hot summers, cold winters

Terrain: high Armenian Plateau with mountains; little forest land;
fast flowing rivers; good soil in Aras River valley
lowest point: Debed River 400 m
highest point: Aragats Lerr 4,095 m

Natural resources: small deposits of gold, copper, molybdenum,
zinc, alumina

Land use:
arable land: 17%
permanent crops: 3%
meadows and pastures: 20%
forest and woodland: 0%
other: 60%

Irrigated land: 3,050 sq km (1990)

Environment:
current issues: soil pollution from toxic chemicals such as DDT;
energy blockade, the result of conflict with Azerbaijan, has led to
deforestation as citizens scavenge for firewood; pollution of
Hrazdan (Razdan) and Aras Rivers; the draining of Sevana Lich, a
result of its use as a source for hydropower, threatens drinking
water supplies; restart of Metsamor nuclear power plant without
adequate (IAEA-recommended) safety and backup systems
natural hazards: occasionally severe earthquakes; droughts
international agreements: party to - Biodiversity, Climate Change,
Nuclear Test Ban, Wetlands; signed, but not ratified -
Desertification

Geographic note: landlocked

People
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Population: 3,463,574 (July 1996 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 28% (male 497,461; female 476,649)
15-64 years: 64% (male 1,085,935; female 1,132,282)
65 years and over: 8% (male 111,661; female 159,586) (July 1996 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.02% (1996 est.)

Birth rate: 16.27 births/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Death rate: 7.73 deaths/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Net migration rate: -8.3 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.7 male(s)/female
all ages: 0.96 male(s)/female (1996 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 38.9 deaths/1,000 live births (1996 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 69.06 years
male: 64.44 years
female: 73.92 years (1996 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.06 children born/woman (1996 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Armenian(s)
adjective: Armenian

Ethnic divisions: Armenian 93%, Azeri 3%, Russian 2%, other
(mostly Yezidi Kurds) 2% (1989)
note: as of the end of 1993, virtually all Azeris had emigrated from
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@Aruba
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(part of the Dutch realm)

Map