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Armenians are an ancient people who trace their roots back to the early part of the first millennium BC. For long periods, Armenia was an independent nation, located primarily in the eastern regions of present-day Turkey. The greatest Armenian king, Tigran II, who ruled from 95 to 55 BC, governed a realm that extended from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. But Tigran was overwhelmed by the Romans and, in the ensuing centuries, Armenia became a coveted territory for the Persians, the Byzantines, the Seljuk Turks, the Mongols and, more recently, the Ottomans.
Present-day Armenia comprises only 10 percent of the nation's historic territory. In 1915, a large segment of the Armenian population was destroyed during World War I in what has become known as the first genocide of the 20th century. Armenia enjoyed brief self-rule from 1918 to 1920. But in 1920, an agreement hammered out by the Turks under Kemal Ataturk and V.I. Lenin in Moscow resulted in the cession of the fledgling republic to the Bolsheviks. The current Republic of Armenia declared independence from the Soviet Union on September 21, 1991.
About 3.6 million Armenians live in Armenia and some 1 million more reside in other parts of the former Soviet Union. Another 4 million are scattered around the world, with the largest communities in the United States, Canada, France, Iran, Argentina, Lebanon, Turkey, Syria and Australia. Armenians are successful in business and professional life. They are renowned as scientists, doctors and educators, and excel in the arts and literature.
Armenians are also the oldest Christian nation. The introduction of Christianity is ascribed to St. Gregory the Illuminator, who converted the pagan Armenian sovereign Trdat III in 301 AD. The Armenian language is a discrete branch of Indo-European, with a unique alphabet
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