Armenian population

The demographic situation in Armenia is in the focus of attention of the government of the country, which recently approved the strategy of demographic policy for 2009-2035. and related program of activities. The program provides for the implementation of a number of projects aimed at demographic development and population growth in Armenia. Particular attention in Armenia is also paid to assisting Armenian families, assisting in the birth of children in large families.

An important factor influencing the change in the country's population is emigration, primarily to Russia ^[4] .

Life expectancy at birth increased slightly in 2013-2017 and amounted to 75.4 years in 2017 (71.9 for men, 78.8 for women). ^[five]

Statistics

From October 18 to October 27, 2020, a population census will be held in Armenia. ^[13]

Forecast

According to the UN forecast published in 2019, the population of Armenia will be: ^{[14] [15]}

Ratio of urban to rural population

The share of urban population decreased to a minimum in the post-Soviet period at the time of the last census in 2011 - 63.3%. In 2012-2013 this indicator has stabilized, and since 2014, there has been an increase in the share of the urban population, which in 2018 amounted to 63.8% of the total population ^[5] .

Urban population

45 cities out of 48 (93.7%) are small (up to 50 thousand people) and medium (from 50-100 thousand people) cities, in which 35.6% of the urban population is concentrated.

Classification of urban settlements by population:

Yerevan , Gyumri , Vanadzor are the most populated cities in which 1 million 633 thousand people or 64.3% of the urban population of Armenia are concentrated. The largest group is a group of small cities (up to 50 thousand inhabitants), only 42. According to the number of people, it occupies the second place - 716 thousand people (average population 14.7 thousand people), including the number of cities having from 10 to 50 thousand inhabitants - 16, the average number of which is 13.4 thousand people, cities with up to 10 thousand people (13 cities) with an average population of 5.1 thousand inhabitants.

The urban population is distributed as follows:

• Yerevan city ​​- 49.2%
• Large cities from 100-250 thousand people - 15.1%
• Medium-sized cities from 50-100 thousand people - 7.5%
• Small cities up to 50 thousand people - 28.2%

Rural population

The largest percentage of rural communities in Armenia are villages with a population of 1,001 to 3,000 residents (35.1%), the smallest - up to 100 residents - 4.1% (not counting 10 uninhabited communities). The number of residents in them is respectively 46.1% and 0.2% of the total rural population of the republic.

The number of large villages with a population of more than 3,000 is 96. They account for approximately 37% of the total rural population. By the size of settlements, the Gegharkunik region is the leader, in which 20 out of 87 villages have more than 3,000 inhabitants, which is 65% of the rural population of the region. In the Kotayk region, they make up 52%, in Ararat - 38.8%, in Armavir - 35.3%, in Syunik - settlements with 3000 or more inhabitants are absent. There are few such villages in Vayots Dzor (13.7%), Shirak (20.2%) and Lori (24.8%) regions.

The number of “super-large” (over 8 thousand) rural communities is 6.

An analysis of the data of the people and the population in the mountainous, border areas reveals a low population in the regions of Syunik and Vayots-Dzor , in comparison with other regions of Armenia , which is mainly explained by the unfavorable socio-economic conditions of the region and, as a consequence, the intensive migration of the population. As can be seen from the data in the table below, in the republic (both in the capital and in all regions) there was a drop in the birth rate (4563) and natural population growth (by 3763). At the same time, the number of marriages decreased (1997 - 12,521, in 1998 - 11,365).

Key indicators of natural population dynamics :

External Migration

Armenians belong to peoples, most of whom live outside the homeland (about 5 million Armenians live in 66 countries).

Interstate migration in terms of volumes and consequences is the most significant phenomenon of the newest period of Armenia. ^[4] Until the beginning of the 80s, Armenia had a positive balance of interstate migration, that is, the population of the republic increased not only due to natural growth, but also due to immigration flows.

Interstate migration of the population of Armenia in 1980-1987. :

The vast majority of emigrants left for the Russian Federation - 84.2%, in Ukraine - 8.8% and in the USA - 1.9%.

