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Nature of Armenia
The legend goes that when Armenians came to God to ask
for their piece of land, all the good land had already
been distributed, so God gave them the leftovers, full
of stones. Armenians infused this land with their soul
and expressed all their hopes through it.
Armenia is a
rocky country. They say, even grain grows straight
out of the rocks and stones here. Stones are part and
parcel of this country. Visiting Armenia you will hear
the chimes of the stone.
Armenia's landscapes offer boundless beauty. The
Armenian plateau is bound on the north by the Lesser
Caucasus range and on the south by the Armenian Taurus
range, while on the west it descends into the Euphrates
valley and on the east in the Caspian lowland. Almost in
the center is the huge volcanic massif with two peaks:
the Great Ararat (Masis-5156 m) and Small Ararat (Sis
3914 m above the sea level). The mountainous system of
the Lesser Caucasus contains many high peaks, among
which Aragats (4095m) is the highest on the territory of
Armenia. There are a number of fertile valley and the
most fertile among them is Ararat valley, which is
center of economic, political and cultural life of the
Armenians. Several of capitals of ancient Armenia were
in this valley. The Armenian plateau is rich with
rivers.
More than 200 rivers and streams traverse
Armenia, with steep falls
and
rapids.
Here lie the origins of rivers Euphrates and Tigris with
their tributaries, flowing into the Persian gulf, Kur
and Araks, flowing into the Caspian Sea. The longest
river in Armeia is Araks, which is the border river
between Armenia and Turky. The biggest lakes are Van,
Urmia and Sevan.
Seven main landscape types are represented across
the different altitudinal zones of Armenia. Across these
desert, semi desert, dry steppe, steppe, woodland, sub
alpine and alpine zones is geography as diverse as high
mountain peaks, fertile valleys, picturesque land
formations, basalt columns, rock sculptures, and
waterfalls.
Armenia has 5 scenic canyons,
10 natural lakes.
This
country of lakes, rivers and springs is also rich of
mineral waters. In Jermuk, Bjni, Diligan and other
resorts you can treat different diseases by taking baths
of mineral waters. Step into the virgins forests of
Armenia, where you can see different animals and birds.There
are over
200 therapeutic mineral springs, differing in
composition and temperature.
There
is
the most important raw material mined in Armenia today,
along with bauxite, silver, molybdenum, lead, obsidian,
semiprecious stones and zinc. Substantial deposits of
pumice, marble, limestone, salt, basalt, granite,
volcanic stone (tuff), as well as smaller amounts of
gold, diamonds and platinum lie beneath Armenia's
surface. Although oil deposits have been identified, the
complex geology of the region makes recovery difficult
and expensive.
Only one third of Armenia's land is arable, and that
portion blooms due to enormous and continuous effort on
the part of its indigenous population. That's why they
say, "Armenians squeeze bread out of stone".
Here every
season has its own beauty. |
