United Armenia

File:Miatsyalhayasdan.JPG

Greater Armenia as advocated by the Armenian Revolutionary Federation under the title of United Armenia.

Greater Armenia (Armenian: Միացյալ Հայաստան, or United Armenia) is an Armenian irredentist political goal aimed at uniting with Armenia most of the Armenian Highland, the historical homeland of the Armenians since antiquity up until the Armenian Genocide when they were massacred and forcefully expelled by the Ottoman Turkish government.

History

After World War I and the Armenian Genocide, President Woodrow Wilson supported a proposed American mandate over these territories.

The Paris Peace Conference meeting in January 1919, witnessed the formation of pertinent decisions pertaining to the future of the Ottoman Empire. This Conference also witnessed the emergence of new partners, desiring to acquire shares from the Ottoman territories. These new partners did not hesitate to pronounce their desires to the Allies, albeit the clashes in their zones of interest. The surprised Allies, viewing these demands soon noted that regions such as Cilicia, Marash and the six Eastern provinces as well as Trabzon, demanded by the Armenians, was partially also a matter of interest for the Greeks. The Greek interests laid particularly in the Trabzon region to fulfill their intention of forming a Pontus Republic in the Black Sea. Hence, during the discussions of the Paris Peace Conference as Boghos Nubar Pasha claimed to pursue good relations with the Armenians, Eleftherios Venizelos persisted on preserving affirmative contacts with the Greeks.

This research is designed to analytically evaluate through archival documents as well, the January 1920 discussions in Erivan and Tiflis between the Greeks and Armenians for a possible confederation, attempted following the failure of the search of the Trabzon Metropolit Hrisantos pursued in Europe with the anticipation of finding support for the foundation of an independent Pontus.

Current use

1920 map showing the western border of the proposed Armenian state, determined by President Wilson.

The modern use of this term by the Armenian Revolutionary Federation encompass the following areas:

Region	Location	Area (km²)	Capital (administrative center)
Republic of Armenia	Republic of Armenia	29,800	Yerevan
Western Armenia	East Anatolia	103,599	Erzurum (Karin)
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic	Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (de-facto territories controlled)	11,458.38 (de-facto contolled)	Stepanakert
Northern Artsakh	Mountainous area bordering Armenia north of NKR and west to Kura River	10,000 (approximate)	Gandzak
Nakhijevan	Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic	5,363	Nakhijevan
Javakhk	Akhalkalaki, Ninotsminda, Aspindza, Akhaltsikhe (Samtskhe-Javakheti) and Tsalka (Kvemo Kartli)	5,474.9	Akhalkalaki
TOTAL	Greater Armenia	170,000 km²	Yerevan

Population

Ethnic groups

Proportion of nationalities in the vilayets of Ottoman Asia Minor according to the Ottoman census of 1914.

Ethnic map of Six Armenian Vilayets (Western Armenia)

Comparison table of Armenian, Azerbaijani and Kurdish population of Republic of Armenia

Presently in these territories live many other ethnic groups such as the Kurds and Turks (in Western Armenia), Georgians (in Javakhk) and Azerbaijanis (in Nakhijevan and Northern Artsakh). Armenians form majority in the Republic of Armenia, Nagorno-Karabkh and Javakhk. There are no Armenians left currently in Western Armenia after the Armenian Genocide had occurred.

In Nakhijevan, because of the Azerbaijani and later Soviet Azerbaijani Anti-Armenian policy, most of the Armenians of the region left their homes. The remaining approximately 2,000 Armenians were expelled by Azerbaijani forces during the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh as part of the forceful exchange of population between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Region	Total population	Main ethnic groups (largest in bold)	Armenians (%)
Western Armenia	~6,000,000	Kurds (60%), Turks (35%), Azerbaijanis	39,000-44,000
Republic of Armenia	3,213,011	Armenians, Yezidis, Russians, Assyrians	3,145,354 (97.9 %)
Northern Artsakh	1,325,000	Azerbaijanis, Turks	119 (0.01%)
Nakhijevan	354,072	Azerbaijanis, Kurds, Russians	17 (0.005%)
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic	137,737	Armenians, Russians	137,380 (99.7%)
Javakhk	175,312	Armenians, Georgians, Greeks and Russians	121,009 (69%)
Greater Armenia	11,300,000	Armenians, Kurds, Turks, Russians, Azerbaijanis	3,500,000 (30%)

Cities

The biggest city in the area is Yerevan, the capital of Republic of Armenia.

Rank	Name	Armenian name	Country	Population	Main ethnic group(s) (largest in bold)	Year
1	Yerevan	Երևան / Yerevan	Armenia	1,103,488	Armenians	2001
2	Erzurum	Կարին / Karin	Turkey	358,344	Kurds, Turks	2009
3	Van	Վան / Van	Turkey	352,292	Kurds, Turks	2009
4	Ganja	Գանձակ / Gandzak	Azerbaijan	313,000	Azerbaijanis, Russians	2009
5	Trabzon	Տրապիզոն / Trapizon	Turkey	283,233	Turks	2009
6	Gyumri	Գյումրի / Gyumri	Armenia	150,917	Armenians	2001
7	Vanadzor	Վանաձոր / Vanadzor	Armenia	107,394	Armenians	2001
8	Rize	Ռիզե / Rize	Turkey	89,008	Turks	2009
9	Ağrı	Կարաքիլիսե / Karakilise	Turkey	85,795	Kurds, Azerbaijanis, Turks	2009
10	Erzincan	Երզնկա / Yerznka	Turkey	85,323	Kurds, Turks	2009

See also

• Armenian Highland
• Wilsonian Armenia
• Foreign relations of Armenia
• Cilicia
• Other irredentist ideas:
  • Megali Idea
    • Republic of Pontus
    • Pontus
  • Whole Azerbaijan