Caucasus Project

Throughout the centuries Armenia has been conquered by different empires (the Romans, Byzantine, Persia and Ottoman), but it also has had some periods of independence.

At the end of the First World War, the first Armenian Republic established in the territory that had been controlled by the Turkey-Ottoman and Russian Empires. In 1920 Armenia and Turkey went to war and ended it with the treaty of Alexandropoulos, where the Armenians gave up the weapons and the Armenian Occidental territory to the Turks.

The second decade of the XX Century is a black period in the Armenian history, more than a million Armenians died in the conflict with Turkey. Hundreds of thousands of Armenians had to leave their homes, building enormous colonies dispersed around the world.

The slaughter of 1915 came to be the first genocide of modern history, still unrecognized by the Turks government.

In 1922 the red army invaded the non-Turk territory, incorporating with that the country to the Soviet Union as part of the Soviet Socialist Republic Federations of Transcaucasia with Georgia and Azerbaijan. In 1936 this Federation was disolved and the country entered to the USSR. with the name of Armenia Soviet Socialist Republic. After the fall of the block in 1991, the Supreme Soviet of Armenia declared the country's independence previous popular referendum.

Armenia's country is relatively industrialized. The industry represents more than the 30% GNP and more than the 40% of the labor force in the industry and construction.

The productions are mainly manufactures and mining (gold, copper, zinc and silver). Machinery and the synthetic rubber are the main products of the national factory. The country has the only nuclear central in the Caucasus region, inherited from the soviet period.

Like other independent states to the ex-USSR, the Armenia economy has suffered by the legacy of the central planned economy and the fall of the Russian interchange system. The investment and the Russian support to the industry has almost disappeared, and just some few big industries have continued functioning.

Also, the Spitak earthquake effects, where more than 25 thousand people died and 500 thousand were left homeless, still are resented. The unsolved conflict with Azerbaijan for Nagorno-Karabakh's territory also has affected the national economy, mainly by the closing of the borders with Azerbaijan and Turkey, which has destroyed the economy, since Armenia depends on the exports of its energy and its raw materials.

In spite of difficult scenario, Armenia has obtained a stable progress, which has allowed them to obtain the support of international institutions as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the European Bank for the Reconstruction and the Development. The international lendings are focused in reducing the deficit, stabilizing the currency, stimulating the development of private companies, energy, agriculture, transport, health and education. One of the main sources of direct income comes from the Armenian overseas, which finances most of the reconstructions of public assets.

In the international transparency index of 2005, Armenia was located in the place 88, as highly corrupt.

It has a population of 3 million inhabitants, but this figure increases once you consider the Armenians spread all over the world: Russia (1.5 million), Canada and USA (1.2 million), Africa (900.000), EU (700.000) and Latin America (200.000), mostly settled in Argentina and Chile.