Geography of Armenia
Armenia is a landlocked country in the South Caucasus region of the Caucasus. The country is geographically located in West Asia, within the Armenian plateau.<ref name="classification of world regions">The UN classification of world regions Template:Webarchive places Armenia in West Asia; the CIA World Factbook Template:Cite web Template:Cite web, Template:Cite encyclopedia, Template:Cite book and Oxford Reference Online Template:Cite encyclopedia also place Armenia in Asia.</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Hewsen">Hewsen, Robert H. "The Geography of Armenia" in The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiquity to the Fourteenth Century. Richard G. Hovannisian (ed.) New York: St. Martin's Press, 1997, pp. 1–17</ref> Armenia is bordered on the north and east by Georgia and Azerbaijan and on the south and west by Iran, Azerbaijan's exclave Nakhchivan, and Turkey.
The terrain is mostly mountainous, with fast flowing rivers and few forests. The climate is highland continental: hot summers and cold winters. The land rises to Template:Convert above sea-level at Mount Aragats.
Physical environment
[edit]
Armenia is located in the southern Caucasus, the region southwest of Russia between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea.<ref name=":02">Template:Citation-attribution</ref> Modern Armenia occupies part of historical Armenia, whose ancient centers were in the valley of the Araks River and the region around Lake Van in Turkey.<ref name=":02" /> Armenia is bordered on the north by Georgia, on the east by Azerbaijan, on the south by Iran, and on the west by Turkey.<ref name=":02" />
In Armenia forest cover is around 12% of the total land area, equivalent to 328,470 hectares (ha) of forest in 2020, down from 334,730 hectares (ha) in 1990. In 2020, naturally regenerating forest covered 310,000 hectares (ha) and planted forest covered 18,470 hectares (ha). Of the naturally regenerating forest 5% was reported to be primary forest (consisting of native tree species with no clearly visible indications of human activity) and around 0% of the forest area was found within protected areas. For the year 2015, 100% of the forest area was reported to be under public ownership.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Topography and drainage
[edit]
Twenty-five million years ago, a geological upheaval pushed up the Earth's crust to form the Armenian Plateau, creating the complex topography of modern Armenia.<ref name=":02" /> The Lesser Caucasus range extends through northern Armenia, runs southeast between Lake Sevan and Azerbaijan, then passes roughly along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border to Iran.<ref name=":02" /> Thus situated, the mountains make travel from north to south difficult.<ref name=":02" /> Geological turmoil continues in the form of devastating earthquakes, which have plagued Armenia.<ref name=":02" /> In December 1988, the second largest city in the republic, Leninakan (now Gyumri), was heavily damaged by a massive quake that killed more than 25,000 people.<ref name=":02" />
About half of Armenia's area of approximately Template:Convert has an elevation of at least Template:Convert, and only 3% of the country lies below Template:Convert.<ref name=":02" /> The lowest points are in the valleys of the Araks River and the Debed River in the far north, which have elevations of Template:Convert, respectively.<ref name=":02" /> Elevations in the Lesser Caucasus vary between Template:Convert.<ref name=":02" /> To the southwest of the range is the Armenian Plateau, which slopes southwestward toward the Araks River on the Turkish border.<ref name=":02" /> The plateau is masked by intermediate mountain ranges and extinct volcanoes.<ref name=":02" /> The largest of these, Mount Aragats, Template:Convert high, is also the highest point in Armenia.<ref name=":02" /> Most of the population lives in the western and northwestern parts of the country, where the two major cities, Yerevan and Gyumri, are located.<ref name=":02" />
The valleys of the Debed and Akstafa rivers form the chief routes into Armenia from the north as they pass through the mountains.<ref name=":02" /> Lake Sevan, Template:Convert across at its widest point and Template:Convert long, is by far the largest lake.<ref name=":02" /> It lies Template:Convert above sea level on the plateau and is Template:Convert large.<ref name=":02" /><ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> Other main lakes are: Arpi, Template:Convert, Sev, Template:Convert, Akna Template:Convert.<ref name=":0" />
Terrain is most rugged in the extreme southeast, which is drained by the Bargushat River, and most moderate in the Araks River valley to the extreme southwest.<ref name=":02" /> Most of Armenia is drained by the Araks or its tributary, the Hrazdan, which flows from Lake Sevan.<ref name=":02" /> The Araks forms most of Armenia's border with Turkey and Iran,<ref name=":02" /> while the Zangezur Mountains form the border between Armenia's southern province of Syunik and Azerbaijan's adjacent Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic.
