Yerevan
2008/9 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Europe; European Cities
Coordinates:
| Yerevan Երեվան |
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  Yerevan
Երեվան |
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| Coordinates: | |||
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| Country |  Armenia |
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| Established | 782 BC | ||
| Government | |||
| - Mayor | Yervand Zakharyan | ||
| Area | |||
| - Total | 227 km² (87.6 sq mi) | ||
| Elevation | 989.4 m (3,246 ft) | ||
| Population (2007) | |||
| - Total | 1,107,800 | ||
| - Density | 5,196.4/km² (13,458.6/sq mi) | ||
| Time zone | GMT+4 ( UTC+4) | ||
| - Summer ( DST) | GMT+5 ( UTC+5) | ||
| Website: www.yerevan.am | |||
Yerevan ( Armenian: Երևան or Երեւան), pronounced /ˌjɛrəˈvɑːn/; sometimes written as Erevan, Iravan, Erewan, Ayrivan, and Erivan; former names include Erebuni, Revan, Ereun, and Yervandavan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia. It is situated on the Hrazdan River, and is the administrative, cultural, and industrial centre of the country. It has been the capital of Armenia since 1918 and the twelfth in the history of Armenia.
The history of Yerevan dates back to the 8th century BC, with the founding of the Urartian fortress of Erebuni in 782 BC at the western extremity of the Ararat plain. After World War I, Yerevan became the capital of the Democratic Republic of Armenia as thousands of survivors of the Armenian Genocide settled in the area. The city expanded rapidly during the 20th century when Armenia became one of the fifteen republics in the Soviet Union. In fifty years, Yerevan was transformed from a town of a few thousand residents during the first republic to the principal cultural, artistic and industrial centre as well as becoming the seat of the political institutions of the country.
With the growth of the economy of the country, Yerevan has been undergoing a major transformation as construction sites have appeared all over the city since the early 2000s. Today, the appearance of new buildings, roads, restaurants, boutiques, quarters etc. have started to erase the traces of 70 years of Soviet dominance.
In 2007, the population of Yerevan was estimated to be 1,107,800 people with the agglomeration around the city regrouping 1,245,700 people (official estimation), more than 42% of the population of Armenia.
Etymology and symbols
According to Armenian tradition, the name of Yerevan is derived from an expression exclaimed by Noah in Armenian while looking in the direction of Yerevan, after the ark had landed on Mount Ararat and after the flood waters had receded: "Yerevants!" ("it appeared!"). The more plausible theory on the origin of the name is that the city was named after the Armenian king, Yervand the Third (the Last), the last leader of the Orontid Dynasty and founder of the city of Yervandashat.
An Urartian military fortress called Erebuni (Էրեբունի), founded on the territory of modern-day Yerevan in the 8th century BC, had its name in time transformed into Yerevan; Margarit Israelyan noted these changes when comparing the inscriptions found on two cuneiform tablets:
The transcription of the second cuneiform bu [original emphasis] of the word was very essential in our interpretation as it is the Urartaean b that has been shifted to the Armenian v (b > v). The original writing of the inscription read «er-bu-ni»; therefore the prominent Armenianologist- orientalist Prof. G. A. Ghapantsian justly objected, remarking that the Urartu b changed to v at the beginning of the word (Biani > Van) or between two vowels (ebani > avan, Zabaha > Javakhk)....In other words b was placed between two vowels. The true pronunciation of the fortress-city was apparently Erebuny.
The principal symbol of Yerevan is Mount Ararat of Turkey which is visible from any area in the capital. The seal of the city is symbolized by a crowned lion on a pedestal with the inscription "Yerevan" with the head turned back and holding a scepter with the right front leg, which is the attribute of power and royalty. The symbol of eternity is on the breast of the lion with a picture of the Ararat in its upper part. The emblem has a form of a rectangular shield with the blue border line.
