped the Arabian expansion toward the north and provided emperors to the Byzantine throne.

Having lost their own kingdom in the eleventh century to the invading Tartars and Seljuks, they managed to create a new kingdom farther south and west, in Cilicia, that flourished until , playing a significant role during the Crusades. Then, they lost their last monarchy to the emerging Ottoman Empire, after the latter's westward expansion was stopped at the gates of Vienna.

For more than two centuries, Armenia was devastated by the wars between two empires: the Iranian and the Ottoman. Starting at the end of the eighteenth century, the Russian empire also gained a foothold south of the Caucasus Mountains, defeating the Iranians and the Ottomans in a series of wars.

The Armenian plateau thus became subject to the advances of three empires. At the onset of the twentieth century, historical Armenia was divided between the Russian and the Ottoman Turkish Empires. Starting in the s, periodical massacres of Armenians were organized by the Turkish authorities, which culminated in the genocide of — Armenia was under Soviet rule from through They envisioned a new Turkish nation-state Turan , based on a monoethnic and monoreligious society, extending from Istanbul to Lake Baykal in Central Asia.

The entire Armenian population living under Turkish rule was thus subjected to systematic annihilation and the survivors scattered through the world in the aftermath of what would be known later as the first documented genocide of the twentieth century. Estimates of the Armenian dead vary from six hundred thousand to 2 million. A report of a United Nations human rights subcommission gave the figure of "at least one million.

In late the Russian empire collapsed and its armies withdrew from the Caucasus front. Eastern or Russian Armenia was left unprotected and by the spring of the next year, the Turkish army was advancing toward the east, trying to reach the oil fields of Baku, on the Caspian Sea. Only a last-ditch effort at the gates of Yerevan saved the Armenians of the east in Russian Armenia from the fate of their western compatriots in Turkey.

After the victorious battles of Sardarapat and Bash-Aparan, the Turkish onslaught was contained and reversed, and Armenia declared its independence on 28 May Independence, however, was short-lived. After two years, due to the increasing pressure of, on the one hand, advancing Kemalist Turkish forces, and on the other, the Bolsheviks, the small landlocked republic of Armenia was forced to sign treaties that led to the loss of its territories and to its becoming a Soviet republic.

Soviet rule lasted seventy years. Having essentially followed the same path as most other nations under Soviet rule, the Armenians welcomed the dawn of the glasnost era, proclaimed by the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, as a means to correct the decades-old injustices imposed upon them. Armenians believed in glasnost, and framed their demands in its rhetoric. In February there were impressive demonstrations in Yerevan and Stepanakert the capital of Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian enclave in Azerbaijan requesting the reunification of Karabakh with Armenia on the basis of self-determination rights.

Following these demonstrations, on 28 May , the seventeenth anniversary of the independence of Armenia was celebrated for the first time since Soviet rule. During the summer of , mass demonstrations continued, followed by general strikes. In November , Armenians were subjected to further massacres in Azerbaijan, leading to massive refugee problems.

Emergency measures were established in both republics and Azerbaijan began a blockade of Armenia. The disastrous earthquake in Armenia on 7 December added to the existing refugee and economic problems.

On 12 January , a special commission to administer the Karabakh region, under the direct control of Moscow, was established.

On 28 May , the Soviet Armenian government recognized 28 May as the official anniversary of the republic of Armenia. During the summer of , the Armenian National Movement acquired legal status, and held its first congress in November In January , further Armenian massacres were reported in Baku and Kirovabad. During the spring elections, members of the Karabakh Committee, Soviet dissidents, came to power in parliamentary elections.

The republic of Armenia gained its independence on 21 September National Identity. The Armenian national identity is essentially a cultural one. From the historical depths of its culture and the dispersion of its bearers, it has acquired a richness and diversity rarely achieved within a single national entity, while keeping many fundamental elements that ensure its unity. Its bearers exhibit a strong sense of national identity that sometimes even clashes with the modern concept of the nation-state.

