Demographics of Armenia

Armenia is a primarily Oriental Orthodox country. 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. 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.

Related Topics:
Oriental Orthodox - Jesus - St. Bartholomew - St. Thaddeus - 1st century - Armenian Apostolic Church - 3rd - 4th - Chalcedonian - Yazidi - Kurds - Zoroastrianism - Shamanism - Azeris - Karabagh

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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 accelerated as the term "European" increasingly was 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.

Related Topics:
European - Caucasia - European Union - Ethnic - Europe

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