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== History ==
== History ==
[[File:Armenia_in_Paris_Peace_Conferance_1919.jpg|350px|thumb|Map of Armenia officially presented by the Armenian National Delegation to the [[Paris Peace Conference]], 1919<ref>[http://www.archive.org/details/americaasmandata00amer '''America as Mandatary for Armenia''', American Committee for the Independence of Armenia, New York, 1919</ref>]]
[[Strabo]] stated in his book "Geography" that "Now the Tigris receives from the southernmost parts of Armenia, which are near Babylonia, the water of the melted snows, which is not much, since it comes from the southern side, and this river would therefore be flooded less than the Euphrates; but the Euphrates receives the water from both parts, and not merely from one mountain, but from many, as I made clear in my description of Armenia, where I added the length of that river, giving first the length of its course in Greater Armenia and Lesser Armenia, and secondly its length from Lesser Armenia and Cappadocia through the Taurus as far as Thapsacus, where it forms the boundary between Lower Syria and Mesopotamia, and, thirdly, the rest of its length as far as Babylon and the outlet, a length, all told, of thirty-six thousand stadia. So much, then, for the canals."[http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/16A*.html]
[[Strabo]] stated in his book "Geography" that "Now the Tigris receives from the southernmost parts of Armenia, which are near Babylonia, the water of the melted snows, which is not much, since it comes from the southern side, and this river would therefore be flooded less than the Euphrates; but the Euphrates receives the water from both parts, and not merely from one mountain, but from many, as I made clear in my description of Armenia, where I added the length of that river, giving first the length of its course in Greater Armenia and Lesser Armenia, and secondly its length from Lesser Armenia and Cappadocia through the Taurus as far as Thapsacus, where it forms the boundary between Lower Syria and Mesopotamia, and, thirdly, the rest of its length as far as Babylon and the outlet, a length, all told, of thirty-six thousand stadia. So much, then, for the canals."<ref>[http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/16A*.html]</ref>
After World War I and the Armenian Genocide the borders of a new Armenian state were internationally negotiated.{{Citation needed|date=April 2011}}
After World War I and the Armenian Genocide the borders of a new Armenian state were internationally negotiated.{{Citation needed|date=April 2011}}


=== Paris Peace Conference, 1919 ===
=== Paris Peace Conference, 1919 ===
[[File:Armenia_in_Paris_Peace_Conferance_1919.jpg|thumb|Map of Armenia officially presented by the Armenian National Delegation to the [[Paris Peace Conference]], 1919]]<ref>[http://www.archive.org/details/americaasmandata00amer '''America as Mandatary for Armenia''', American Committee for the Independence of Armenia, New York, 1919</ref>]]
The [[Paris Peace Conference, 1919|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 [[Paris Peace Conference, 1919|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.


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=== Wilsonian Armenia, 1920===
=== Wilsonian Armenia, 1920===
[[Image:First republic of Armenia-west boarders by Woodrow Wilson.png|thumb|1920, Map of [[Wilsonian Armenia]]]]
[[Image:First republic of Armenia-west boarders by Woodrow Wilson.png|thumb|275px||1920, Map of [[Wilsonian Armenia]]]]


[[Wilsonian Armenia]] refers to the boundary configuration for [[Armenia|Armenian state]] drawn up by [[President of the United States of America|U.S. President]] [[Woodrow Wilson]] for the [[Treaty of Sèvres]].<ref name=dadrian>Dadrian Vahakn N. ''The History of the Armenian Genocide: Ethnic Conflict from the Balkans to Anatolia to the Caucasus'' - Page 356</ref> The [[Treaty of Sèvres]] was a [[peace treaty]] signed by some of the [[Allies of World War I]], on 10 August 1920.
[[Wilsonian Armenia]] refers to the boundary configuration for [[Armenia|Armenian state]] drawn up by [[President of the United States of America|U.S. President]] [[Woodrow Wilson]] for the [[Treaty of Sèvres]].<ref name=dadrian>Dadrian Vahakn N. ''The History of the Armenian Genocide: Ethnic Conflict from the Balkans to Anatolia to the Caucasus'' - Page 356</ref> The [[Treaty of Sèvres]] was a [[peace treaty]] signed by some of the [[Allies of World War I]], on 10 August 1920.

