page_title: Lori Province
section_title: Ethnic groups and religion
hierarchical_section_title: Lori Province / Demographics / Ethnic groups and religion
caption_attribution_description: English: Vanadzor, Russian church Հայերեն: Եկեղեցի 1895 թ. խաչաձև հատակագծով կենտրոնագմբեթ ռուսական Եկեղեցի This is a photo of a monument in Armenia identified by the ID 7.1/26
context_page_description: Lori, is a province of Armenia. It is located in the north of the country, bordering Georgia. Vanadzor is the capital and largest city of the province. Other important towns include Stepanavan, Alaverdi, and Spitak. It is home to the UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Haghpat and Sanahin monasteries and the well-preserved Akhtala monastery, where Armenians, Georgians, and Greeks make an annual pilgrimage on September 20–21.
  The province was heavily damaged during the 1988 Armenian earthquake.
  The province is served by the Stepanavan Airport.
context_section_description: The majority of Lori are ethnic Armenians who belong to the Armenian Apostolic Church. The regulating body of the church is the Diocese of Gougark, headed by Archbishop Sebouh Chouldjian. The Saint Gregory of Narek Cathedral in Vanadzor is the seat of the diocese.
  However, small communities of ethnic Russian Molokans are mainly found in the villages of Fioletovo and Lermontovo, and in less numbers in the villages of Sverdlov, Mikhayelovka, Privolnoye, Pushkino, Medovka and the town of Tashir. The total number of Molokans in Lori is 3,882 individuals. There are few Orthodox Russians and Ukrainians in Vanadzor, Stepanavan and the village of Amrakits.
  According to the Diocese of Gougark, as of February 2016, Lori is home to 259 places of worship, of which 3 monasteries as well as 36 churches and 23 chapels are active.
  The 793 individuals of the Yazidi community are found in the southern villages of the province including Lermontovo and Lernantsk.
  Lori is also home to a tiny Greek community of 655 individuals who speak the Pontic dialect. Small Greek communities could be found in the towns of Alaverdi, Akhtala, Stepanavan, Noyemberyan and Vanadzor. The majority of the Yaghdan village is Greek.
caption: The Russian church in Vanadzor
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "SONY", "Image Model": "DSC-W270", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "ACDSee 14", "Image DateTime": "2013:06:14 15:27:24", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "238", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "764", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "9233", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/100", "EXIF FNumber": "8", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2013:06:08 12:34:52", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2013:06:08 12:34:52", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "55/16", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "5", "EXIF SubSecTime": "944", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1500", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1000", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "692", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal"}