Armenia

Armenia prides itself on being the first nation to formally adopt Christianity (early 4th century). Despite periods of autonomy, over the centuries Armenia came under the sway of various empires including the Roman, Byzantine, Arab, Persian, and Ottoman. During World War I in the western portion of Armenia, Ottoman Turkey instituted a policy of forced resettlement coupled with other harsh practices that resulted in an estimated 1 million Armenian deaths. The eastern area of Armenia was ceded by the Ottomans to Russia in 1828; this portion declared its independence in 1918, but was conquered by the Soviet Red Army in 1920. Armenian leaders remain preoccupied by the long conflict with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh, a primarily Armenian-populated region, assigned to Soviet Azerbaijan in the 1920s by Moscow. Armenia and Azerbaijan began fighting over the area in 1988; the struggle escalated after both countries attained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. By May 1994, when a cease-fire took hold, ethnic Armenian forces held not only Nagorno-Karabakh but also a significant portion of Azerbaijan proper. The economies of both sides have been hurt by their inability to make substantial progress toward a peaceful resolution. Turkey closed the common border with Armenia in 1994 because of the Armenian separatists' control of Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding areas, further hampering Armenian economic growth. However, in 2009 senior Armenian leaders began pursuing rapprochement with Turkey, which could result in the border reopening.
==Economical characteristics==
* Currency: Dram (ISO code: AMD)
* Central bank discount rate: 7.25% (2 December 2008)
* Commercial banks lending rate: 17.05% (31 December 2008)
* Stock of money (M1): $1.359 billion (31 December 2008)
* Quasi money (with M1 makes M2): $950.1 million (31 December 2008)
===Statistics===
Statistic / Year 	1999 	2000 	2001 	2002 	2003 	2004 	2005 	2006 	2007 	2008
GDP (million USD)World Bank. "Armenia: GDP", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30. 	1 845	1 912	2 118	2 376	2 807 	3 577 	4 900 	6 384 	9 206 	11 917
Govt. debt (% of GDP)World Bank. "Armenia: government debt", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30. 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Govt. revenue (% of GDP)World Bank. "Armenia: government revenue", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30. 	 	 	 	 	17.726	18.198	19.305	19.763	21.385	22.372
Govt. expenses (% of GDP)World Bank. "Armenia: government expenses", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30.	 	 	 	 	16.415	16.956	18.146	17.148	17.042	20.688
Debt to revenue (years) 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
==References==
Note: statistical data was rounded. Different sources may use different methodologies for their estimates. Debt to revenue is calculated by dividing the two variables from their original ('unrounded') values. It represents how long it would a government take to repay its entire debt if it used its whole revenue for this purpose.
==External links==
* Armenia on Wikipedia
* Central bank of Armenia
* Country profile (pdf) from the Enterprise Studies page (part of the The World Bank Group)
* Studies from the Library of Congress (1986-1998)
* BBC country profile
Category:Countries