Revision as of 01:31, 1 September 2011

Political concept of a United Armenia with modern-day borders

Greater Armenia (Armenian: Միացյալ Հայաստան Miatsyal Hayastan; United Armenia) is the territory claimed by some Armenian nationalist groups, includes Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) and Western Armenia that was a part of the Democratic Republic of Armenia from 1918 to 1920.[1] Its political goal aimed at uniting Armenia with most of the Armenian Highland, the historical homeland of the Armenians from antiquity until the 20th century.

History

Map of Armenia officially presented by the Armenian National Delegation to the Paris Peace Conference, 1919[2]

Strabo stated in his book "Geography" that "Now the Tigris receives from the southernmost parts of Armenia, which are near Babylonia, the water of the melted snows, which is not much, since it comes from the southern side, and this river would therefore be flooded less than the Euphrates; but the Euphrates receives the water from both parts, and not merely from one mountain, but from many, as I made clear in my description of Armenia, where I added the length of that river, giving first the length of its course in Greater Armenia and Lesser Armenia, and secondly its length from Lesser Armenia and Cappadocia through the Taurus as far as Thapsacus, where it forms the boundary between Lower Syria and Mesopotamia, and, thirdly, the rest of its length as far as Babylon and the outlet, a length, all told, of thirty-six thousand stadia. So much, then, for the canals."[3] After World War I and the Armenian Genocide the borders of a new Armenian state were internationally negotiated.[citation needed]

Paris Peace Conference, 1919

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.

Wilsonian Armenia, 1920

1920, Map of Wilsonian Armenia

Wilsonian Armenia refers to the boundary configuration for Armenian state drawn up by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson for the Treaty of Sèvres.[4] The Treaty of Sèvres was a peace treaty signed by some of the Allies of World War I, on 10 August 1920.

The proposed state incorporated the vilayets (provinces) of Van, Bitlis, and Erzurum, which were parts of the region referred to as Ottoman Armenia (also referred to as Western Armenia). This region was extended to the north, up to the west side of Trebizond Vilayet to provide the Democratic Republic of Armenia with an outlet to the Black Sea at the port of Trabzon. It was initially granted to Armenia to provide them with an outlet to the sea. This Trebizond Vilayet was not one of the 6 Armenian provinces (vilayets) during the Ottoman period. Since a lot of Greeks lived there, the creation of an autonomous Greek state called Republic of Pontus was considered, most likely as part of a Ponto-Armenian Federation, before the Greeks lost their war with the Turks in 1922.

Current use

The modern use of this term by the Armenian Revolutionary Federation[5] encompass the following areas:

Region
Armenian name
Location Area (km²) Capital
(historical center / largest city)
Republic of Armenia
Հայաստանի Հանրապետություն
Armenia Republic of Armenia
29,800
Yerevan
Western Armenia
Արևմտյան Հայաստան
Turkey East Anatolia
103,599 1
Van
Nagorno-Karabakh
Լեռնային Արցախ
Republic of Artsakh Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (de-facto)
Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (de-jure)
11,458.38 2
Stepanakert (Khankendi)
Lower (Northern) Artsakh
Դաշտային Արցախ
Azerbaijan Mountainous area bordering Armenia north of NKR and west to Kura River
~5,000 3
Gandzak (Ganja)
Nakhijevan
Նախիջևան
Azerbaijan Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic
5,363
Nakhijevan (Nakhchivan)
Javakhk (Javakheti)
Ջավախք
Georgia (country) Akhalkalaki, Ninotsminda, Aspindza, Akhaltsikhe (Samtskhe-Javakheti) and Tsalka (Kvemo Kartli) districts
5,475
Akhalkalaki
TOTAL
Greater Armenia
170,000 km²
Yerevan
1 the area of Wilsonian Armenia, given to Armenia by an arbitral award of US President Woodrow Wilson between Armenia and Turkey.[6]
2 de-facto contolled by the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
3 including all or parts of the territories of following rayons (districts): Dashkasan (Karhat), Goygol (former Khanlar), Gadabay (Getabek), Goranboy (former Shahumyan), Shamkir (Shamkor)

</ref>==Demography==

The Armenian population in historical Armenian regions in 1896.

