ARMENIA
The broken relief of Armenia, together with the fact that its highland lies at the junction of various bio graphic regions, has produced a great variety of landscapes. Though a small country, Armenia boasts more plant species (in excess of 3,000) than the vast Russian Plain. There are five altitudinal vegetation zones: semi desert, steppe, forest, alpine meadow, and high-altitude tundra.
The semi desert landscape, ascending to an elevation of 4,300 to 4,600 feet, consists of a slightly rolling plain covered with scanty vegetation, mostly sagebrush. The vegetation includes drought-resisting plants such as juniper, adder, gurza (a venomous snake), scorpion, and, more rarely, the leopard inhabit region.
Steppes predominate in Armenia. They start at altitudes of 4,300 to 4,600 feet, and in the northeast they ascend to 6,200 to 6,600 feet. In the the central region they reach 6,600 to 7,200 feet and in the south are found as high as 7,900 to 8,200 feet. In the lower altitudes the steppes are covered with drought-resistant grasses, while the mountain slopes are overgrown with thorny bushes and juniper.
The forest zone lies in the southeast of Armenia, at altitudes of 6,200 to 6,600 feet, where the humidity is considerable, and also in the northeast, at altitudes of 7,200 to 7,900 feet. Occupying nearly one-tenth of Armenia, the northeastern forest are largely beech. Oak forests predominate in the southeastern regions, where the climate is drier, and in the lower part of the forest zone hackberry, pistachio, honeysuckle, and dogwood grow. The animal kingdom is represented by the Syrian bear, wildcat, lynx, and squirrel. Birds - woodcock, robin, warbler, titmouse, and woodpecker - are numerous.
The alpine zones lies above 6,600 feet, with stunted grass providing good summer pastures. The fauna is rich; the abundant bird life includes the mountain turkey, horned lark, and bearded vulture, while the mountains also harbour the bezoar goat and the mountain sheep, or mouflon.
Finally, the alpine tundra, with its scant cushion plants, covers only limited mountain areas and solitary peaks.
Settlement patterns
One the more important of the distinctive regions of Armenia is the Ararat Plain and its surrounding foothills and mountains. This prosperous and densely populated area is the centre of Armenia's economy and culture and traditionally the seat of its government institutions.
The other regions are the Shirak Steppe, the elevated northwestern plateau zone that is Armenia's granary; Gugark, high plateaus, ranges, and deep valleys of the northeast, covered with forests, farmlands, and alpine pastures; the Seven Basin, the hollow containing Lake Sevan, on the shores of which are farmlands, villages, and towns; Vayk, essentially the basin of the Arpa River; and Zangezur (Siuniq) in the extreme southeast. This last region is a maze of gorges and river valleys cutting through high ranges. It is an area rich in ores, with fields and orchards scattered here and there in the valleys and on the mountainsides.
The population density is highest in the Ararat Plain. The river valleys in the southeast and northeast are the next most densely populated areas. Half the population is concentrated in the zone marked by an upper altitudinal limit of 3,300 feet, which makes up only about one-tenth of the entire territory. Many people also live in the foothills, at altitudes of 3,300-4,900 feet, and in the mountains (4,900-6,600 feet). These regions account for a further third of the entire population. The high ranges and mountains are lightly populated; no ones resides above 7,800 feet.
Fundamental changes in the distribution of Armenia's population have been caused by the urbanization resulting from economic growth, particulary from the country's industrialization. Before the Russian Revolution, Armenia's four cities- Erevan (now Yerevan), Alexandropol (Gyumri), Kamo, and Goris - accounted for about one-tenth of the total population. Two-thirds of the population are now urbanized.
The high country to the north of Shirak and in the ZAngezur region has small hamlets that lie in secluded glens, on river banks, and near springs; in the plains, such settlements cluster around mountain streams and irrigation canals, amid orchards and vineyards.
Coprolite
the fossilized excrement of animals. The discovery of the true nature of this material was made by the English geologist William Buckland, who observed that certain convoluted bodies occurring in the Lias (rock strata of Early Jurassic age, 187 to 208 million years old) Gloucestershire had a form that would have been produced by their passage in the soft state through the intestines of reptiles or fishes. These bodies had long been known as fossil fir cones and bezoar stones. Buckland's conjecture that they were of fecal origin and similar to the excrement of hyenas was confirmed on analysis; they were found to consist essentially of calcium phosphate and carbonate and not infrequently contained fragments of unaltered bone. The name coprolites (from Greek kopros, "dung"; and lithos, "stone") was accordingly given them Buckland.
