Demographics of Armenia

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Armenia is the only republic of the former Soviet Union that boasts a nearly-homogeneous population. It is also the second-most densely populated post-Soviet state after Moldova. Ethnic minorities include Yazidis, Russians, Assyrians, Greeks, Ukrainians, and Georgians. Some 80000 Azerbaijanis fled to Azerbaijan during the Nagorno-Karabakh War. Conversely, Armenia received a large influx of Armenian refugees from Azerbaijan, where there were numerous pogroms against Armenians.

Most Armenians are Christian, primarily of Oriental Orthodox rite. Armenia is considered the first nation to adopt Christianity, which was first preached in Armenia by two Apostles of Jesus, St. Bartholomew and St. Thaddeus in the 1st century. The Armenian Apostolic Church can trace its roots back to the 3rd and 4th centuries. The country formally adopted the Christian faith in 301 A.D. Over 90% of Armenians belong to the Armenian Apostolic Church, a form of Oriental (Non-Chalcedonian) Orthodoxy, which is a very ritualistic, conservative church, roughly comparable to the Coptic and Syrian churches. Armenia also has a population of evangelical Protestants and Catholics.

There has been a problem of population decline due to elevated levels of emigration after the break-up of the USSR. The rates of emigration and population decline, however, have decreased drastically in the recent years, and a moderate influx of Armenians returning to Armenia have been the main reasons for the trend, which is expected to continue. In fact Armenia is expected to resume its positive population growth by 2010.

Contents 1 Demographic data from the CIA World Factbook 1.1 Population 1.2 Age structure 1.3 Median age 1.4 Population growth rate 1.5 Birth rate 1.6 Death rate 1.7 Net migration rate 1.8 Sex ratio 1.9 Infant mortality rate 1.10 Life expectancy at birth 1.11 Total fertility rate 1.12 HIV/AIDS 1.13 Nationality 1.14 Ethnic groups 1.15 Religions 1.16 Languages 1.17 Literacy 2 Census of Armenia 2.1 Soviet Union Census 2.2 1989 Soviet Census 2.3 2001 Census 3 References

[edit] Demographic data from the CIA World Factbook

[edit] Population

2,976,372 (July 2006 est.)

[edit] Age structure

0-14 years: 20.5% (male 322,189/female 286,944)

15-64 years: 68.4% (male 949,975/female 1,085,484)

65 years and over: 11.1% (male 133,411/female 198,369) (2006 est.)

[edit] Median age

Total: 30.4 years

Male: 27.8 years

Female: 33.2 years (2006 est.)

[edit] Population growth rate

-0.19% (2006 est.)

[edit] Birth rate

12.07 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)

There were 37,509 births in 2005 compared to 37,520 in 2004. Total population was 3,219,400 at end of 2005. [1]

[edit] Death rate

8.23 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)

[edit] Net migration rate

-5.72 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)

[edit] Sex ratio

At birth: 1.17 male(s)/female

Under 15 years: 1.12 male(s)/female

15-64 years: 0.88 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.67 male(s)/female

Total population: 0.9 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

[edit] Infant mortality rate

Total: 22.47 deaths/1,000 live births

Male: 27.59 deaths/1,000 live births

Female: 16.51 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)

[edit] Life expectancy at birth

Total population: 71.84 years

Male: 68.25 years

Female: 76.02 years (2005 est.)

[edit] Total fertility rate

1.33 children born/woman (2006 est.)

[edit] HIV/AIDS

Adult prevalence rate: 0.1% (2003 est.)

People living with HIV/AIDS: 2,600 (2003 est.)

Deaths: less than 200 (2003 est.)

[edit] Nationality

Noun: Armenian(s)

Adjective: Armenian

[edit] Ethnic groups

Armenian 97.9%, Yazidi (Kurd) 1.3%, Russian 0.5%, other 0.3% (2001 census)

Note: as of the end of 1993, virtually all Azeris had emigrated from Armenia

[edit] Religions

Armenian Apostolic 94.7%, other Christian 4% (Roman Catholic, Russian Orthodox), Yazidi (monotheist with elements of nature worship) 1.3%

[edit] Languages

Armenian 97.7%, Kurdish 1%, Russian 0.9%, other 0.4% (2001 census)

[edit] Literacy

Definition: age 15 and over can read and write

Total population: 98.6%

Male: 99.4%

Female: 98% (2003 est.)

[edit] Census of Armenia

The following are recorded census of the state of Armenia. According the Armenian law, a census must take place every 10 years. The National Assembly adopted the law “On Census” in 1999, but the Government lacked the necessary funds to carry out the count. Thus, the first census took place in 2002. [2] [3]

[edit] Soviet Union Census

Year	Total	Urban	Rural
1926	881,290
1939	1,282,338
1959	1,763,048
1970	2,491,873	1,481,532	1,010,341
1979	3,030,747	1,992,539 (65.7%)	1,038,208 (34.3%)

[edit] 1989 Soviet Census

Total	Urban	Rural	Armenians	Azerbaijanis	Russian	Yezidis/Kurds
3,288,000	2,229,540 (67.8%)	1,058,137 (32.2%)	3,067,704 (93.3%)	85,488	52,608	55,896

[edit] 2001 Census

Year	Total	Urban	Rural	Armenians	Assyrians	Yezidis	Greeks	Russians	Ukrainians	Kurds	Other
2001	3,213,011	2,066,153 (64.3%)	1,146,858 (35.7%)	3,145,354 (97.9%)	3,409	40,620	1,176	14,660	1,633	1,519	4,640

[edit] References

This article contains material from the CIA World Factbook (2006 edition) which, as a US government publication, is in the public domain.