Since September 27, 2004, Yerevan has adopted a hymn, Erebuni-Yerevan, written by Paruyr Sevak and composed by Edgar Hovhanissian. It was selected in a competition for a new hymn and flag that would best represent the city. The chosen flag has a white background with the seal in the middle surrounded by twelve small red triangles that symbolize the twelve historic capitals of Armenia. The flag shows the three colours of the Armenian National flag on itself. The lion is on the orange background with blue edging.
History
Early history
The territory of Yerevan was settled in the fourth millennium BC, fortified settlements from the Bronze Age include Shengavit, Tsitsernakaberd, Karmir Blur, Arin Berd, Karmir Berd and Berdadzor. Archaeological evidence, such as a cuneiform inscription, indicates that an Urartian military fortress called Erebuni (Էրեբունի) was founded in 782 BC by the orders of King Argishti I at the site of current-day Yerevan, to serve as a fort and citadel guarding against attacks from the north Caucasus. Yerevan is thus one of the most ancient cities in the world.
Between the sixth and fourth centuries BC, Yerevan was one of the main centers of the Armenian satrapy of the Achaemenid Empire. During the height of Urartian power, irrigation canals and an artificial reservoir were built on Yerevan's territory. In 585 BC, the fortress of Teishebaini (Karmir Blur), thirty miles to the north of Yerevan, was destroyed by an alliance of Medes and the Scythians.
Due to the absence of historical data, the timespan between fourth century BC and third century AD is known as the "Yerevan Dark Ages." The first church in Yerevan, the church of St. Peter and Paul, was built in the fifth century (it was demolished in 1931 and a cinema built on its site).
Foreign (Persian and Ottoman) rule
In 658 AD, Yerevan was conquered, during the height of Arab invasions. Since then the site has been strategically important as a crossroads for the caravan routes passing between Europe and India. It has been known as "Yerevan" since at least the seventh century AD. Between the ninth and eleventh centuries, Yerevan was a secure part of the Armenian Bagratuni Kingdom, before being overrun by Seljuks. The city was seized and pillaged by Tamerlane in 1387 and subsequently became an administrative centre of the Ilkhanate. Due to its strategic significance, Yerevan was constantly fought over and passed back and forth between the dominion of Persia and the Ottomans.
At the height of the Turkish-Persian wars, the city changed hands fourteen times between 1513 and 1737. In 1604, under the order of Shah Abbas I, tens of thousands of Armenians (including citizens of Yerevan) were deported to Persia. As a consequence, Erivan khanate population became 80 percent Muslim (Persians, Turco, Kurds) and 20 percent Armenian. Muslims were either sedentary, semi-sedentary, or nomadic. Armenians lived in Erevan or the villages. The Armenians dominated the various professions and trade in the area and were of great economic significance to the Persian administration. The Ottomans, Safavids and Ilkhanids all maintained a mint in Yerevan. During the 1670s, the Frenchman Jean Chardin visited Yerevan and gave a description of the city in his Travels of Cavalier Chardin in Transcaucasia in 1672-1673. On June 7, 1679, a devastating earthquake razed the city to the ground. During the Safavid Dynasty rule, Yerevan and adjacent territories were part of the Chukhursaad (Irevan) Beglerbekate. Starting from 1747, it was part of the Erivan khanate, a Muslim principality under the dominion of the Persian Empire. This lasted until 1828 when the region was incorporated into Russian Empire.
Foreign (Russian) rule
During the second Russian-Persian war, Yerevan was captured by Russian troops under general Ivan Paskevich on 1 October, 1827. It was formally ceded by the Persians in 1828, following the Treaty of Turkmenchay. Tsarist Russia sponsored Armenian resettlement from Persia and Turkey; by the turn of the twentieth century, Yerevan's population was over 29,000, of which 49% were Muslim (mostly Kurds and Azeris, then referred to as Tatars), 48% Christian Armenian and 2% Russian. It served as the seat of the newly-formed Armenian Oblast and subsequently the Erivan Governorate.
The city began to grow economically and politically, with old buildings torn down and new buildings in European style erected in their place. In 1829, Armenian repatriates from Persia were resettled in the city and a new quarter was built. By the time of Nicholas I's visit in 1837, Yerevan had become a uyezd.
