Yerevan, Armenia Population 2024

Yerevan is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world it's the capital and largest city of Armenia.

With the Armenian economy seeing huge growth in the late 1990s, Yerevan has undergone major transformation. Since the early 2000s, much construction has been undertaken throughout the city, and many shops, restaurants and street cafes, which were a rare sight during the years of Soviet rule, have increased exponentially.

In 2019, the population of Yerevan is estimated at 1.07 million.

Demographics

The historical ethnic composition of Yerevan is made up as follows:

1830:

• 35.7% Armenian
• 64.3% Azerbaijani
• 1.7% Other

1939:

• 87.1% Armenian
• 3.3% Azerbaijani
• 7.5% Russian
• 2.1% Other

2011:

• 98.94% Armenian
• 0.47% Russian
• 0.59% Other

Proceeding the fall of the Soviet Union, and the ensuing economic crises, thousands of people fled Armenia to Russia, Europe, and North America.

The people of Yerevan generally speak the Yerevan dialect. Classical Armenian words compose significant parts of the vocabulary. Persian, Russian and loan words’ influence on the language can be seen to this day, and it is the most prominent of all the Armenian dialects.

History

The territory of Yerevan has been inhabited since around the 2nd half of the 4th millennium BCE, and the southern part of the city, Shengavit, is known to have been populated since at least 3,200 BCE.

Yerevan has a vast history of different rulers and regimes. Starting as the kingdom of Uratu in the 9th century BCE, it was then under the control of the Median Empire in 590 BCE. By 550 BCE, it became part of the Achaemenid Empire. Around 330 BCE, the Kingdom of Armenia was founded, bringing independence, before coming under the control of Sasanian Persia some time after 428 CE. 658 CE saw the Arab Islamic invasions, and Erebuni-Yerevan was conquered, becoming part of the Emirate of Armenia. This lasted for 2 centuries before Armenia once again became an independent nation, and then once again fell to Byzantine rule. This lasted from 1045 until 1064, when Armenia then became part of the Seljuk Empire. Sometime around 1237, Armenia became subject to Mongol rule, until Sunni Oghuz Turkic tribes took over during the final quarter of the 14th century. In 1410, Armenia shifted unto the control of the Kara Koyunlu Shia Oghuz Turkic tribe, until Armenia was reportedly made a “desert” by Kara Koyunlu ruler Qara Iskander early in the 15th century.

The 16th century saw Eastern Armenia, and with it Yerevan, falling under Iranian rule, where it would remain until it was conquered by the Russian Empire in the 19th century. Armenia saw a brief independence again at the beginning of the 20th century, but was soon invaded and annexed into the Soviet Union in 1920.

Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Republic of Armenia became a fully independent state, and Yerevan once again became the capital.

Population Growth

The overall population of Yerevan has been growing quite rapidly since 1830. Despite ethnic demographics shifting greatly, the overall population has managed to keep growing.

Almost 100 years later, the population had grown to 67,000. During this time, the dominant Azerbaijani population had been dwindling, while the Armenian population had been growing rapidly. What was initially in 1830 a 64.3% portion of the population, now in 1926 it stood at a mere 7.8%, while the Armenian population grew from 35.7% to 89.2%. By 1989, the Azerbaijani population was completely wiped out.

From 1926 to 1939, the population grew from 67,000 to over 200,000. This kind of growth would be repeated again over the following 20 years, bringing the population to 509,000 by 1959. Similarly, between 1970 and 1979, the population grew from 775,000 to 1.01 million.

This has slowed and dwindled somewhat since, after reaching its peak in 1989 with 1.2 million people. As of 2019, the population stands at 1.07 million.