Greeks in Armenia

Greeks and Armenians have had a long cultural, religious and political relationship, dating back to antiquity and strengthening during the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires. This tie is reinforced by the significant diaspora population of Greeks in Armenia and of Armenians in Greece, as well.

Origins

The Greeks of Armenia are mainly descendants of the Pontic Greeks, who originally lived along the shores of the Black Sea. Seafaring Ionian Greeks settled around the southern shores of the Black Sea starting around 800 BC later expanding to coastal regions of modern Romania, Russia, Bulgaria and Ukraine. The Pontic Greeks lived for thousands of years almost isolated from the Greek peninsula, retaining elements of the Ancient Greek language and making Pontic Greek almost unintelligible to most modern Greeks.

Modern

Several villages with large proportion of Greek Armenians are found in areas along Armenia's northern border with Georgia, in the northern part of the Lori marz (province). The Largest communities can be found in Alaverdi and Yerevan [ [http://www2.mfa.gr/www.mfa.gr/en-US/Policy/Geographic+Regions/Russia+-+Eastern+Europe+-+Central+Asia/Bilateral+Relations/Armenia/ Hellenic Republic] Hellenic Republic, Ministry of Foreign Affairs] , followed by Vanadzor, Gyumri, Stepanavan, Hankavan and Noyemberyan. Greeks in Armenia number around 1,800 to over 4,000 [ [http://www.ana.gr/anaweb/user/showplain?maindoc=5475072&maindoc
] ] with staggered emigration to other former Soviet republics and Greece for economic reasons. Greeks and Armenians often live together in mixed communities north of the Armenian border in Georgia.

ee also

* Armenian-Greek relations
* Armenians in Greece

References