Armenia is an old and very beautiful country in Asia. It is known for its tourist centers and also wonderful culture. There is a lot of general knowledge about Armenia, but there are untold stories about Armenia that will surprise you. Do you know that the Armenian alphabet is one of the oldest in the world and is about 1600 years?
We will be uncovering some historic, cultural, food, and religious facts, and more in the article. If you are looking to visit Armenia or you just want to know more about that beautiful country, this article will surely be an eye-opener for you.
1. Armenia is home to one of the most beautiful churches in the world and it is the first country to adopt Christianity which was in 301 AD.
2. Armenia is one of the most mono-ethnic countries in the world with 97% of its population Armenians and the remaining 3% Russian, Kurds, and Ukrainians.
3. Armenia is the first country to make chess a compulsory subject in its national curriculum.
4. The Armenian genocide was planned by the Ottoman Empire between 1915 -1923 and it led to the killing of about 1.5 million Armenians. Turkey still denies it even when more than 30 countries have already recognized and condemned it.
5. Despite all attempts to find Noah’s Ark being proved futile, the Armenians still believe that they know where exactly at the icy top of mount Ararat, the Ark is located.
6. Armenian is home to Yerevan, the world’s oldest capital, and was built 29 years before Rome by King Argishti I. It houses a wide variety of historic buildings and a reasonable number of interesting museums.
7. It was rumored that the former prime minister of the United Kingdom, Winston Churchill, drank a bucket of Armenian champagne as their champagne, as well as their cognac, fueled the Yalta conference that was held by world leaders after World War II.
8. The Eagle, swan, and falcon drawn on the country’s coat of arms are among the 345 species out of 530 European bird species found in Armenia.
9. The lavash flatbread which is indigenous to Armenia and is served as a complimentary meal is listed in the UNESCO list.
10. Although Armenians seem to be a tough breed with their expertise in wrestling, weightlifting, and chess, they cannot play football and have always failed to qualify for any of the national and international competitions.
11. The Armenian alphabet is one of the oldest in the world and is about 1600 years.
12. One of the largest lakes in the world is located in the Caucasus part of Armenia named Lake Sevan and lies about 1,905 meters above sea level.
13. Although Mount Ararat has been a part of Turkey since 1923, it is a national symbol of Armenia and also features in their coat of arms. They still believe that the mountain is legally and historically their own.
14. Mount Ararat is a sacred worship place in Armenia as they believed it stopped a great earthquake from occurring.
15. Apart from Mount Ararat, the apricot whose color is featured on the flag of Armenia is another national symbol.
16. Armenia’s alphabet is one of the most advanced and sophisticated alphabets in the world. It is what makes them the most interesting, if not the most different culture in the world.
17. Armenia has a deep Soviet-style metro which is used daily by both citizens and tourists and is buried within its capital city, Yerevan.
18. Armenia has boundaries with six different countries including Turkey, Iran, and Soviet Georgia and it gets along with all of them except Azerbaijan which it has been at war since 1988.
19. Ladas car is very popular in Armenia and it makes up about one-quarter of the country’s population.
20. Russian is the favorite language spoken by most Armenia because of their ties with the former Soviet Union, it’s not their national language but it’s the preferred language.
21. If their flag is held upside down, it closely looks like the Colombian flag, although it was never intentional and there is no known dispute between the two countries when the Colombian singer Shakira unintentionally turned her flag down during a concert in Azerbaijan, it caused a stir.
22. Armenia is one of the most educated countries as 99% of its citizens can read and write fluently and has one of the best educational systems.
23. The greenest place in Armenia is the Dilijan national park, it is located 100km² northeast of Yerevan, and it has endless forests, streams, and other beautiful places that are a favorite tourist spot.
24. Despite the small size of Armenia’s grocery stores, they have a large assortment of international products and ingredients.
25. Armenians are among the highest environmental pollution control countries. This is due to the fact that their cars use natural gas for transportation.
26. Although it is not official, the Armenians use the eternity sign as their national symbol and they use it to show off their nationality on several occasions.
27. Holy Etchimiadzin, built in Armenia in the 4th century is the first state church to be built in the world and it is the most visited pilgrimage site in the world.
28. It is believed that Armenia is one of the oldest wine-producing countries. This is because Archeologists 2011 found a very old winery.
29. The Tatev Aerial Tramway is the longest non-stop cable car in the world according to the Guinness book of world records; it is 18, 871 ft long, connecting the Tatev monastery and Vorotan River Gorge.
30. Armenian scientist, David the invincible created the first Mathematics textbook in the world, and the book is now housed in the institute of ancient manuscripts in Matenadaran.
31. Armenia is home to a large population of storks. In a village called Stork Village, storks nest on almost every pole here. The storks are believed to move to Africa before winter and return to Armenia in spring.
32. The three UNESCO World Heritages are found in Armenia. They include several monasteries, cathedrals, and several churches that grace the country.
33. Most of their buildings are constructed with volcanic rock from the area that has a rosy hue on it. This made almost all the houses there pink which earned them the name ‘Pink City’.
34. The Armenian language is very hard to understand and tourists find it very difficult to communicate.
35. Armenia has a restriction on the playing of musical instruments like guitar, and banjo in the evening and anyone who violates this rule gets a citation.
36. Armenia is an ancient land and can be traced to the very beginning of civilization, before the Bronze Age. Its petroglyphs date back to 12000 BC; it also has shoe leather dating back to 3500 BC.
37. It has connections with a number of celebrities like the Kardashians, Cher, and Andre Agassi. Joe Manganiello from True Blood and Kimovich Kasparov, the greatest chess player of all are descendants of the survivors of the Armenian genocide.
38. Due to the Armenian genocide, a huge population of Armenians fled the country.
39. Armenia was the most powerful country in the world during the reign of King Tigranes I. He created a huge empire the border stretched from Egypt to the Black and Caspian seas.
40. One of the largest bridges in Europe is the Great Soviet Bridge in Yerevan, Armenia.
41. Armenian cuisine is known for its use of fresh and local ingredients although they rarely use spices.
42. Pakistan never recognized Armenia as a country because Pakistan has an excellent relationship with Azerbaijan and Turkey and also because they don’t support the unilateral changing of international borders by force.
43. Even with the Russian-brokered ceasefire between the Armenians and their neighbor Azerbaijan in 1994, they are still at war with each other even today.
44. The country is said to have gotten its name from the Aram in the Bible, a descendant of Hayk, the great-great-grandson of Noah.
45. It has been recorded that about 5.6 million Armenians live outside the country while only about 3 million Armenians live in the country.
46. Armenia was said to have occupied 300,000 km² but due to foreign invasion, including the Armenian genocide, present Armenia occupies 30,000 km².
47. Aram is regarded as the leader and ancestor of Armenians traditionally.
48. Khachkar, a cross-stone is the exclusive fine art of Armenia. It is a 1.5 meters tall, carved, memorial stele bearing a cross. Each of them has its own different pattern.
49. The first sentence written and translated in Armenia after the invention of its alphabets is: ‘To know wisdom and gain instruction; to discern the words of understanding’.
50. The statues of the First Catholics of the Armenian Apostolic Church, St. Gregory the Illuminator as well as the greatest medieval Armenian poet and philosopher, Grigor Narekatsi are installed in the Vatican.
51. Armenians have a tradition known as pouring water for luck. Water is considered a natural, life-giving, and purifying thing in Armenian culture, so, they pour water after a person steps out of the house to wish them luck in their journey, or anything they are doing.
Hope you enjoyed these Interesting Armenia facts. Please leave a comment below and share if you like the content. Check out 61 Fascinating Facts about France and Paris