ERIVAN  , a See also:

• GOVERNMENT
• GOVERNMENT (0. Fr. governement, mod. gouvernement, O. Fr. governer, mod. gouverner, from Lat. gubernare, to steer a ship, guide, rule; cf. Gr. xv(3epvav)

government of See also:

• RUSSIA
• RUSSIA (Rossiya)

Russia, See also:

• TRANSCAUCASIA

Transcaucasia, having the See also:

• PROVINCE
• PROVINCE (Lat. provincia; perhaps a contraction of providentia)

province of See also:

• KARS

Kars on the W., the government of See also:

• TIFLIS

Tiflis on the N., that of See also:

• ELISAVETPOL
• ELISAVETPOL (formerly Ganja, alternative names being KENJEH and KANGA)

Elisavetpol on the N. and E., and See also:

• PERSIA

Persia and See also:

• TURKISH

Turkish See also:

• ARMENIA (old Persian Armina, Armenian Hayasdan, or Hayq)

Armenia on the S . It occupies the See also:

• TOP (cf. Dan. top, Ger. Topf, also meaning pot)

top of an immense See also:

• PLATEAU (a French term, older platel, for a flat piece of wood, metal, &c., from plat, flat)
• PLATEAU, JOSEPH ANTOINE FERDINAND (1801-1883)

plateau (6000-8000 ft.) . Continuous chains of mountains are met with only on its See also:

• BORDERS, THE

borders, and in the E., but the whole See also:

• SURFACE

surface is thickly set with See also:

• SHORT, FRANCIS JOB (1857– )

short ridges and isolated mountains of volcanic origin, of which Alagoz (14,440 ft.) and See also:

• ARARAT
• ARARAT (Armen. Massis, Turk. Egri Dagh, i.e. " Painful Mountain," Pers. Koh-i-Nuh, i.e. " Mountain of Noah,")

Ararat (16,925 ft.) are the most conspicuous and the most important . Both must have been active in See also:

• TERTIARY

Tertiary times . See also:

• LAKE
• LAKE, GERARD LAKE, 1ST VISCOUNT (1744-1808)

Lake Gok-cha (540 sq. m.) is encircled by such volcanoes, and the neighbourhood of See also:

• ALEXANDROPOL, or ALEXANDRAPOL

Alexandropol is a " volcanic See also:

• AMPHITHEATRE (Gr. 441, around, and O&arpov, a place for spectators)

amphitheatre," being entirely buried under volcanic deposits . The same is true of the slopes leading down to the See also:

• RIVER

river See also:

• ARAS

Aras; and the valley of the upper Aras is a stony See also:

• DESERT

desert, watered only by See also:

• IRRIGATION (Lat. in, and rigare, to water or wet)

irrigation, which is carried on with See also:

• GREAT

great difficulty owing to the See also:

• CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character of the See also:

• SOIL

soil . The government is drained by the Aras, which forms the boundary with Persia and flows with great velocity down its stony See also:

• BED
• BED (a common Teutonic word, cf. German Bett, probably connected with the Indo-European root bhodh, seen in the Lat. fodere, to dig; so " a dug-out place " for safe resting, or in the same sense as a garden " bed ")

bed, the fall being 17-22 ft. per mile in its upper course, and 9 ft. at Ordubad, where it quits the government, while See also:

• LOWER

lower down it again increases to 23 ft . Many of the small lakes, filling volcanic craters, are of great See also:

• DEPTH

depth . See also:

• TIMBER

Timber is very scarce . A variety of useful minerals exists, but only See also:

• ROCK
• ROCK (O.Fr. rake, Sp. rota, Ital. rocca; possibly from a Lat. form rupica, from rupes, rock)
• ROCK, DANIEL (1799–187t)

rock-See also:

• SALT (a common Teutonic word, cf. Dutch zout, Ger. Salz, Scand. salt; cognate with Gr. &Xs, Lat. sal)
• SALT, SIR TITUS, BART

salt is obtained, at'See also:

• NAKHICHEVAN, or NAKHJEVAN

Nakhichevan and See also:

• KULP

Kulp . The See also:

• CLIMATE

climate is extremely varied, the following being the See also:

• AVERAGE

average temperatures and mean See also:

• ANNUAL

annual rainfall at Alexandropol (alt . 5078 ft.) and Aralykh (2755 ft.) respectively: See also:

• YEAR

year 42°, See also:

• JANUARY

January r 2°, See also:

• JULY

July 65°, mean rainfall 16.2 in.; and year 53°, January 20.5°, July 79°, rainfall 6.3 in .