Glen E.P.Kealey
Canadian Institute for Political Integrity (CIPI)
The semi desert landscape, ascending to an elevation of 4,300 to 4,600 feet, consists of a slightly rolling plain covered with scanty vegetation, mostly sagebrush. The vegetation includes drought-resisting plants such as juniper, adder, gurza (a venomous snake), scorpion, and, more rarely, the leopard inhabit region.
Steppes predominate in Armenia. They start at altitudes of 4,300 to 4,600 feet, and in the northeast they ascend to 6,200 to 6,600 feet. In the the central region they reach 6,600 to 7,200 feet and in the south are found as high as 7,900 to 8,200 feet. In the lower altitudes the steppes are covered with drought-resistant grasses, while the mountain slopes are overgrown with thorny bushes and juniper.
The forest zone lies in the southeast of Armenia, at altitudes of 6,200 to 6,600 feet, where the humidity is considerable, and also in the northeast, at altitudes of 7,200 to 7,900 feet. Occupying nearly one-tenth of Armenia, the northeastern forest are largely beech. Oak forests predominate in the southeastern regions, where the climate is drier, and in the lower part of the forest zone hackberry, pistachio, honeysuckle, and dogwood grow. The animal kingdom is represented by the Syrian bear, wildcat, lynx, and squirrel. Birds - woodcock, robin, warbler, titmouse, and woodpecker - are numerous.
The alpine zones lies above 6,600 feet, with stunted grass providing good summer pastures. The fauna is rich; the abundant bird life includes the mountain turkey, horned lark, and bearded vulture, while the mountains also harbour the bezoar goat and the mountain sheep, or mouflon.
Finally, the alpine tundra, with its scant cushion plants, covers only limited mountain areas and solitary peaks.
Settlement patterns
One the more important of the distinctive regions of Armenia is the Ararat Plain and its surrounding foothills and mountains. This prosperous and densely populated area is the centre of Armenia's economy and culture and traditionally the seat of its government institutions.
The other regions are the Shirak Steppe, the elevated northwestern plateau zone that is Armenia's granary; Gugark, high plateaus, ranges, and deep valleys of the northeast, covered with forests, farmlands, and alpine pastures; the Seven Basin, the hollow containing Lake Sevan, on the shores of which are farmlands, villages, and towns; Vayk, essentially the basin of the Arpa River; and Zangezur (Siuniq) in the extreme southeast. This last region is a maze of gorges and river valleys cutting through high ranges. It is an area rich in ores, with fields and orchards scattered here and there in the valleys and on the mountainsides.
The population density is highest in the Ararat Plain. The river valleys in the southeast and northeast are the next most densely populated areas. Half the population is concentrated in the zone marked by an upper altitudinal limit of 3,300 feet, which makes up only about one-tenth of the entire territory. Many people also live in the foothills, at altitudes of 3,300-4,900 feet, and in the mountains (4,900-6,600 feet). These regions account for a further third of the entire population. The high ranges and mountains are lightly populated; no ones resides above 7,800 feet.
Fundamental changes in the distribution of Armenia's population have been caused by the urbanization resulting from economic growth, particulary from the country's industrialization. Before the Russian Revolution, Armenia's four cities- Erevan (now Yerevan), Alexandropol (Gyumri), Kamo, and Goris - accounted for about one-tenth of the total population. Two-thirds of the population are now urbanized.
The high country to the north of Shirak and in the ZAngezur region has small hamlets that lie in secluded glens, on river banks, and near springs; in the plains, such settlements cluster around mountain streams and irrigation canals, amid orchards and vineyards.
Coprolite
the fossilized excrement of animals. The discovery of the true nature of this material was made by the English geologist William Buckland, who observed that certain convoluted bodies occurring in the Lias (rock strata of Early Jurassic age, 187 to 208 million years old) Gloucestershire had a form that would have been produced by their passage in the soft state through the intestines of reptiles or fishes. These bodies had long been known as fossil fir cones and bezoar stones. Buckland's conjecture that they were of fecal origin and similar to the excrement of hyenas was confirmed on analysis; they were found to consist essentially of calcium phosphate and carbonate and not infrequently contained fragments of unaltered bone. The name coprolites (from Greek kopros, "dung"; and lithos, "stone") was accordingly given them Buckland.
Glen E.P.Kealey
Canadian Institute for Political Integrity (CIPI)
