Armenia is about 11,506 sq. mi. (about 29,800sq. km.). Population is about 3 million living in present day Armenia. It is mountainous. The highest is Mt. Aragats, 13,432ft. (4,095.00 m.). It is located in the southern part of Caucasus. Armenians are ancient people. They inhabited the region between the Black Sea, Caspian Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea for nearly 3,000 years. They are believed to be a mixture of local Urartu and Indo-European inhabitants. Armenians call themselves “Hai” and their country “Hayastan”. Yet most of the world calls them Armenians because of a local tribe called “Armen”. Its neighboring countries are Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Iran.
Present day Armenia is about one fifth of the historic Armenia, four-fifth of historic Armenia is under Turkish occupation.
Despite war, invasions and massacres, they somehow have survived to this day and present day Armenia is what is left of Historic Armenia. Numerous monuments of the ancient and Middle Ages can be found throughout the country.
Its capital is Erevan, pronounced “Yerevan”, one of the oldest cities of the world, and once called “Erebuni”. Other major cities are Gumri, Dilijan, Etchmiadzin, Goris, Meghri, Hrazdan, Vanadzor and Ghapan.
Under Tigran the Great (95-55b.c.) the Armenian Empire reached its height and became one of the most powerful empires of the time, stretching from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean Sea.
Mt. Ararat (17,007ft.- 5185m) once part of Historic Armenia, today part of Turkey, is a national symbol for Armenians all around the world, which the Bible identifies as the mountain where Noah’s Ark rested on after the big flood.
Etchmiadzin is the Holy Seat of the Armenian Apostolic Church and the spiritual center of all Armenians with patriarchates of Jerusalem and Constantinople. Its Cathedral was built in 301AD.
The Catholicosate of Sis was created during the Kingdom of Cilicia when Holy Seat of Etchmiadzin lost its authority over the Armenians living inside the Ottoman Empire and after the Armenian Genocide of 1915 they moved their Holy Seat to Antelias, Lebanon. Its jurisdiction also is strong and is spread throughout the Armenian Communities of the Diaspora with its Prelacies all around the world.
In 301AD. Armenians were the first nation to make Christianity their state religion during the reign of Trdat III (287-330) by St. Grigor Lusavoritch (the Illuminator).
The Armenian alphabet was invented in 405AD by a monk called Mesrop Mashtots and it is considered to be one of the major reasons of their survival (the other being the Armenian Church).
In the fifth century Armenia was ruled by the Sassanian Persians, who in 451 ordered the Armenians to convert to Zoroastrianism. Armenians refused to do so and with their Commander-in-Chief (Sbarabet) Vartan Mamigonian they fought against the mighty army of the Sassanians for the right to believe in their Christian faith. Though this battle was a military defeat, where many Armenians including Commander in Chief Vartan Mamigonian with eight of his generals perished, yet it was spiritually a great victory, which to this day is observed every year and it is known as “The Battle of Avarayr” or “War of Vartanank”. Although the war lasted for a day but it was followed by years of bitter guerrilla warfare that made the King of Persia, Valash, in 485, grant the Armenians the right to worship their religion and practice their culture.
The first Arab invasion occurred in 642. For almost 200 years they ruled Armenia. The Turkish invasions of Armenia began in the eleventh century.
Destruction, death, famine, disease, forced conversions and resettlements had turned Armenians into a minority in their homeland. Few struggled to maintain the culture and traditions. Ottomans forcibly relocated large numbers of Armenians into other parts of the Empire.
Century after century Armenia was partitioned between its neighbors, The Byzantines, the Persians, the Arabs, the Russians and the Ottomans Turks. The Turks still occupy majority of the Historic Armenian territories.
As a result of these invasions and heavy taxation by the Ottoman Turks, and after losing their sovereignty in the Armenian Highlands and the fall of the capital city of Ani,Armenians moved further south to the Mediterranean Sea where they established The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, which survived about 400 years. During this period Armenians formed alliances with the Crusaders and provided support to them on their way to Jerusalem.
During these invasions so many valuable and irreplaceable works of art have been burned, destroyed and lost forever. Yet many have somehow survived and are kept in the Armenian National Library in present day Armenia, called “The Madenataran” and various museums all over the world.
At the end of 19th Century and the beginning of the 20th century during World War 1, in 1915 the Armenian people suffered a terrible tragedy. As a result of Turkish Nationalism about 1.5 million Armenians were exterminated in a Genocidal Pogroms and the rest were deported from their homeland to the Syrian Desert where they were murdered and left to die of starvation. One of these deportees were my grand parents. And that’s why I was born in Beirut, Lebanon.
The Armenian massacre is the First Genocide of the 20th Century.  Survivors of the Genocide migrated to other parts of the world. The Armenian victory over the Turkish troops in the battle of Sardarapat, Karakilisse and Bashabaran, in 1918, created the opportunity to establish an independent Armenia. And indeed, in 1918 an Independent Armenian Republic was established which lasted until it was incorporated into the Soviet Union.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Armenia declared its independence on September 21, 1991. Today Armenians are scattered all around the world and they are important part of the political life of their adopted countries. Armenians are well known for their crafts.
In December 1988, the second largest city in the republic, Gyumri, was heavily damaged by a massive quake that killed more than 25,000 people.
The enclave of (Nagorno-Karabagh) “Artzakh”, once a province of Historic Armenia was handed over to Azerbaijan by the Soviets. Armenia and Azerbaijan went to war over the enclave and after a few years of fierce fighting in 1992-1994, where well over 30,000 lives were lost, and after centuries of enslavement it was liberated. Today the enclave is once again in the hands of the Armenians. And due to this dispute with Azerbaijan, Turkey blockades its border with Armenia to this day.