Armenian ( Hayer)
Populations
Total population	8-10 million
Russia	1130491
United States	1000000
France	500 000
Iran	500 000
Georgia	248 900
Syria	190 000
Lebanon	140 000
Nagorno-Karabakh ( de facto independent republic, formally part of Azerbaijan )	130 000
Argentina	130 000
Ukraine	100 000
Jordan	70 000
Uzbekistan	70 000
Turkey	60 000 (without Hemshils )
Germany	42 000
Canada	40 505
Brazil	40 000
Greece	35 000
Australia	15 791
Turkmenistan	30 000
Hungary	30 000
Belarus	25 000
Kazakhstan	25 000
Iraq	60 000-20 000
Uruguay	19 000
United Kingdom	18 000
Bulgaria	10 832
Belgium	10 000
Czech Republic	10 000
Venezuela	2500
Other
Language (s)	Armenian
Religion (s)	Christianity , especially the Armenian Apostolic and Armenian Catholic , Armenian Evangelical and Protestant variety, especially in the diaspora. Small minority of Muslim , mainly Hemshils.
change

The Armenians (in Armenian are a nation and an ethnic group originating in the Caucasus and Nagorno-Armenian plateau. They are also a significant diaspora around the world. They were the first to accept Christianity as a national religion by creating and maintaining a separate branch of the religion, the Armenian Apostolic Church. Christianity was adopted as the state religion of the Armenian kingdom in 301 AD. AD

They speak two different dialects but intercomprehensible: the Eastern Armenian used in Armenia, the Caucasus and Iran, and Western Armenian used elsewhere in the world. Situated between Europe and Asia, the Armenian nation has been the centerpiece of a unique culture and enduring. The Armenian dance and music are among the oldest and is still practiced today. The cuisine is as old as the people, is a rich combination of various foods and flavors native Armenian plateau.

Etymology

Historically, the name Armenian is exonym. Armenians, in fact, called themselves Hay (, plural: , Hayer). This name is linked with the name of the mythical founder of the Armenian nation, Haik.

Origins

The Armenians are considered a part of the extensive branch Indo-European. Some scholars, perhaps wrongly, associated with the Armenians Hittites , although Herodotus seems to express a closeness to the Greeks , this assumption can be distinguished from the others: they were part of the Thracian-Phrygian branch that would have moved to Asia minor at the end of the ^second millennium BC. AD A branch Proto-Armenian would separate the Phrygians and moved eastward to the Euphrates in the area of the present city of Malatya , the proto-Armenians allegedly entered into "historic Armenia" on turn of the ^seventh - ^sixth centuries BC. AD Finally, theories criticized by Colin Renfrew on the Indo-Europeans argue that Anatolia, he says the cradle of the Armenians, is the place of origin of all Indo-European.

History

The history of Armenia and Armenians consists of periods of independence interrupted by the conquests of other peoples. The first Armenian state was established near the beginning ^of the sixth century BC. AD under suzerainty Persian. At its peak under the Artaxiad Tigranes , the Armenian kingdom extends from the Caucasus to what is now central Turkey, the Lebanon and Iran 's northwest. The reign of Tigran II the Great is the only period of Armenian history during which Armenia is seen as a serious rival by its powerful neighbors. Subsequently, Armenia briefly part of the Roman Empire.

Around the year 301 , under the Arsacids , Armenia became the first nation to adopt Christianity as state religion, sparking a new era in the history of the Armenian people . To affirm national identity Armenian Mesrob Mashtots invented the Armenian alphabet in 405, this alphabet is still used today. Therefore, the golden age of Armenian culture begins and several foreign books are translated into Armenian, thus becoming more accessible. Armenia lost its sovereignty following its attachment to empires Byzantine and Persian in 428.

In 885 , Armenian restore a sovereign entity under the aegis of Ashot ^I. of Dynasty Bagratid. After the occupation of Armenia by the Byzantines in 1045 and then by the Turks Seljuks in 1064 , a considerable portion of the nobility and the Armenian population left Armenia and settled in Cilicia , a region where the Armenians were already present since Roman times. Thus, in 1080 , the Armenian kingdom of Cilicia is created. He becomes the new center of Armenian nationalism. The Armenians are developing social, cultural, military and religious with the Crusaders. This kingdom succumbed in 1375 to invasions Mamluk.

In the sixteenth ^century, Eastern Armenia was conquered by the Persian Safavid , while Western Armenia fell under Ottoman rule. In 1828, the territory corresponding to the modern republic was incorporated into the Russian Empire, Western Armenia still part of the Ottoman Empire. During these tumultuous times, Armenians have been able to protect their identity with the Church.

Between 1915 and 1916 , two-thirds of Armenians from Anatolia and the Armenian plateau were deported and murdered systematically in the deserts of Syria and Mesopotamia on the government order the Young Turks of the Ottoman Empire. This constitutes the first genocide of the ^twentieth century , with 1.2 million victims .

Geographic distribution

Armenia

The origin of the Armenian people is legendarily associated with the victory of Hayk , the Armenian Patriarch, against Bel of Babylon. The continued presence of Armenians in the region, has sharply receded in the wake of Ottoman persecution, and genocide. Today, Armenia is reduced to a tenth of its historical territory and extends over part of the Caucasus. It has a population of 3.2 million, consisting of Armenians to 97%. Armenians are also present in the province of Samtskhe-Javakheti in Georgia and Nagorno-Karabakh , a territory currently controlled by Armenian separatists. All those Armenians, as well as those of Iran and Russia , speak the dialect of the Eastern Armenian language. The country is secular because of decades of Soviet domination. Almost all of its citizens remains Christian.

Diaspora

For several centuries, small communities exist outside of Armenia. A community was well settled in the Holy Land , and one of four neighborhoods in Jerusalem called the Armenian Quarter . There are also traces of Armenian communities in India and Myanmar , as well as in other parts of Southeast Asia (whose brothers Sarkies , who founded a chain of hotels, the best known are the Strand Rangoon , Raffles of Singapore and the Majapahit in Surabaya ). The modern diaspora, she has created in the wake of the Armenian genocide.

Armenians in the diaspora speak western dialect of the Armenian language, without their eastern dialect is incomprehensible. The Eastern Armenian is used rather in Iran , with Russia and other former USSR countries like Georgia and Ukraine. In some communities where Armenians from different countries live together, there is a tendency for groups to intermingle.

References

See also

Related articles

• Armenians of Iran
• Armenians in Lebanon
• Armenians in Turkey

Bibliography

• Dedeyan Gerard (ed.), History of the Armenian people, Privat, Toulouse, 2007 ( ISBN 978-2-7089-6874-5 ).
• Beatrice Kasbarian-Bricout, Armenians in the twentieth ^century, L'Harmattan, 1984

• Armenia portal
• Portal minorities

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