The See also:

• POPULATION (Lat. populus, people; populare, to populate)

population numbered 829,578 in 1897 (only 375,086 See also:

• WOMEN

women), of whom 82,278 lived in the towns . An estimate in 1906 gave a See also:

• TOTAL

total of 909,100 . They consist chiefly of Armenians (441,000), See also:

• TATARS (the common form Tartars is less correct)

Tatars (40%), Kurds (49,389), with Russians, Greeks and Tates . Most of the Armenians belong to the Gregorian (See also:

• CHRISTIAN
• CHRISTIAN, WILLIAM (1608-1663)

Christian) See also:

• CHURCH
• CHURCH (according to most authorities derived from the Gr. Kvpcaxov [&wµa], " the Lord's [house]," and common to many Teutonic, Slavonic and other languages under various forms—Scottish kirk, Ger. Kirche, Swed. kirka, Dan. kirke, Russ. tserkov, Buig. cerk
• CHURCH, FREDERICK EDWIN (1826-1900)
• CHURCH, GEORGE EARL (1835–1910)
• CHURCH, RICHARD WILLIAM (1815–189o)
• CHURCH, SIR RICHARD (1784–1873)

Church, and only 4020 to the Armenian See also:

• CATHOLIC (Gr. KcaBoXuK6s, general, universal)

Catholic Church . The Tatars are mostly Shiite Mussulmans, only 27,596 being See also:

• SUNNITES

Sunnites; 777 2 belong to the See also:

• PECULIAR

peculiar faith of the Yezids . While See also:

• BARLEY (Hordeum sativum)

barley only can be grown on the high parts of the plateau, See also:

• COTTON
• COTTON (Fr. coton; from Arab. qutun)
• COTTON, CHARLES (163o–1687)
• COTTON, GEORGE EDWARD LYNCH (1813–1866)
• COTTON, JOHN (1585–1652)
• COTTON, SIR ROBERT BRUCE

cotton, mulberry, vines and all sorts of See also:

• FRUIT (through the French from the Lat. fructus; frui, to enjoy)

fruit are cultivated in the valley of the Aras . See also:

• CATTLE (Norman Fr. catel, from Late Lat. capitale, wealth or property, a word applied in the feudal system to movable property and particularly to live stock, and surviving in its wider meaning as " chattel " or " chattle ")

Cattle-breeding is extensively carried on; camels also are bred, and leeches are collected out of the swamps and exported to Persia . See also:

• INDUSTRY (Lat. industria, from indu-, a form of the pre, position in, and either stare, to stand, or struere, to pile up)

Industry is in its See also:

• INFANCY

infancy, but cottons, carpets, and See also:

• FELT (cognate with Ger. Filz, Du. vilt, Swed. and Dan. fill; the root is unknown; the word has given Med. Lat. filtrum, " filter ")

felt goods are made in the villages . A considerable See also:

• TRADE (O. Eng. trod, footstep, from tredan, to tread; in M. Eng. the forms teed, trod and trade appear, the last in the sense of a beaten track)
• TRADE, BOARD OF

trade is carried on with Persia, but trade with See also:

• ASIA

Asia See also:

• MINOR
• MINOR (Lat. for smaller, lesser)
• MINOR, ROBERT CRANNELL (1839-1904)

Minor is declining . The government is divided into seven districts—Erivan, Alexandropol, See also:

• ECHMIADZIN, or ITSMIADSIN

Echmiadzin (See also:

• CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief See also:

• TOWN

town, Vagarshapat), Nakhichevan, Novobayazet, Surmali (chief town, Igdyr), and Sharur-daralagoz (chief town, Norashen) . The See also:

• PRINCIPAL

principal towns are Erivan (see below), Alexandropol (32,018 inhabitants in 1897), Novobayazet (8507), Nakhichevan (8845), and Vagarshapat (3400) .