Armenia is a country of beauty, history and culture. This ancient mountainous country offers a wide range of activities for the traveller. From swimming in lake Sevan, hiking on Mt Aragats, picnicking in Ashtarak valley, exploring the mountains of Karabagh to appreciating the Opera, sipping soorj (Armenian Coffee) in the many relaxing cafe's and enjoying the Yerevan night life.

 

The information provided below can be useful for planning your trip. If you have any more questions then email us, we would be glad to help.

About Armenia

• General Facts about Armenia

  • Official name is Republic of Armenia (in Armenian it is referred to as Hayastani Hanrapetutyun)
  • Language is Armenian
  • National flag 
  • Currency is Armenian Dram (AMD)
  • Head of State is President of RA
  • Armenia is 29,800 sq km in area
  • The capital city is Yerevan
  • Population is approximately 3.2 million
  • 11 States (Marz) including Yerevan

• Quick History Lesson :)

  • Armenia known to exist by the merging of the two tribes of Hayk & Bell.
  • Noah's Ark landed on Mt Ararat, then part of Armenia. See Genesis 8:4.
  • 782 B.C. Yerevan city was established (making Armenia one of the oldest Capitol cities in the world today).
  • In 301 A.D. Armenia became the first Christian Nation.
  • In 405 A.D. Mesrop Mashtots created the unique Armenian Alphabet (also a numerical system, poem and prayer) hence the fifth century is also known as the Golden Century ('Voske Dar').
  • Series of kingdoms followed for centuries as well as wars with neighbouring non Christian countries invading the only Christian country in the region.
  • First major exit of Armenians from Armenia occurred in the 1600's during the reign of Shah Abass to Iran.
  • Armenia was divided between Turkey (Western Armenia) and Persia (Eastern Armenia) in 1639.
  • Eastern Armenia joins Russia in 1828.
  • The Armenian Genocide took place in 1915 by the Ottoman Turk empire where over 1.5 million Armenians were killed. Many Armenians fled the country and set up new lives in many different countries including, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Iran etc. One of the reasons you will bump into an Armenian today in all four corner of the world!
  • Armenia declared independence in 1918 where the government lasted for 2 years before joining the Soviet Regime.
  • In the 1940's the first major influx of Armenians occurred from the diaspora.
  • In 1991 Armenia declared independence after the Soviet collapse.
  • 2005 Envoy was established (Well its significant history for us :) )

• Holidays/Festivals

  Nothing worse than going on holidays only to discover everything is shut because of a local public holiday! Having said that, some holidays are worth planning around to make sure you are here for it.
  
  The table below summarises all significant dates for Armenia.

  Date	Celebration	Details
  Dec.31, January 1&2	New Year	Major National public holiday
  January	Jrohrnek (Christmas equivalent)	As per the Armenian Apostolic Church
  March 8	Women's Day	All females get a mention!
  April 7	Mother's & Beauty Day	What can we say females like the attention!
  April 24	Genocide Memorial Day	Public holiday. Entire Day is dedicated to paying respect and laying flowers at the Genocide memorial at Tzitzernakaberd in Yerevan.
  May 1	Labour Day	Public holiday across many European countries
  May 9	Victory and Peace Day	Soviet era memorial for war veterans
  May 28	Restoration of Armenian Statehood Day	Dating back to 1918
  July 5	Constitution Day	Public holiday
  A Sunday in July	Vardavar Festival	Fun, fun, fun! Don't leave home without your wet weather gear! It's a water splashing day. Everyone is guaranteed to get wet! Great way to cool down on a hot summers day :)
  September 21	Independence Day	Dating back to 1991
  December 7	Earthquake Victims Memorial Day	Dating back to 1988

  
  
  

   

• Weather

  Armenia has four seasons, however, the winter and summer are more severe and the spring and Autumn are much milder and shorter. Typical Yerevan temperature in winter (Dec-Feb) reaches around minus 20 degrees C and the summer (Jun-Aug) temperature averages around the mid to high 30 degrees C. Other regions can vary across the year.

  
  
    

• Lets Talk - Learn a Little Armenian

  Armenian is a complicated and unique language, more so for its difficult to pronounce letters. With 38 letters in the alphabet it is a very rich language. Originally invented by Mesrop Mashtots back in the 5th century (known as the Golden Century for this same purpose), it was not only intended as an alphabet for language use, but cleverly also a numerical system as well as a prayer!
  
  Ok, so the language is not the easiest but to help our guests travel around Armenia with a bit more confidence we have a very short selection of phrases to help. However if you have time, make sure you join one of our "Learn Armenian in 1.5 hours" sessions held for Free in the evenings at the Hostel. Enquire with our reception and they will let you know when the next session will be.
  
  In Yerevan you will find most people can speak English (and sometimes other languages). Outside of Yerevan apart from Armenian, Russian is also acceptable. If you know Russian, even if its only a few words - use it! Even some of the common everyday words, the Russian is more commonly used rather than the pure Armenian word. For that matter some French and even Farsi words are used in conversation as well. So be brave and throw them into conversation it might help.
  
  
  Basic Conversation

  English	Armenian
  Hello	Barev
  How are you?	Vonts es?
  Thank you	Shnorhakal (often "merci" is acceptable)
  Please	Khndrem
  Yes	Ayo (colloquially "ha")
  No	Voch (colloquially "che")
  What is the time?	Djame kanisen eh?
  How much is this?	Es inch arje?
  What is your name?	Anooned inch eh?
  Where is?	Oor eh?
  Good Morning	Bari looys
  Good Night	Bari Gisher

  
  Of Interest to Tourists:

  English	Armenian
  Bank	Baank
  Currency Exchange	Drami phokhanakoom
  Pharmacy	Apteka (Russian) or deghatoon
  Grocery Store	Mterk
  Shop	Khanoot
  Hospital	Hivandanotz
  Doctor	Bjishk
  Market	Bazar or shuka
  Toilet	Zugaran
  City Centre	Kendron
  Closed	Pak
  Open	Batz
  Church	Yekeghetsi
  Castle	Berd
  Lake	Lij
  Camera	Aparat (Russian word)

  
  Numbers

  English	Armenian
  1	Mek
  2	Yerku
  3	Yerek
  4	Chors
  5	Hing
  6	Vetz
  7	Yot
  8	Oot
  9	Ine
  10	Das
  20	Ksan
  30	Yeresoon
  40	Karasoon
  50	Hitsoon
  60	Vatsoon
  70	Yotanasoon
  80	Ootsoon
  90	Inesoon
  100	Haryur
  1000	Hazar
  2000	Yerku hazar
  100,000	Haryur Hazar
  1,000,000	Mek Milyon

  Days of the Week

  English	Armenian
  Monday	Yerkushabti
  Tuesday	Yerekshabti
  Wednesday	Chorekshabti
  Thursday	Hingshabti
  Friday	Oorbat
  Saturday	Shabat
  Sunday	Kiraki

   

Category list

• About Armenia
• Yerevan Guide
• Around Armenia
• Beyond Armenia

Click for more images...

There is so much to discover in Armenia. Here are some images to entice you :)