The exception was 1989-1991, when the negative balance of migration changed to a positive one due to the flow of refugees and forcibly displaced persons to Armenia. Currently in Armenia there are 350 thousand refugees and persons equated with them. The last time the migration growth of the population of Armenia was noted in 1991 (4.4 thousand people), but already in 1992 the migration loss (balance) amounted to 214.3 thousand people, in 1993 the decrease was 138.6 thousand people ., and in 1994 the decrease amounted to 122.9 thousand people, that is, for 1992-1994, when the most massive departure of Armenian residents abroad was observed, the population of Armenia decreased due to migration loss by 475.8 thousand people. In subsequent years, the average annual migration loss of the country's population was 26.7 thousand people per year ^[8] .

In 2015-2018, there has been a decrease in the rate of emigration of the population. ^[sixteen]

In 2017, Iran, India, and Russia were the leading by the number of citizens living in Armenia. ^[five]

Internal Migration

Migration within Armenia is characterized by the movement of population from villages to cities, as a result of which a rather high level of urbanization of the country was observed. If at the beginning of the 60s approximately half of the population lived in the cities of Armenia, then by the end of the century the ratio between urban and rural population was 69% and 31%.

The population moved both from high-altitude settlements to low-lying places (especially to the Ararat plain), and from remote sparsely populated areas to large cities of the republic, especially to Yerevan.

Regional Specifics of Internal Migration

As a result of the rapid internal development of Armenia over the past 80 years, a significant imbalance has arisen between the central and peripheral regions. In the central agglomeration (Yerevan and its zone of influence), which makes up approximately 20% of the republic’s territory, 2/3 of the population and more than half of the labor resources are concentrated, while in the peripheral regions (Syunik, Tavush, etc.), there is a constant outflow.

An analysis of the socio-economic situation of the highland and border regions of Armenia shows that over the past decades there has been a significant drop in economic potential. Sown areas have decreased, branches of industrial production have ceased to function. As a result of hostilities, natural disasters, physical and moral depreciation, economic infrastructures — housing, industrial facilities, roads, public utilities, and socio-cultural facilities — were damaged or severely damaged.

In these settlements, a significant decrease in the number of inhabitants was observed due to a drop in the birth rate and youth migration. Such settlements include 174 border and 138 mountain settlements, which over the past 10 years have left 72 thousand inhabitants. ^[17]

According to the 2011 census, supporters of the Armenian Apostolic Church (2 796 519 people or 92.63% of the total population) absolutely prevail, the second largest evangelical Christians (primarily Baptists and Pentecostals ) - 29280 people (0.97% of the population), third - adherents of Yezidism (25,204 people or 0.83% of the total population, among ethnic Yezidis their share is 69.44%, among Kurds - 31.54%), Catholics - 13 843 people (0.46%; these are mainly ethnic Armenians however, among Russians the share of Catholics is 2.82%), Jehovah's Witnesses (8 695 or 0.29%; mainly Armenians), Orthodox ( 7 532 or 0.25%; the majority of Orthodox (3 413) ethnic Armenians, although their share among Armenians is 0.12%, among Russians 2 798 Orthodox, their share among Russians is 23.49%, among Ukrainians 30.61%, among Assyrians 21.70%, among Greeks 12.11%, among Georgians 15.07%), pagans (5 434 or 0.18%; most pagans are Yezidis (3,624 people), their share among Yezidis is 10.26% , among Kurds 1,068 people or 49.40% of Kurds, among ethnic Armenians 734 people. or 0.02% of Armenians), Molokans (2872 or 0.10%; these are mainly Russians (2 755 people), their share among Russians is 23.13%), others (7 888 or 0.26%; among them a significant part is made up of Muslims , who are not separately identified by census, and therefore the category of “others” is assigned to 73.22% of all Persians, a significant proportion of “others” is also among the Assyrians - 34.16%, Kurds - 5.74%, ethnic Yezidis - 4 , 14%), do not have religious affiliation (34,373 people or 1.14% of the population; most of them are ethnic Armenians, their share is the highest among Russians - 2.73%), they refused to give an answer about religion during the census Ioznoy accessories 10 941 people. (0.36% of the population), religion is not indicated in the census documents for 76 273 people. (2.63% of the population) ^[18] .

Armenia is the only country of the former USSR with an almost mono-ethnic population (98% of Armenians ^[2] ). The largest ethnic minorities of Armenia are Yezidis , Russians , Assyrians , Kurds , Ukrainians , Greeks , Georgians .

• Russians in Armenia
• Ukrainians in Armenia
• Assyrians in Armenia
• Jews in Armenia
• Greeks in Armenia
• Azerbaijanis in Armenia

• National Statistical Service of the Republic of Armenia