Demographics of Armenia
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Armenia is a primarily Oriental Orthodox country. Armenia is considered the first nation to adopt Christianity, tracing its church's 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. The Yazidi Kurds, who live in the western part of the country, practice Zoroastrianism or Shamanism. Any ethnic Azeris living in the country practice Islam, but most fled to Azerbaijan during the Karabagh War. Conversely, Armenia received a large influx of Armenian refugees from Azerbaijan, where there were numerous pogroms against Armenians.
Whether Armenians are Europeans or not is a bone of contention, as the people of Caucasia have become increasingly disregarded as being Europeans over the past couple of centuries. This process was arguably accelerating as the term "European" increasingly is being used to refer to citizens of the European Union rather than peoples of ethnic European origins, but the recent (2004) inclusion of Armenia in the EU "New Neighborhood", which is expected to lead to membership in the long term will once again swing the pendulum in the direction of Europe.
Demographic data from the CIA World Factbook
Population
- 2,982,904 (July 2005 est.)
Age structure
- 0-14 years: 21.6% (male 339,453/female 305,214)
- 15-64 years: 67.5% (male 938,734/female 1,074,240)
- 65 years and over: 10.9% (male 131,519/female 193,744) (2005 est.)
Median age
- Total: 30.07 years
- Male: 27.45 years
- Female: 32.84 years (2005 est.)
Population growth rate
- -0.25% (2005 est.)
Birth rate
- 11.76 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Death rate
- 8.16 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Net migration rate
- -6.1 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Sex ratio
- At birth: 1.17 male(s)/female
- Under 15 years: 1.11 male(s)/female
- 15-64 years: 0.87 male(s)/female
- 65 years and over: 0.68 male(s)/female
- Total population: 0.9 male(s)/female (2005 est.)
Infant mortality rate
- Total: 23.28 deaths/1,000 live births
- Male: 28.51 deaths/1,000 live births
- Female: 17.13 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)
Life expectancy at birth
- Total population: 71.55 years
- Male: 67.97 years
- Female: 75.75 years (2005 est.)
Total fertility rate
- 1.32 children born/woman (2005 est.)
HIV/AIDS
- Adult prevalence rate: 0.1% (2003 est.)
- People living with HIV/AIDS: 2,600 (2003 est.)
- Deaths: less than 200 (2003 est.)
Nationality
- Noun: Armenian(s)
- Adjective: Armenian
Ethnic groups
- Armenian 93%, Azeri 1%, Russian 2%, other (mostly Yezidi Kurds) 4% (2002)
- Note: as of the end of 1993, virtually all Azeris had emigrated from Armenia
Religions
- Armenian Apostolic 94%, other Christian 4%, Yezidi (Zoroastrian/animist) 2%
Languages
- Armenian 96%, Russian 2%, other 2%
Literacy
- Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
- Total population: 98.6%
- Male: 99.4%
- Female: 98% (2003 est.)