Politics

• In 1989, the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh led Azerbaijan to impose a blockade, closing a vital natural gas pipeline to Armenia
• Types of crops cultivated in Armenia

  • Grapes, fruits, peaches, apricots, apples, cherries, mazzards, pears, walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, pomegranates, figs, vegetables, potatoes, tobacco, cotton, sugar beets
• Under Soviet rule, the Armenian economy was transformed from agricultural to primarily industrial
• Agriculture in Armenia faces many difficulties including scarcity of arable land
• Industry in Armenia is heavily dependent on imports of energy and raw materials
• Most of the population of Armenia experienced severe economic hardship during the 1990s
• Reforms in Armenia

  Substantial privatization of industry and agriculture, restructuring of the tax and financial systems, price liberalization
• Mechanical engineering, machine tools, electrical power machinery, electronics, chemical, and mining industries are prominent in Armenia's heavy industry
• The food industry in Armenia processes farm products for domestic demand and export, focusing on primary processing of grapes, production of brandy, wines, canned fruits, and vegetables
• Light industry in Armenia specializes in the production of woolen, silk, and cotton fabrics, knitted goods, clothes, carpets, and footwear
• The subsequent severe energy shortage combined with the disruption of key trade routes due to civil unrest in Georgia caused a sharp drop in industrial production, further devastating the economy
• A new currency, the dram, was introduced in 1993, replacing the ruble
• After independence, Armenia implemented structural reforms to create the institutional and legal basis for a market economy
• Agriculture remains important in Armenia, accounting for about two-fifths of the gross domestic product and employing one-fifth of the labour force
• The massive earthquake of 1988 destroyed nearly one-third of Armenia’s industrial capacity, seriously weakening the economy
• Animal husbandry in Armenia

  • Beef and milk cattle, sheep, pigs, poultry, sericulture, apiculture
• Cultivated lands in Armenia

  • Plowland, orchards, vineyards
• Yerevan is the main industrial centre in Armenia, accounting for nearly three-fifths of the total industrial output
• Nonferrous metallurgy in Armenia includes mining and dressing of copper, molybdenum, and other ores, smelting of copper, and extraction of precious and rare metals
• Energy production in Armenia initially focused on utilizing the hydraulic potential of mountain streams for electricity production and irrigation works
• The project made possible the electrification of agriculture and helped to build numerous industries
• Hydroelectric power stations


  • Sevan-Hrazdan series
• Armenia's sole nuclear power station near Yerevan was shut down following the 1988 earthquake
• Air routes link Yerevan with Moscow, many Russian cities, and international cities including Athens, Paris, and Tehrān
• Transportation

  Mountainous terrain is a serious impediment to the construction of land transport routes
• Pipelines link Armenia with Azerbaijani and Georgian gas fields
• The rail link to Baku was closed in 1989
• The constitution has been amended twice through referendum: once in 2005 and once in 2015
• Road transport carries more freight than railways in Armenia
• The head of state is the president, limited to one seven-year term
• Trade

  Armenia has a negative trade balance, importing more than it exports
• The prime minister is the head of government and commander in chief of the armed forces
• Government and society

  Armenia adopted a new constitution in 1995, replacing the Soviet-era constitution
• Armenia's imports

  • Coal
  • Petroleum products
  • Ferrous metals
  • Wood and paper products
  • Grain
  • Meat
  • Milk
  • Butter
  • Consumer goods
• Local authority at the community level in Armenia is held by mayors or village elders
• The Armenian National Movement governed Armenia from independence until 1998
• Production of electricity

  Combined with the building of irrigation works and water-supply systems for industries and cities
• A railway line runs through northern, western, and southern regions of Armenia, linking to Tʿbilisi in the north and Baku in the east
• Buses remain the chief mode of travel between towns and villages
• The Azerbaijani pipeline was closed in 1989, and the Georgian pipeline has been subject to periodic disruption