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Nature

Geography of Armenia

Armenia is a landlocked country in Transcausasia region, between the Black and Caspian Seas, bordered on the north and east by Georgia and Azerbaijan and on the south and west by Iran and Turkey.

The terrain is mostly mountainous and flat, with fast flowing rivers and few forests but with many trees. The climate is highland continental: hot summers and cold winters. The land rises to 4,095 m above sea-level at Mount Aragats.

The flora of Armenia is very diverse, since it is situated on the joint of two geobotanical provinces – Caucasian and Iranian.

The prevailing is the semi-desert, mountain-steppe, mountain-meadow and Alpine vegetation.

Grassland – cereal and stipa steppes are replaced by meadow steppes and the Alpine meadows in high-mountains.

The woods occupy about 12% of the area of the country and are, basically, in the northeast and southeast. Widespread in the northeast are broad-leaved woods with the prevalence of oaks, beeches and hornbeams with some lindens, maples, and ash-trees.

Poplars and walnuts, wild fruit-trees and bushes (apple-trees, pear, cherry, plum, cornelian cherry, and dog rose) are often found therе.

The rocky and stony soils are grown with bushes – almond and pistachios, Jerusalem thorn, and beans. The flora of Armenia includes about 3,200 species including 106 endemics.

The fauna of Armenia consists of 76 species of mammals, 304 kinds of birds, 44 kinds of reptiles, 6 kinds of amphibious, 24 kinds of fishes and about10 thousand invertebrates.

Each natural zone is characterized by its unique fauna. In semi-deserts there are rodents (gophers, jerboas, mole rats, hedgehogs, gerbils, voles) and reptiles (agamas, turtles, blunt-nosed vipers, vipers). In steppes live hares and foxes, wolves and badgers, bezoar goats and moufflons.

The fauna of woods is rather rich. There are roebucks, wild boars, bears, Persian squirrels, deer, lynxes, wood cats, and forest dormice. The birds – nightingales, titmice, jays, hawks.

In the Alpine meadows – lynxes, wood cats, martens, bezoar goats, moufflons, wild boars, bears, roebucks, leopards, squirrels, wood cats, and royal deer.

The lynx, jungle cat, wild boar, jackal and numerous birds are found in the Araks river bank thickets and Lake Sevan: the crane (the national symbol of the country), stork, partridge, quail, black grouse, eagle, vulture, snowcock, ducks and seagulls.