Yerevan (arm: Երևան)) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world\'s oldest continuously-inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan river. Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and industrial center of the country. It has been the capital since 1918, the thirteenth in the h istory of Armenia.

After World War I, Yerevan became the capital of the Democratic Republica of Armenia as thousands of suvivors of the Armenian Genocide settled in the area. The city expanded rapidly during the 20th century as 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 within the Russian Empire, to Armenia\'s principal cultural, artistic, and industrial center, as well as becoming the seat of national government.

With the growth of the economy of the country, Yerevan has been undergoing major transformation as many parts of the city have been the recipient of new construction since the early 2000s. Today, the appearance of new buildings, roads, restaurants, boutiques, living quarters, etc., have started to give the city a modern, cosmopolitan appearance.

In 2009, the population of Yerevan was estimated to be 1,111,300 people with the agglomeration around the city regrouping 1,245,700 people (2007 official estimate) more than a third of all the population of Armenia 

Yerevan is located in Eastern Armenia in the North-Eastern part 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 that divides the city into two within a picturesque canyon. The elevation of the city ranges between 900 to 1,300 meters over the sea level, displaying a 400 meter disparity between its lowest and highest points.
As the capital of Armenia, Yerevan is not part of any marz. It borders the following marzer: Kotayk (north), Ararat (south), Armavir (southwest) and Aragatsotn (northwest).
The climate of Yerevan is relatively continental with a dry, hot summer and a cold and short winter. The temperature of the hottest month of August reaches to 40 degrees Celsius and the coldest month of January to -15 degrees Celsius. The amount of precipitation is small and amounts to annually to about 350 mm.

Early history

Early Christian Armenian chroniclers attributed the origin of the name, \"Yerevan,\" to a derivation from an expression exclaimed by Noah, in Armenia. While looking in the direction of Yerevan, after the ark had landed on Mount Ararat and the flood waters had receded, Noah is believed to have exclaimed, \"Yerevats!\" (\"it appeared!\").

The territory of Yerevan was settled by humans since the 4th millennium BC, fortified settlements from the Bronze Age include Shengavit, Karmir Blur, Karmir Berd and Berdadzor. Archaeological evidence indicates that an Urartian military fortress called Erebuni (Էրեբունի) was founded in 782 BC by the orders of King Argishtis I at the site of current-day Yerevan, to serve as a fort/cita del guarding against attacks from the north Caucasus, thus Yerevan is one of the most ancient cities in the world.  The cuneiform inscription found at Erebuni Fortress reads: \"By the greatness of the God Khaldi, Argishti, son of Menua, built this mighty stronghold and proclaimed it Erebuni for the glory of Biainili [Urartu] and to instill fear among the king\'s enemies. Argishti says, \"The land was a desert, before the great works I accomplished upon it. By the greatness of Khaldi, Argishti, son of Menua, is a mighty king, king of Biainili, and ruler of Tushpa.\"

Irrigation canals and an artificial reservoir were built on the territory of Yerevan during the height of Urartian power. The fortress of Teishebaini (Karmir Blur) was destroyed by the Scythians in 585 BC. Between the 6th and 4th centuries BC, Yerevan was one of the main centers of the Armenian satrapy of the Achaemenid Empire. The timespan between 4th century BC and 3rd century AD is known as the Yerevan Dark Ages due to absence of historical data. The first church in Yerevan, the church of St. Peter and Paul was built in the 5th century (collapsed in 1931).

Arab, Persian and Ottoman rule

During the height of the Arab invasions, Yerevan was taken in 658 AD. Since then the site has been strategically important as a crossroads for the caravan routes passing between Europe and India. It has been called Yerevan since at least the 7th century  A.D. Between the 9th and 11th centuries Yerevan was a safe part of the Armenian Bagratuni Kingdom, before being  overrun by  Seljuks. Yerevan was seized and pillaged by Tamerlane in 1387. The city became an administrative center 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 for centuries. At the height of Turkish-Persian wars, the city changed hands 14 times between 1513 and 1737. Under the order of Shah Abbas I tens of thousands of Armenians, among them citizens of Yerevan, were deported to Persia in 1604. As a direct result of those deporations, the Muslims made up 80 percent of the new population of Yerevan, while native Armenians constituted the remaining 20 percent of the population. On June 7, 1679, a devastating earthquake razed the city to the ground. It is of interest to note that Ottomans, Safavids and Ilkhanids all maintained a mint in the city of Yerevan.

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. Due to the resettlement, Armenians\' share in city population increased from 28% to 53.8%. The resettlement was intended to create Russian power bridgehead in the Middle East. In 1829, Armenian repatriates from Persia were resettled in the city and a new quarter was built. 

Yerevan has served as the seat of the newly-formed Armenian Oblast between 1828-1840. By the time of Nicholas I\'s visit in 1837, Yerevan h ad become an uyezd. In 1840, the Armenian Oblast was dissolved and its territory incorporated into a larger new province; the Georgia-Imeretia Governorate. In 1850 the territory of the former oblast was tuned into reorganized into the Erivan Governorate. Yerevan was the centre of the  newly established governorate  until 1917, when Erivan governorate was dissolved.

Yerevan began to grow economically and politically, with old buildings torn down and new buildings in European style erected instead. The first general plan of the city was made in 1854, during which, St. Hripsime and St. Gayane women\'s colleges were opened and the English Park was founded. 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.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Yerevan city\'s population was over 29,000. In 1902, a railway line linked Yerevan with Alexandropol, Tiflis and Julfa. In the same year, Yerevan\'s first public library was opened.

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 28 May 1918, the Dashnak leader Aram Manougian declared the independence of Armenia. Subsequently, Yerevan became the capital and the centre of the newly-independent Democratic Republic of Armeni a, although the members of the Armenian National Council were yet to stay in Tiflis until their arrival in Yerevan to form the government in the summer of the same year.

On 26 May 1919, the government passed a law to open the Yerevan State Univ ersity, which was situated on the main street of Yerevan, the Astafyan (now Abovyan) street. 

However, after a short period of independence, on 29 November 1920, the Bolshevi k 11th Red Army entered Yerevan during the Russian Civil War, on 29 November 1920, and Armenia was incorporated democratically into the Soviet Union on 2 December 1920. Although nationalist forces managed to retake the city in February 1921, and successfully released all the political leaders, the city\'s nationalist elite were once again defeated by Soviet forces on 2 April 1921.

Soviet Yerevan

Yerevan became the capital of the newly formed Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic,  o ne of the fifteen republics of the Soviet Union. Yerevan was the first city in the Soviet Union, for which a genera l plan was developed. The \"General Plan of Yerevan\" was developed by the academician Alexander Tamanyan which was approved in 1924. The plan was designed for a population of 150,000.

During the Soviet era the city was transformed into a modern industrial metropolis of over a million people, to 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 World War II, 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 center of a demonstration, 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 - capital of Republic of Armenia

Following the dismantling of the USSR or Soviet Union, Yerevan became the capital of the Republic of Armenia on 21 September 1991.

photo: Vigen Hakhverdyan