It is an identity strongly influenced by the historical experiences of the Armenians. Events such as the adoption of Christianity as a state religion in C. Ethnic Relations. The republic of Armenia has thus far escaped the ethnic turmoil characterizing life in the post-Soviet republics. Minority rights are protected by law.

The great majority of Armenians in Armenia and in the Diaspora are urbanites. In the republic of Armenia, 68 percent live in urban areas with a population density of persons per square mile Contemporary Armenian architecture has followed the basic characteristics of its historical architectural tradition: simplicity, reliance on locally available geological material, and the use of volcanic tufa for facings. During the Soviet era, however, prefabricated panels were used to build apartment A woman sells fruit at a roadside stand.

Armenia has focused on small-scale agriculture since gaining independence in Food in Daily Life. Staple foods are bread and salt. Harissa a traditional meal, consists of wheat grain and lamb cooked over low heat. Armenians everywhere love barbecued meats and vegetables. The pomegranate, with its symbolic association with fertility, is the national fruit.

Armenia is also vine and grape country. When speaking of friendship, Armenians say "we have bread and salt among us. Breakfasts on nonworking days are sometimes major get-together events. In huge pots khash is prepared, cattle legs are boiled and served with spices and garlic and consumed with Armenian brandy. Basic Economy. Since its independence from the Soviet Union, Armenia has been focusing on small-scale agriculture.

In , the state-run industries, including agriculture, were immediately privatized as Armenia adopted a Western-style economic system. Major Industries. During Soviet rule, Armenia began to develop and concentrate on computer-based high technology, alongside a manufacturing sphere, the production of brandy, heavy industry, and mining. The blockade of the country by Azerbaijan led to a fuel shortage that often left its industries at a standstill.

Nuclear energy was shut down after the earthquake as well, but production was resumed after a few years for lack of other reliable sources of energy. Armenia has been subject to an economic blockade since the early s by its neighboring countries, with the exception of Iran and Georgia.

Trade relations are newly developing. Armenia exports woven and knit apparel; beverages, including brandy; preserved fruits; art and handicrafts; books; precious stones; metals; and electrical machinery. Classes and Castes. For several centuries until the end of monarchic historical Armenia in and Cilicia in , there were aristocratic noble houses with their respective court-related responsibilities.

Afterwards, the notion of a generalized middle class emerged. Most Armenians were peasants until the turn of the twentieth century. During the Soviet era, class was de-emphasized.

A new elite had emerged, however, based on the nomenclature or system that prevailed during Soviet rule. The republic of Armenia is a democratic constitutional state. A constitution was adopted by national referendum in July Parliamentary elections were held in July and May Presidential elections were held in March In , fifteen parties and six political blocs took part in parliamentary elections.

Leadership and Political Officials. Robert Kocharian was the second president elected in the republic of Armenia since its independence.

There is an elected national assembly Azgayin Joghov , or parliament. The cabinet is formed by a prime minister designated by the president. Social Problems and Control. During Soviet rule, Armenia had followed Soviet criminal and civil law. Since independence, a new autonomous legal system has been developing.

The post independence period has also witnessed a rise in awareness in the media of organized crime and sex service rings. Military Activity. Gradually, an autonomous army and defense system are being developed. During the Soviet period, there was a well-established welfare system. Since then, the social welfare system has been affected by the economic crisis. Although the old age security system or pension is still in place, the amount of funding designated as monthly payment is not sufficient to maintain a subsistence living.

The number of organizations registered as of 31 December broke down as follows: seventy-six political parties, 1, nongovernmental organizations NGOs , and Media Outlets.

Division of Labor by Gender. Armenian culture has historically stressed a division of domains among the sexes. Settling in Hollywood, Glendale, and surrounding cities, Armenian Americans have contributed to politics, entertainment, education, the business sector, and of course, food in the area — adding to the vast and diverse culinary landscape in and around L.

Each particular Armenian sub-group — separated by dialect, culture, and politics — has contributed its food traditions to the city, the one place where the different Armenian cultures fully exist side by side.

Where to find lahmajun. The diversity of the Armenian population has complicated the definition of Armenian food, both inside and outside the Armenian community. And in the Caucasus and Middle East where tensions run high, a discussion about the origin of food can quickly escalate into a heated argument. This is especially true when it involves and it often does countries with which Armenians have long, historic disputes.

