Armenians

:This article is about the Armenians as an ethnic group. For information on residents or nationals of Armenia, see demographics of Armenia.

Culture

Main article: Culture of Armenia, Music of Armenia, List of Armenians.

Related Topics:
Culture of Armenia - Music of Armenia - List of Armenians

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Language

It is estimated that there are at least 10 million Armenian speakers in the world. 6 million of the Armenian speakers live in the Caucasus and Russia, and perhaps another million people in the Armenian diaspora are also Armenian speakers.

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According to US Census figures, there are 300,000 Americans who speak Armenian at home. It is the 20th most commonly spoken language in the United States, having slightly fewer speakers than Haitian Creole, and slightly more than Navaho.

Related Topics:
Haitian Creole - Navaho

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Religion

In AD 301, Armenia became the first nation to adopt Christianity as a state religion, establishing a church that still exists independently of both the Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox churches, having become so in AD 451 as a result of its excommunication by the Council of Chalcedon. The Armenian Apostolic Church is a part of the Oriental Orthodox communion, not to be confused with the Eastern Orthodox communion. During its later political eclipses, Armenia depended on the church to preserve and protect its unique identity.

Related Topics:
301 - Christianity - Catholic - Eastern Orthodox - 451 - Excommunication - Council of Chalcedon - Armenian Apostolic Church - Oriental Orthodox

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The Armenians have, at times, constituted a Christian "island" in a mostly Muslim region. The Armenian kingdom of Cilicia, had close ties to European Crusader States. The religiously based sympathies that some Armenians presumably held for Imperial Russia provided the pretext for the genocide of 1915–1916 by the Ottoman Turks.

Related Topics:
Muslim - Armenian kingdom - Cilicia - Crusader States

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While the Armenian Apostolic Church remains the most prominent church in the Armenian community throughout the world, Armenians (especially) in the diaspora subscribe to any number of other Christian denominations. These include the Armenian Catholic Church (which follows its own liturgy but recognizes the Roman Catholic Pope), and the Armenian Brotherhood, which considers itself part of the Armenian Apostolic Church but has been much influenced by Protestantism. There are numerous Armenian churches belonging to Protestant denominations of all kinds.

Related Topics:
Armenian Catholic - Roman Catholic - Pope - Armenian Brotherhood - Protestantism

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