page_title: Shirak Province
section_title: Population
hierarchical_section_title: Shirak Province / Demographics / Population
caption_attribution_description: Հայերեն: Համայնապատկեր Ազատան գյուղից
context_page_description: Shirak, is a province of Armenia. It is located in the north-west of the country, bordering Turkey in the west and Georgia in the north. Its capital and largest city is Gyumri. It is as much semi-desert as it is mountain meadow or high alpine. In the south, the high steppes crash into mountain terrain, verdant green in the spring, hues of reddish brown in the summer. The province is served by the Shirak International Airport of Gyumri.
context_section_description: According to the 2011 official census, Shirak has a population of 251,941 (121,615 men and 130,326 women), forming around 8.3% of the entire population of Armenia. The urban population is 146,908 (58.3%) and the rural is 105,033 (41.7%). The province has 3 urban and 116 rural communities. The largest urban community is the provincial centre of Gyumri, with a population of 121,976. The other urban centres of Artik and Maralik have a population of 19,534 and 5,398 respectively.
  With a population of 4,838, the village of Azatan is the largest rural municipality of Shirak.
  The dialect of Shirak is a variant of Karin dialect, closely related to Western Armenian.
caption: Azatan village
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