Since Armenia was once on the Silk Road, cooking traditions transcended borders and moved with the people. The location of the country, too, made it a perfect battleground for regional adversaries like the Persian and Ottoman Empires, who fought over and conquered the land.

These events changed the food customs as well. This is a common stuffed vegetable dish shared among peoples of the Middle East, Caucasus, and Balkans. Learn more about stuffed vegetables. As the Armenian population in Anatolia was essentially destroyed during the genocide, its cuisine was absorbed into the newly formed Republic of Turkey where dishes retained Turkish names , and was carried across the world by immigrants, often refugees, who helped preserve and pass down these traditions to the next generation.

Those traditions not only remain pillars of Armenian cuisine, but have become staples of modern American cuisine as well. As descendants of the Hittites, an ancient Anatolian civilization who perfected the art of making bulgur thousands of years ago, Armenians may very well be one of the original propagators of cracked wheat — a major component of the cuisine that shows up in appetizers and soups today. The same can be said about madzoon , or yogurt.

It was indeed Armenian immigrants who introduced the stuff to the American palate in the s, through companies like Colombo Yogurt later acquired by General Mills. Armenian cuisine is still shifting today. In their different ways, the pope and the reality TV star Kim Kardashian both highlighted the issue last week, much to the fury of Turks who continue to dispute the Armenian version of events.

It features a bunker-like museum and a tapering grey stele pointing skywards like an accusing finger. To the south, on the Turkish side of the long-closed border, Mount Ararat beckons through spring clouds, snow-covered and majestic.

It is to show that we remember and demand. The slogan lies at the heart of the campaign for the Turkish state to recognise that its Ottoman predecessor annihilated up to 1. On 23 April, at Etchmiadzin, seat of the Armenian Apostolic church, the martyrs will be canonised collectively — renewing a tradition dating back 1, years.

It was at Etchmiadzin in — the 50th anniversary of the slaughter, a key moment of Armenian national awakening, and when many witnesses were still alive — that the bleached bones of the dead were brought from Deir ez-Zor in Syria for reburial. Raw emotion, competing narratives and an ongoing diplomatic crisis make for a difficult combination. It is our nation that lost its homeland and was scattered around the world. It is not just a historical issue.

History does cast a long shadow. Modern Armenia won its independence in , but was taken over by the Soviet Union two years later and only regained its freedom in Landlocked and poor, its 3 million people include many descendants of the survivors of the genocide, though far more of them live in the diaspora of 7 million to 10 million, concentrated in Russia, the US and France — a split that has had a powerful effect on the politics of commemoration and the closely linked question of the troubled relations between Yerevan and Ankara.

The border has remained shut since , part of the continuing stand-off over Nagorno-Karabakh , the ethnic Armenian region of neighbouring Azerbaijan, in which Ankara supports Baku. People and goods do get through from Turkey by air and by land via Georgia but the blockade is damaging to an already fragile economy and ties it uncomfortably closely to Russia. Turkey has an anti-Armenian policy.

Opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan was elected prime minister by parliament in May after he spearheaded weeks of mass protests against the ruling party, transforming the country's political landscape.

He had piled pressure on the ruling Republican Party through an unprecedented campaign of civil disobedience, leading to the shock resignation of veteran leader Serzh Sargsyan, a week after he shifted to the newly-empowered role of prime minister after serving for 10 years as president. In December he called a snap election to remove the Republican Party majority in parliament, and his My Step Alliance won an overwhelming majority.

The Republicans won no seats. Mr Pashinyan promised to maintain Armenia's strategic alliance with Russia. But he faced calls for his resignation in late after agreeing to a Moscow-brokered ceasefire with Azerbaijan, which had made major gains in an offensive against Nagorno-Karabakh.

President: Armen Sargsyan. Armen Sargsyan was elected president in March , when the country moved from a presidential system of government to a parliamentary one. He briefly served as prime minister from November to March between stints as ambassador to the UK and other diplomatic posts in Europe.