Most Armenians are Christian, primarily of Oriental Orthodox rite. Armenia is considered the first nation to adopt Christianity, which was first preached in Armenia by two Apostles of Jesus, St. Bartholomew and St. Thaddeus in the 1st century. The Armenian Apostolic Church can trace its roots back to the 3rd and 4th centuries. The country formally adopted the Christian faith in 301 A.D. Over 90% of Armenians belong to the Armenian Apostolic Church, a form of Oriental (Non-Chalcedonian) Orthodoxy, which is a very ritualistic, conservative church, roughly comparable to the Coptic and Syrian churches. Armenia also has a population of Catholics and evangelical Protestants.
There has been a problem of population decline due to elevated levels of emigration after the break-up of the USSR. The rates of emigration and population decline, however, have decreased drastically in the recent years, and a moderate influx of Armenians returning to Armenia have been the main reasons for the trend, which is expected to continue. In fact Armenia is expected to resume its positive population growth by 2010.
65 years and over: 11.1% (male 133,411/female 198,369) (2006 est.)
Median age
Total: 30.4 years
Male: 27.8 years
Female: 33.2 years (2006 est.)
Population growth rate
-0.19% (2006 est.)
Birth rate
12.07 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)
There were 37,509 births in 2005 compared to 37,520 in 2004. Total population was 3,219,400 at end of 2005.[2] For the first half of 2007, there were 18,114 births. [2]
Death rate
8.23 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Net migration rate
-5.72 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Sex ratio
At birth: 1.17 male(s)/female
Under 15 years: 1.12 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.88 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.67 male(s)/female
Total population: 0.9 male(s)/female (2006 est.)
Infant mortality rate
Total: 22.47 deaths/1,000 live births
Male: 27.59 deaths/1,000 live births
Female: 16.51 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)