The first general plan of the city was made in 1854, during which time the women's colleges of St. Hripsime and St. Gayane were opened and the English Garden built. In 1874, Zacharia Gevorkian opened Yerevan's first printing house and in 1879 the first theatre, sited near the church of St. Peter and Paul, was established. Two years into the twentieth century, a railway line linked Yerevan with Alexandropol, Tiflis and Julfa, the same year Yerevan's first public library opened. In 1913, a telephone line with eighty subscribers became operational. The early twentieth century saw the governorship of Erivan province by Louis Joseph Jérôme Napoléon (1864-1932), grandnephew of Napoleon I.
Brief independence (1917–1920)
At the start of the 20th century, Yerevan was a small town with a population of 30,000. In 1917, the Russian Empire ended with the October Revolution. In the aftermath, Armenian, Georgian and Muslim leaders of Transcaucasia united to form the Transcaucasian Federation and proclaimed Transcaucasia's secession.
The Federation, however, was short-lived and on May 28, 1918, Yerevan became the capital of the newly-independent Democratic Republic of Armenia and therefore became the centre of independent Armenia. On November 29, 1920, the Bolshevik 11th Red Army occupied Yerevan during the Russian Civil War. Although nationalist forces managed to retake the city in February 1921, the city once again fell to Soviet forces on April 2, 1921.
Soviet Yerevan
Yerevan became the capital of the newly formed Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic, one of the fifteen republics of the Soviet Union. The Soviet era transformed the city into a modern industrial metropolis of over a million people, developed according to the prominent Armenian architect Alexander Tamanian's designs. Yerevan also became a significant scientific and cultural centre.
Tamanian incorporated national traditions with contemporary urban construction. His design presented a radial-circular arrangement that overlaid the existing city. As a result, many historic buildings were demolished, including churches, mosques, the Persian fortress, baths, bazaars and caravanserais. Many of the surrounding districts around Yerevan were named after former Armenian communities that were decimated by the Ottoman Turks during the Armenian Genocide. The districts of Arabkir, Malatya-Sebastia and Nork Marash, for example, were named after the towns Arabkir, Malatya, Sebastia, and Marash, respectively. Following the end of the Second World War, German POWs were used to help in the construction of new buildings and structures, such as the Kievyan Bridge.
In 1965, during the commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, Yerevan was the centre of a 24-hour mass anti-Soviet protest, the first such demonstration in the Soviet Union, to demand recognition of the Genocide by the Soviet authorities. In 1968, the city's 2,750th anniversary was commemorated.
Yerevan played a key role in the Armenian national democratic movement that emerged during the Gorbachev era of the 1980s. The reforms of Glasnost and Perestroika opened questions on issues such as the status of Nagorno-Karabakh, the environment, Russification, corruption, democracy, and eventually independence. At the beginning of 1988, nearly one million Yerevantsis engaged in demonstrations concerning these subjects, centered on Theatre Square.
Post-USSR independence
Following the end of the Soviet Union, Yerevan became the capital of the Republic of Armenia on September 21, 1991. Maintaining supplies of gas and electricity proved difficult; constant electricity was not restored until 1996. Also in the last five years, central Yerevan has been transformed into a vast construction site, with cranes seemingly outnumbering trees. Officially, the scores of multi-storied buildings are part of large-scale urban planning projects. Roughly $1.8 billion was spent on such construction in 2006, according to the national statistical service. Prices for downtown apartments have increased by about ten times over the last decade, realtors say. However, some experts have voiced their opinions, and have asserted that many of the new edifices violate urban planning and earthquake safety requirements.
Political demonstrations still occur in Yerevan, usually as a result of disputed election results. Recently, unrest in the capital between the authorities and opposition demonstrators led by ex-President Levon Ter-Petrossian occurred after the 2008 Armenian presidential election. The events resulted in ten deaths and a subsequent 20-day state of emergency declared by President Robert Kocharian.