Since the Middle Ages, other ethnic groups migrated to the Armenian Highland. Presently, various ethnic groups, such as the Kurds and Turks (in Western Armenia), Georgians (in Javakhk) and Azerbaijanis (in Nakhijevan and Lower Artsakh) live in this region.
Armenians form majority in the Republic of Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and Javakhk.

Region Total population Main ethnic groups
(largest in bold)
Armenians Armenian %
Armenia Republic of Armenia 3,213,011 Armenians, Yezidis, Russians 3,145,354 [7] 98
Republic of Artsakh Nagorno-Karabakh Republic 141,400 Armenians, Russians 141,400 [8] 99.7
Javakhk 175,312 Armenians, Georgians, Russians 121,009 [9] 69%
Western Armenia approx. 5,000,000 Kurds (~2/3), Turks (~1/3), Azerbaijanis (~5%) 39,000 - 44,000 (Hamshenis) 1 ~1% (Hamshenis)
Lower Artsakh ~1,325,000 Azerbaijanis 119 2 0.01%
Nakhijevan 354,072 Azerbaijanis, Kurds, Russians 17 [10] 0.005%
Greater Armenia ~11,300,000 Armenians, Kurds, Turks, Azerbaijanis

Russians, Yezidis, Greeks, etc.

~3,500,000 30%
1 mainly in the provinces of Artvin and Rize [11]
2 in Ganja-Qazakh Economic Region [12]

Republic of Armenia

De-facto Republic of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh Republic are united, although NKR territory is part of Azerbaijan. In Republic of Armenia, Armenians compass about 98% of the total population. The largest minorities are Yezidis (about 40,000), Russians (15,000) and Assyrians (4,000).

Nagorno-Karabakh Republic

Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is even more monoethnic than Republic of Armenia, with 99.7% of population being Armenian. There is a small Russian community there. Number one reason of monoethnicity of the region was the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, during which Armenian army established contorol over most of the territory of former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast and adjacent rayons (districts) of Azerbaijan as a buffer zone, which is mostly uninhabited, with the city of Lachin/Berdzor being excluding.

Javakhk

Today, Javakhk is part of Georgia's Samtskhe-Javakheti and Kvemo Kartli regions. In the districts of Akhalkalak and Ninotsminda (Samtskhe-Javakheti) and Tsalka (Kvemo Kartli) Armenians form majority. The Akhaltsikhe District has mixed Armenian (about 37%) and Georgian (about 62%) population. There are some Armenian-inhabited villages in Borjomi and Aspindza districts.

Ethnic map of Six Armenian Vilayets (Western Armenia) in the beginning of the 20th century.

Western Armenia

Before the Armenian Genocide there were, according to some sources, from 1,300,000 up to 2,500,000 Armenians in the Ottoman Empire. During the Armenian Genocide, most Armenian were either massacred or escaped to Eastern Armenia, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, France, United States, Greece, etc. According to the census of 1927, 123,602 Armenians lived in Turkey, mostly in Istanbul. [13]

However, Armenians can technically become a majority with a mass repatriation of all Armenians from the diaspora, who are mainly descendants of Western Armenians.

Today, Kurds (including the Zaza people) form majority in the eastern provinces of Turkey. Turks are the second ethnic group by number. The minorities include Azerbaijanis (mainly in the provinces of Kars and Iğdır) and Laz people (Muslim Georgians). Along with the Hamshenis (Muslim Armenians), Laz people form the majority of the population of two Black Sea coast provinces of Artvin and Rize.

Province (vilayet) Armenian population

(Ottoman census, 1914)[14]

Armenian population

(Armenian Patriarchate, 1913/1914)[15]

