Census in Armenia

The first census in Armenia after the dissolution of the Soviet Union was conducted by the Republic of Armenia's National Statistical Service during the period October 10-19, 2001. The census night was October 10th. The Azgayin Zhoghov (National Assembly) adopted the law "On Census" in 1999, but the government lacked the necessary funds to carry out the count immediately. According to Armenian law, a census must take place every 10 years.[1]

The demographic trends in modern Armenia during its history. While Armenians formed a consistent majority, Azerbaijanis were historically the second largest population in the republic under Soviet rule (forming about 2.5% in 1989[2]). However, due to hostilities with neighboring Azerbaijan over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh virtually all Azeris emigrated from Armenia. Conversely, Armenia received a large influx of Armenian refugees from Azerbaijan, thus giving Armenia a more homogeneous character. This forceful population exchange also had an impact on the Christian Udi people of Azerbaijan, many of whom were perceived as Armenians due to close cultural ties between both peoples.[3] The number of Udis residing in Armenia has increased from 19 in 1989[2] to about 200 by 2006.[3]

Additionally since independence, several other ethnic groups have emigrated especially Russians (who decreased from 51,555 persons in 1989[2] to 14,660 in 2001[4]), Ukrainians (8,341 in 1989[2] to 1,633 in 2001[4]), Greeks (4,650 in 1989[2] to 1,176 in 2001[4]), and Belarusians (1,061 in 1989[2] to 160 in 2001[5]). The numbers of Yazidis, Kurds, and Assyrians have remained consistent for the most part (though approximately 2,000 Assyrians have left Armenia between 1989[2] and 2001[4]). Georgians have also historically been counted among the largest ethnic groups in modern Armenia, though it is likely that their numbers have dropped substantially since the 1989 Soviet census when they numbered 1,364 persons.[2]

Soviet Armenia censuses

Year Total Urban Rural Armenians Azerbaijanis Russians Yazidis/Kurds Ukrainians Assyrians Greeks Georgians Belarusians Others
1926 [6] 878,929 165,908 (18.8%) 713,021 (81.1%) 743,571 (84.5%) 83,181 (9.4%) 19,548 (2.2%) 15,2621 (1.7%) 2,826 (0.3%) 2,215 (0.3%) 2,980 (0.3%) 274 (0.03%) 360 (0.04%) 10,927 (1.2%)
1939 [7] 1,282,338 N/A N/A 1,061,997 (82.8%) 130,896 (10.2%) 51,464 (4%) 20,481 (1.5%) 5,496 (0.4%) 3,280 (0.2%) 4,181 (0.3%) 652 (0.05%) 458 (0.03%) 3,433 (0.2%)
1959 [8] 1,763,048 N/A N/A 1,551,610 (88%) 107,748 (6.1%) 56,477 (3.2%) 25,627 (1.4%) 5,593 (0.3%) 4,326 (0.2%) 4,976 (0.2%) 816 (0.04%) 805 (0.04%) 9,396 (0.5%)
1970 [9] 2,491,873 1,481,532 (59.4%) 1,010,341 (40.5%) 2,208,327 (88.6%) 148,189 (5.9%) 66,108 (2.6%) 37,486 (1.5%) 8,390 (0.3%) 5,544 (0.2%) 5,690 (0.2%) 1,439 (0.05%) 1,179 (0.04%) 9,521 (0.3%)
1979 [10] 3,037,259 1,992,539 (65.7%) 1,038,208 (34.3%) 2,724,975 (89.7%) 160,841 (5.2%) 70,336 (2.3%) 50,822 (1.6%) 8,900 (0.2%) 6,183 (0.2%) 5,653 (0.1%) 1,314 (0.04%) 1,183 (0.03%) 7,052 (0.2%)
1989 [2] 3,304,776 2,229,540 (67.8%) 1,058,137 (32.2%) 3,083,616 (93.3%) 84,860 (2.5%) 51,555 (1.5%) 56,127 (1.6%) 8,341 (0.2%) 5,963 (0.1%) 4,650 (0.1%) 1,364 (0.04%) 1,061 (0.03%) 7,239 (0.2%)

1 Includes numbers of both Yazidi and Kurdish populations which were counted separately in the 1926 census but were combined in subsequent censuses.

Republic of Armenia censuses

Year Total Urban Rural Armenians Yazidis Russians Assyrians Ukrainians Kurds Greeks Others
2001 [4] 3,213,011 2,066,153 (64.3%) 1,146,858 (35.7%) 3,145,354 (97.9%) 40,620 (1.2%) 14,660 (0.4%) 3,409 (0.1%) 1,633 (0.05%) 1,519 (0.04%) 1,176 (0.03%) 4,640 (0.1%)

References

  1. ↑ "Country Studies: Armenia: Ethnic Minorities". Retrieved 2007-04-07.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 (Russian) The All-Union Population Census of 1989. Demoscope.ru
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Muslim Kurds and Christian Udis". Hetq Online. 2006-11-13. Retrieved 2006-11-13.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Information from the 2001 Armenian National Census
  5. ↑ Garnik Asatryan and Victoria Arakelova, The Ethnic Minorities of Armenia, Routledge, part of the OSCE, 2002
  6. ↑ (Russian) The All-Union Population Census of 1926. Demoscope.ru
  7. ↑ (Russian) The All-Union Population Census of 1939. Demoscope.ru
  8. ↑ (Russian) The All-Union Population Census of 1959. Demoscope.ru
  9. ↑ (Russian) The All-Union Population Census of 1970. Demoscope.ru
  10. ↑ (Russian) The All-Union Population Census of 1979. Demoscope.ru

See also