Population: 1,060,138

Region: Capital City

Yerevan is the largest city and capital of Armenia with a population of 1,088,300 (2004 estimate). It is situated along the Hrazdan River, which is not navigable, on the Ararat Plain.

The layout of Yerevan was designed by Alexander Tamanyan in the 1920's, and has grown way beyond his projections of a couple of hundred thousand residents. The center however remains pretty close to what he envisioned, with a grid pattern of streets intersected by some circular roads and a lot of parks. Virtually all hotels, museums, government offices, clubs and the like are in the very center (see map below), which can be walked across in 20 minutes - making Yerevan an extremely walkable city, except for the drivers.

Archaeological evidence indicates that a military fortress called Erebuni stood on Yerevan's site as far back as the 8th century BC. Since then the site has been strategically important as a crossroad for the caravan routes passing between Europe and India. It has been called Yerevan since at least the 7th century A.D., when it was the capital of Armenia under Persian rule.