Bilis 119,132 218,404
Van 67,792 110,897
Erzurum 136,618 202,391
Sebastia (Sivas) 151,674 204,472
Diarbekir 65,850 106,867
Kharpert (Mamuretülaziz) 87,862 124,289
TOTAL 628,928 967,320
Ethnic groups in Nakhijevan[16]
Year Armenians % Azeris % Others 1 % TOTAL
1831[17] 37,000 68.4 17,1002 31.6 N/A N/A 54,100
1896 [18] 36,671 42.2 49,477 56,9 730 0.8 86,878
1897 3[19] 34,672 34.4 64,151 63.7 1,948 1.9 100,771
1917 53,900 40 81,100 2 60 N/A N/A 135,000
1926[20] 11,276 10.8 88,433 84.5 4,947 4.7 104,656
1935 13,400 10.8 104,800 84.5 5,800 4.7 124,000
1959 9,500 6.7 127,900 90.2 4,400 3.1 141,800
1970 5,800 2.9 187,400 93.7 6,800 3.4 200,000
1979 3,400 1.4 233,000 95.7 6,500 2.7 242,900
1999 [21] 17 0 350,806 99,08 3,249 0.1 354,072
1 Russians, Kurds, Turks, Ukrainians, Georgians, Persians etc.
2 Azeris combined with other Muslims. 3 According to mother tongue.

Lower Artsakh

About 85,000 Armenians of Lower (Northern) Artsakh left their homes since the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict broke out in 1988. About 45,000 Armenians lived in the city of Kirovabad (now Ganja, historical Gandzak) and about 40,000 in the villages and towns of 4 rayons (Shahumian, Dashkesan, Shamkor and Khanlar). Armenians formed majority (about 80%) in Shahumian. In other rayons Armenians formed about 1/4 to 1/2 of the total population. The Armenian population of Shahumian was deported during the Operation Ring in 1991.

Nakhijevan

Armenians of Nakhijevan were forced to left their homes, because of the anti-Armenian policy of Azerbaijani and later Soviet Azerbaijani.[22] 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.

See also

References

  1. ^ James Minahan, Miniature Empires: a Historical Dictionary of the Newly Independent States, Greenwood Publishing Group, 1998, ISBN 9780313306105, p. 2.
  2. ^ [http://www.archive.org/details/americaasmandata00amer America as Mandatary for Armenia, American Committee for the Independence of Armenia, New York, 1919
  3. ^ [1]
  4. ^ Dadrian Vahakn N. The History of the Armenian Genocide: Ethnic Conflict from the Balkans to Anatolia to the Caucasus - Page 356
  5. ^ "Goals of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation". Retrieved 2009-07-13.
  6. ^ Legal Bases for Armenian Claims by Ara Papyan ...The Territory that was being allocated to Armenia by arbitration (40 000 square miles = 103 599 square kilometers)
  7. ^ National Statistical Service of the Republic of Armenia
  8. ^ Official Statistics of the NKR. Official site of the President of the NKR
  9. ^ Statistics Georgia
  10. ^ The State Statistical Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan
  11. ^ 1975 yılı köy nüfusu kayıtlarına göre anadili Ermenice 24.000, Türkçe olan 15-20.000 Müslüman Hemşinli bulunmaktadır. P. A. Andrews, Ethnic Groups in the Republic of Turkey, Reichert, Wiesbaden, 1989, s. 130
  12. ^ The State Statistical Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan. See figures for Agstafa, Dashkasan, Gadabay, Gazakh, Khanlar, Samukh, Shamkir, Tovuz, and Ganja
  13. ^ [http://www.tallarmeniantale.com/census-gurun.htm In the Turkish Republic the first census was held in 1927. At that time the Armenian population of the country was 123,602.
  14. ^ 1914 Ottoman Census[2]
  15. ^ THE POPULATION OF THE OTTOMAN ARMENIANS by Justin McCarthy
  16. ^ Template:Ru icon NIRA Aksakal - Армянское Косово (Armenian Kososvo)
  17. ^ N.G. Volkova (1969). Этнические процессы в Закавказье в XIX—XX веках (in Russian). Moscow: Институт Этнографии им. Н. Н. Миклухо-Маклая АН СССР (University of Ethnography). {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  18. ^ Template:Ru icon Нахичевань. Энциклопедический словарь Брокгауза и Ефрона Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary
  19. ^ Template:Ru icon Демокоп Weekly Нахичеванский уезд
  20. ^ 1926 All-Soviet Census: Nakhchivan ASSR
  21. ^ The State Statistical Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan - Regions of Azerbaijan- Nakchivan economic district - Ethnic Structure
  22. ^ "Армянское Косово," 'НИРА Аксакал