Armenians
- This article is about the Armenians as an ethnic group. For information on residents or nationals of Armenia, see Demographics of Armenia.
| Armenians | ||
|---|---|---|
| Total population: | 2004: 8 million est. | |
| Significant populations in: | Armenia: 2.9 million July 2005 est. Russia: 2-2.5 million est. Georgia: 248,900-400,000 est. United States: 385,488 (2000 census) - 1 million est. France: 250,000 est. Iran: 200,000 est. Nagorno-Karabakh: 120,000 est. South America: 150,000 est. Syria: 100,000 est. Lebanon: 75,000 est. Iraq: 60,000 est. Turkey: 45,000 est. Canada: 40,505 (2001 census) - 100,000 est. Rest of world: 100,000 est. | |
| Language: | Armenian language and the local languages of various countries. | |
| Religion: | Armenian Apostolic Church Armenian Catholic Church Various Protestant denominations, especially in the diaspora. | |
| Related ethnic groups: | Hamshenis. | |
History
Until modern times, the history of the Armenians is the History of Armenia. The name Armenia designated a shifting region, but the Armenians had a continuous presence as a people in the Caucasus and eastern Asia Minor. The predecessors of the first Armenian Kingdom in the 6th century BC were the Kingdom of Urartu, Hittite Empire, Phrygia as well as various small states and confederations such as the Hayasa. The most commonly accepted contemporary theory expounds that the Armenians moved into the area around the 7th century BC. According to Herodotus, they were colonists of the Phrygians, possibly in connection with the invasions of the Cimmerians who ravaged Phrygia in 696 BC.A competing view was suggested by Thomas Gamkrelidze and Vyacheslav V. Ivanov in 1984 in the context of their Glottalic theory, placing the Proto-Indo-European Urheimat (i.e. homeland) in Armenian Highland, implying that the Armenian language, as one of the daughter languages of Proto-Indo-European, is native to the area and was spoken there for much longer.
The first Armenian state was established by the early 6th century BC. At its zenith (95-65 BC) the state extended from northern Caucasus all the way to what is now central Turkey, Lebanon, and north-western Iran. Later it briefly became part of the Roman Empire (AD 114-116). Historically the name Armenian has come to internationally designate this group of people but interestingly enough Armenians don't call themselves Armenians in the Armenian language, instead they call themselves Hay (pronounced Hye; plural: Hayer), the roots of the word may have links to the popular Armenian name Hayk.
In AD 301, Armenia became the first nation to adopt Christianity as a state religion (see ). During its later political eclipses, Armenia depended on the church to preserve and protect its unique identity. From around 1080 to 1375, the focus of Armenian Nationalism was the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, which had close ties with the Crusader states.
As with virtually all other nations of this region, between the 4th and 19th centuries, Armenia was conquered and ruled by, among others, Persians, Byzantines, Arabs, Mongols, and Ottoman Turks. In the 1820s parts of historic Armenia under Persian control centering on Yerevan and Lake Sevan were later incorporated into Russia.
Armenia has a long history of conquering, or being conquered by a vast number of peoples. The Ethnic cleansing during the final years of the Ottoman Empire are widely considered as being of genocidal nature, with one wave of persecution in the years 1894 to 1896 culminating in what is commonly referenced as the Armenian Genocide in 1915 and 1916. With World War I in progress, the Turks saw the (Christian) Armenians as liable to ally with Imperial Russia, and chose to deal with the entire Armenian population as an enemy within their empire. The exact numbers of deaths in the latter period is hard to establish. It is estimated by some sources that close to a million perished in camps. This excludes Armenians who may have died in other ways. Turkish governments since that time have consistently rejected charges of genocide, typically arguing either that those Armenians who died were simply in the way of a war or that killings of Armenians were justified by their individual or collective support for the enemies of the Ottoman Empire.
Following the breakup of the Russian empire in the Aftermath of World War I for a brief period, from 1918 to 1920, Armenia was an independent republic. In late 1920, the communists came to power following an invasion of Armenia by the Red Army, and in 1922, Armenia became part of the USSR, later forming the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (1936-September 21). In 1991 Armenia declared independence from the USSR.
