Republic in extreme southwestern Asia, bordered by Georgia to the north, Azerbaijan to the east, Iran to the south, and Turkey to the south and west. Yerevan is its capital and largest city.
Note: The former kingdom of Armenia included the present country, northeastern Turkey, and the northwest corner of Iran.
Note: Throughout their 2,500-year history, the Armenian people have been repeatedly invaded and oppressed by more powerful neighboring empires, which have included Greeks, Persians, Byzantines, Huns, Arabs, Mongols, Ottoman Turks, and Russians.
Note: Between 1894 and 1920, Armenians were the victims of a massacre organized by the Turks (see Armenian Massacres).
Note: In 1920, the Soviet Union annexed Armenia, but animosity remained strong between Armenians and Russians. When the Soviet Union began to crumble in 1991, Armenia was one of the first non-Baltic Soviet republics to declare its independence.
Note: Mainly Christian, Armenia has been involved in a bloody border dispute with neighboring Azerbaijan, which is mainly Muslim.
high land, occurs only in Authorized Version, 2 Kings 19:37; in Revised Version, "Ararat," which is the Hebrew word. A country in western Asia lying between the Caspian and the Black Sea. Here the ark of Noah rested after the Deluge (Gen. 8:4). It is for the most part high table-land, and is watered by the Aras, the Kur, the Euphrates, and the Tigris. Ararat was properly the name of a part of ancient Armenia. Three provinces of Armenia are mentioned in Jer. 51:27, Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz. Some, however, think Minni a contraction for Armenia. (See ARARAT.)