![]() WikiPortal Armenia / ՎիքիՊորտալ ՀայաստանArmenia (/ɑːrˈmiːniə/ ( Armenia is a unitary, multi-party, democratic nation-state with an ancient cultural heritage. 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 became the first state in the world to adopt Christianity as its official religion in the late 3rd or early 4th century AD. The official date of state adoption of Christianity is 301. 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. Declining due to the wars against the Byzantines, the kingdom fell in 1045 and Armenia was soon after invaded by the Seljuk Turks. An Armenian principality and later a kingdom Cilician Armenia 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 Iranian 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, 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 Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, and in 1922 became a founding member of the Soviet Union. In 1936, the Transcaucasian state was dissolved, transforming its constituent states, including the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic, into full Union republics. The modern Republic of Armenia became independent in 1991 during the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Armenia recognises the Armenian Apostolic Church, the world's oldest national church, as the country's primary religious establishment. The unique Armenian alphabet was invented by Mesrop Mashtots in 405 AD. Armenia is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union, the Council of Europe and the Collective Security Treaty Organization. Armenia supports the de facto independent Artsakh, which was proclaimed in 1991. Selected articleThe 2018 Armenian revolution (most commonly known in Armenia as #MerzhirSerzhin (Armenian: ՄերժիրՍերժին), meaning "#RejectSerzh") were a series of anti-government protests in Armenia from April to May 2018 staged by various political and civil groups led by member of parliament Nikol Pashinyan (head of the Civil Contract party). Protests and marches took place initially in response to Serzh Sargsyan's third consecutive term as the most powerful figure in the government of the Armenia and later against the Republican Party-controlled government in general. Pashinyan declared it a Velvet Revolution (Թավշյա հեղափոխություն). On 23 April, Sargsyan conceded, saying "I was wrong, while Nikol Pashinyan was right" and resigned. The event is referred to by some as a peaceful revolution akin to revolutions in other post-Soviet states.
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Selected imageThe Coat of Arms of Armenia consists of an eagle and a lion supporting a shield. The coat of arms combines new and old symbols. The eagle and lion are ancient Armenian symbols dating from the first Armenian kingdoms. The shield itself consists of many components. In the center is a depiction of Mount Ararat, where Noah's ark came to rest after the great flood. Surrounding Mount Ararat are symbols of old Armenian dynasties. In the lower left is the emblem of the Artaxiad Dynasty that ruled in the 1st century BC. In the upper left is the emblem for the Bagratuni Dynasty that ruled during the Middle Ages, between 7th and 11th centuries. That dynasty was destroyed by the Byzantine Empire's encroachment and by Seljuk invasions in the 11th century AD. In the upper right is the emblem of the first dynasty to reign over a Christian Armenia, the Arsacid Dynasty of Armenia. This dynasty ruled from the 1st century AD to 428 AD. In the lower right is the emblem of the Rubenid dynasty. This dynasty reigned in Lesser Armenia (also known as Cilicia), a state that expanded and prospered during the 12th and 13th centuries, until the Mamelukes and Turks eventually conquered it.
Selected biographyTigranes the Great (Armenian: Տիգրան Մեծ, translit. Tigran Mets or Dikran Medz ) (ruled 95–55 BC) (also called Tigranes II and sometimes Tigranes I) was a king of Armenia. Tigranes was born around 140 BC and was the son or nephew of Artavasdes I. Tigranes had been a hostage until the age of 40 at the court of King Mithridates II of Parthia who defeated the Armenians in 105 BC. After the death of King Tigranes I in 95 BC, Tigranes ransomed his freedom by handing over "seventy valleys" in Atropatene (Azerbaijan) to the Parthians (Strabo 11.14.15). He deposed Artanes, the last king of Armenian Sophene and a descendant of Zariadres (Strabo XI. 532). He invaded Cappadocia in 93 BC together with Mithridates Eupator, but was driven back by Sulla in 92 BC. Did you know...
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