Top 5 questions about Armenia you may have – that’s what we’ll be talking about today. We have analysed which phrases you look for most often in the browsers and prepared a short set of the answers. Everything you need to know a bit more about Armenia. By the way we have added a bonus question so stay till the end!
The Caucasus podcast you can listen to also in main podcasting platforms, including Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Where we found your questions about Armenia?
We have used Google statistics and outocomplete to see wthat are the most common qyestions you ask and informations you need about Armenia. Google autocomplete works in a way it suggests what other users were typing. So based on that we have chosen top 5 questions people type about Armenia.
Is Armenia in Europe?
The most popular of 5 questions about Armenia
This is a very political, ideological question. If you ask an Armenian, I am sure they will tell you that of course Armenia is in Europe, and in addition it is the bulwark or border of Europe. From the perspective of the borders of Europe, naming is a very conventional, contractual demarcation after all, and it was changing over time and along centuries. In the case of the Caucasus, one of the theories says that the eastern border runs through the Greater Caucasus and the Black Sea, so neither Armenia nor Georgia would be caught in the borders of Europe, but this is not the border that is preferred by Armenians themselves.
We have already mentioned the geographical issues above, so let’s look at the aspects of organizations and initiatives. So Armenia is a member of the Council of Europe, it participates in Eurovision, on many airline websites you will find Armenia in the Europe tab. Also culturally many Armenians emphasize that they belong to Europe.
Is Armenia Christian and celebrate Christmas?
For this we have combined 2 questions about Armenia as they are connected.
In Armenia, the dominant religion is the Armenian Apostolic Church. Over 80% of Armenians from Armenia declare their affiliation with it. The head of the Armenian Church is the Catholicos of All Armenians, which means we are talking about Christianity, but in the version of the so-called oriental churches, which in the 5th century did not accept the decisions of the council and separated. The second largest religious group are Catholics. There are very few believers of non- Christian religion.
Therefore Armenians do celebrate Christmas but not in December. They celebrate it on 6th of January.
Is Armenia in EU?
No, Armenia is not a member of the European Union. Armenia signed a partnership agreement with the EU in 2021, and as we’re recording this episode, we see a shift in Armenia’s foreign policy toward more EU cooperation. For example there was a Armenian citizens petition to start talks with EU about further integration and was also a bill passed in parliament that further cooperation with EU is one of the goals of the Armenia’s foreign policy. There is also an EU observer mission in Armenia in connection with the conflict with Azerbaijan. There is another question in our TOP5 questions about Armenia that is connected with Azerbaijan as well.
This episode about Dos and dnot’s when learnin Armenian may be also interesting for you
Does Armenia speak Russian?
The official language of Armenia is Armenian. To be more precise it’s Eastern Armenian form. The Western Armenian is mainly spoken in diasporas in Europe and Americas. Armenian language is one of the Indo-European languages so we may say it’s a very distant cousin of for example English or French. Armenian also has own alphabet that is not similar to either Russian one or the Latin one. However learning it is quite easy especially with the good study materials we provide for you e.g. during our Armenian languages courses in our school.
Some Armenians still speak Russian, e.g. they remember it from Soviet times as Russian was more heavily used in the Caucasus back then. You may be able to communicate in Russian with some Armenians but for sure it is not a dominant language in the country. Definitely it’s good to learn at least the basic phrases in Armenian when going to Armenia. And if you want to learn Armenian, you can learn with our Armenian teacher individually or during group classes.
Do Armenia and Azerbaijan get along?
The short answer for all these questions about Armenia and Azerbaijan is no. For over 30 years there is a territorial conflict for Nagorno Karabakh among other and there were conventional wars and combat between the countries. Therefore any border between these countries has been closed for over 3 decades. Therefore if you plan to travel whole South Caucasus during one trip read more about the routes and transportation possibilities.
By the way if you have like 1-2 weeks I would discourage you to plan visiting all 3 Sount Caucasian countries because all you would to is to be in car driving. This is mountainous area and traveling from one place to another may take much more time than you would assume just looking at the map.
Does Armenia use Euro?
The last, bonus one of today’s questions about Armenia.
The currency in Armenia is the Armenian dram, which is the equivalent of Euro. One dram is divided into 100 lumas. If the word dram sounds familiar to you, you may be familiar with the Greek drachma – there are some research the two words are historically related. Therefore in standard shops, cafes or at the market you cannot pay usually with Euro however here is no problem in exchanging Euro to dram when already in Armenia.
These were all 5, even 6 questions about Armenia. If you want to start speaking or learn the survival Armenian before your holidays check out our online courses.
