Geography of Armenia

Location: Armenia is a southwestern Asian country, east of Turkey

Geographic coordinates: 40 00 N, 45 00 E

Map references: Commonwealth of Independent States

Area:
total: 29,800 km²
land: 28,400 km²
water: 1,400 km²

Area comparative

• Australia comparative: about one third the size of Tasmania
• Canada comparative: half the size of Nova Scotia
• United Kingdom comparative: slightly larger than Wales
• United States comparative: slightly smaller than Maryland

Land boundaries:
total: 1,254 km
border countries: Azerbaijan-proper 566 km, Azerbaijan-Naxcivan exclave 221 km, Georgia 164 km, Iran 35 km, Turkey 268 km

Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)

Maritime claims: none (landlocked)

Climate: highland continental, hot summers, cold winters

Terrain: Armenian Highland with mountains; little forest land; fast flowing rivers; good soil in Aras River valley

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Debed River 400 m
highest point: Mount Aragats 4,095 m

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

Land use:
arable land: 17%
permanent crops: 3%
permanent pastures: 24%
forests and woodland: 15%
other: 41% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 2,870 km² (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: occasionally severe earthquakes; droughts

Environment - current issues: soil pollution from toxic chemicals such as DDT; energy blockade, the result of conflict with Azerbaijan, has led to deforestation when citizens scavenged for firewood; pollution of Hrazdan (Razdan) and Aras Rivers; the draining of Sevana Lich (Lake Sevan), 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

Environment - international agreements:
party to: Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands,
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants

Geography - note: landlocked

Reference

Much of the material in this article comes from the CIA World Factbook 2000 and the 2003 U.S. Department of State website.