Climate
[edit]Temperatures in Armenia generally depend upon elevation.<ref name=":02" /> Mountain formations block the moderating climatic influences of the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea, creating wide seasonal variations with cold snowy winters, and warm to hot summers.<ref name=":02" /> On the Armenian Plateau, the mean midwinter temperature is Template:Convert to Template:Convert, and the mean midsummer temperature is Template:Convert to Template:Convert.<ref name=":02" /> Average precipitation ranges from Template:Convert per year in the lower Araks River valley to Template:Convert at the highest altitudes.<ref name=":02" /> Despite the harshness of winter in most parts (with frosts reaching Template:Convert and lower in Shirak regionTemplate:Citation needed), the fertility of the plateau's volcanic soil made Armenia one of the world's earliest sites of agricultural activity.<ref name=":02" />
Area and boundaries
[edit]Template:More citations needed
Area:
total: 29,743 km2<ref name=":0" />
- country comparison to the world: 143
land: 28,203 km2
water: 1,540 km2
Area comparative
- Australia comparative: about one third (33%) the size of Tasmania
- Canada comparative: greater than half (56%) the size of Nova Scotia
- Turkey comparative: about a quarter (24%) smaller than the size of Konya Province.
- United Kingdom comparative: about one third larger (30%) than Wales
- United States comparative: slightly smaller (7%) than Maryland
- EU comparative: slightly smaller (8%) than Belgium
Land boundaries:
total: 1,570 km
border countries:
Azerbaijan 566 km, Azerbaijan-Nakhchivan exclave 221 km, Georgia 219 km, Iran 44 km, Turkey 311 km
Coastline:
0 km (landlocked)
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: 375m<ref name=":0" />
highest point: Mount Aragats 4,090 m<ref name=":0" />
Extreme points of Armenia:
North:
Tavush (Template:Coord)
South:
Syunik (Template:Coord)
West:
Shirak (Template:Coord)
East:
Syunik (Template:Coord)
Resources and land use
[edit]Template:More citations needed Template:See also Natural resources: deposits of gold, copper, molybdenum, zinc, bauxite
Armenia has significant deposits of copper, molybdenum and gold, as well as smaller deposits of zinc, lead and silver. Some copper-molybdenum and polymetallic ore deposits are rich in elements such as bismuth, tellurium, selenium, gallium, indium, thallium, rhenium and germanium.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Land use:
arable land:4.456 km²,<ref name=":0" /> 15.8%
permanent crops: 1.9%
permanent pastures: 4.2%
forest (2018): 11.2%<ref name=":0" />
other: 31.2% (2011)
Irrigated land: 2.084 km2 (2018)
Total renewable water resources:
7.77 m3 (2011) Armenia is considered to be a big water “supplier” in the Caspian basin; as a result, the country lacks water, especially in summer when the rate of evaporation exceeds the amount of precipitation. That is the main reason why since ancient times inhabitants have built water reservoirs and irrigation canals in the area. Lake Sevan contains the largest amount of water in the country.
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):
total: 2.86 km3/yr (40%/6%/54%)
per capita: 929.7 m3/yr (2010)
See also
[edit]- Atlas of Armenia
- Biogeographic regions of Europe
- Geography of Asia
- Geography of Europe
- Geology of Armenia
References
[edit]Further reading
[edit]Template:Armenia topics Template:Geography of Asia Template:Asia topic Template:Geography of Europe Template:Europe topic