Geographic distribution
Armenians today are scattered all over the world, constituting the Armenian Diaspora. About 3 - 3.5 million Armenians live in Armenia, but there are also about 2 - 2.5 million in Russia, 267,000-400,000 in Georgia, at least 400,000 (but possibly as many as 1 million) in the United States, 250,000 or more in France, 200,000 in Iran (mostly in Tehran and Isfahan jolfa), 120,000 in Nagorno-Karabakh, 100,000 in Syria, 75,000—150,000 in Lebanon, 45,000 in Turkey, and more scattered in other counties. All together there are about 8 million worldwide.Approx. 260,000 Armenians lived in Azerbaijan (without Nagorno-Karabakh) but they fled (mainly into Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh and Russia) when the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict erupted.
Within the Armenian community there is an unofficial classification of the different kinds of Armenians. Armenians who originate from Iran are referred to as Parska-Hye, Armenians from Lebanon are usually referred to as Lipana-Hye and Armenians who are from Armenia (that is, they or their ancestors were not forced to flee in 1915) are referred to as Hyeastansees meaning those that are from Armenia. In general, Armenians from Armenia, Iran, and Russia speak the Eastern dialect of Armenian while Armenians of the Diaspora speak the Western dialect of Armenian. The dialects vary considerably, however, Armenians of differing dialect can usually understand one another. In diverse communities (such as in Canada and the U.S.) where many different kinds of Armenians live amongst one another, there is a natural social tendency for the different groups to cluster together.
Watertown, Massachusetts, Fresno, California, and Glendale, California are three centers of Armenian population in the United States. In Canada, large numbers of Armenians can be found in Toronto, Ontario, and Montreal, Quebec. In Latin America, Armenians are also present in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Venezuela.
A small Armenian community has existed for over a millennium in the Holy Land, and one of the four quarters of the walled old city of Jerusalem is the Armenian Quarter.
Culture
- Main article: Culture of Armenia, Music of Armenia, Armenian literature, List of Armenians.
Language
- Main article: Armenian language
It is estimated that there are at least 10 million Armenian speakers in the world. 6 million of the Armenian speakers live in the Caucasus and Russia, and perhaps another million people in the Armenian diaspora are also Armenian speakers.
According to US Census figures, there are 300,000 Americans who speak Armenian at home. It is the 20th most commonly spoken language in the United States, having slightly fewer speakers than Haitian Creole, and slightly more than Navaho.
Religion
In AD 301, Armenia became the first nation to adopt Christianity as a state religion, establishing a church that still exists independently of both the Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox churches, having become so in AD 451 as a result of its Excommunication by the Council of Chalcedon. The Armenian Apostolic Church is a part of the Oriental Orthodox communion, not to be confused with the Eastern Orthodox communion. During its later political eclipses, Armenia depended on the church to preserve and protect its unique identity.The Armenians have, at times, constituted a Christian "island" in a mostly Muslim region. The Armenian kingdom of Cilicia, had close ties to European Crusader states. The religiously based sympathies that some Armenians presumably held for Imperial Russia provided the pretext for the genocide of 1915-1916 by the Ottoman Turks.
While the Armenian Apostolic Church remains the most prominent church in the Armenian community throughout the world, Armenians (especially) in the diaspora subscribe to any number of other Christian denominations. These include the Armenian Catholic Church (which follows its own liturgy but recognizes the Roman Catholic Pope), and the Armenian Brotherhood, which considers itself part of the Armenian Apostolic Church but has been much influenced by Protestantism. There are numerous Armenian churches belonging to Protestant denominations of all kinds.
Institutions
The nation-state of Armenia is the most prominent Armenian institution today. Other important institutions include:- The Armenian Apostolic Church
- The Armenian Catholic Church
- The Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) founded in 1906 and the largest Armenian non-profit organization in the world with educational, cultural and humanitarian projects on six continents.
- The Armenian Relief Society, founded in 1910.
- Hamazkayin an Armenian cultural and educational society founded in Cairo in 1928, and responsible for the founding of Armenian secondary schools and institutions of higher education in several countries.
- The Armenian Revolutionary Federation was founded in 1890. It is generally referred to as the Dashnaktsutyun, which means Federation in Armenian. The ARF is the strongest worldwide Armenian political organization and the only diasporan Armenian organization with a significant political presence in the Republic of Armenia.
Classification
Armenians are a sub branch of the Indo-European family, which migrated from the north Caucasus in multiple directions around 4500 B.C. Armenians are their own sub-group in the Indo-European family and one of the smallest by population of the family. Whereas other Indo-European ethnic groups such as the Slavs and the Germanics have their own sub-groups, the Armenians do not.The Armenians have long been viewed as a Nation; however, in Diaspora, especially since the era of World War I, they have typically been viewed as an ethnic group.