Geography
Topography and Location
- Altitude: average 990 m - minimum 865 m - maximum 1,390 m.
- Location: to the edge of the Hrazdan river, north-east of the Ararat plain.
Yerevan is located in Eastern Armenia to the centre-west of the country in the north-eastern extremity of the Ararat Valley. The upper part of the city is surrounded by mountains on three sides while to the south it descends to the banks of the river Hrazdan, a tributary of the river Arax. The Hrazdan divides Yerevan in two within a picturesque canyon. The city's elevation ranges between 900 to 1,300 m (3,000 to 4,300 ft) above sea level.
As the capital of Armenia, Yerevan is not part of any marz ("province"). Instead, it borders the following marzer: Kotayk (north), Ararat (south), Armavir (southwest) and Aragatsotn (northwest).
Climate
| Climate chart for Yerevan | |||||||||||
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| J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D |
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29
-2
-9
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25
1
-8
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28
10
-1
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48
19
6
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53
24
10
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23
31
14
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15
34
17
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8
33
18
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13
28
13
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23
21
7
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31
10
1
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28
3
-3
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| temperatures in °C precipitation totals in mm source: BBC Weather |
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Imperial conversion
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The climate of Yerevan is relatively continental, with dry, hot summers and cold and short winters. This is attributed to the fact that Yerevan is located on a plain surrounded by mountains and to its distance to the sea and its effects. The summers are usually very hot with the temperature in August reaching up to 40 ° C (104 ° F), while winters generally carry snowfall and freezing temperates with January being often as cold as -15 °C (5 °F). The amount of precipitation is small, amounting annually to about 350 mm (14 in). The city has an annual period of sunshine of approximately 2,700 hours.
Government and politics
Capital
Yerevan has been the capital of Armenia since the independence of the First Republic in 1918. Situated in the Ararat plain, the historic lands of Armenia, it served as the best logical choice for capital of the young republic at the time.
When Armenia became a republic of the Soviet Union, Yerevan remained as capital and accommodated all the political institution of the republic. In 1991 with the independence of the Third Armenian republic, Yerevan remained the political centre of the country and became the location of all the national institution: the Azgayin Zhoghov, ministries, the presidential palace, public organisms and judicial institutions.
Municipalities
The Armenian Constitution, adopted on July 5, 1995, granted Yerevan the status of a marz (region). Therefore, Yerevan functions similarly to the other regions of the country with a few specificities.
The administrative authority of Yerevan is thus represented by:
- the mayor, appointed by the President (who can remove him at any moment) upon the recommendation of the Prime Minister, alongside a group of four deputy mayors heading eleven ministries (of which financial, transport, urban development etc.),
- the Yerevan Council, regrouping the Chiefs of neighbourhood communities under the authority of the mayor,
- twelve neighbourhood communities (or twelve districts), with each having its own chief and their elected councils. Yerevan has a principal city hall and twelve deputy mayors of districts.
The last modification to the Constitution on November 27, 2005 turned the city into a "community"; since, the Constitution declares that this community has to be led by a mayor, elected directly or indirectly, and that the city needs to be governed by a specific law. This law is currently in preparation in the Armenian parliament that adopted its first draft in December 2007 and should do the same in the second draft in spring of 2008. The project on the law envisions an indirect election of the mayor.
Artashes Geghamyan was the last mayor of the Armenian SSR and Hambartsoum Galstyan, the first mayor of the Third Republic. Since 1991, there have been eight mayors of Yerevan. The current mayor is Yervand Zakharyan. In addition to the national police and road police, Yerevan has its own municipal police. All three bodies maintain law in the city by cooperating.
Districts
Yerevan is divided into twelve districts (Համայնք), each with an elected community leader. Each district is divided into neighborhoods (Թաղամաս). A district can have up to seven neighborhoods.
| Districts (Համայնք) |
Population | Area | Neighbourhood (Թաղամաս) |
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| Ajapnyak Աջափնյակ |
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Ajapnyak, Norashen, Nazarbekian, Silikian, Lukashin, Haghtanak, Vahakni |