Yerevan is the capital of Armenia, as well as the largest city in the country. Its area is 227 km², being a special administrative division, different from the marzes into which the country is divided, it is a city founded in 782 a. C. To the west of what is now Armenia, at the eastern end of the Ararat plain and on the banks of the Hrazdan river. After the First World War it became the capital of the Democratic Republic of Armenia and increased its population with the arrival of thousands of survivors of the Armenian genocide, expanding further in the 20th century to become the capital of one of the fifteen Republics of the USSR, the Armenian SSR.
In this way, the small city became one of the most important in the region, home to the most important cultural, artistic and industrial associations in the country, as well as the politics, and base of an extensive network of railways, as well as the knot of trade in agricultural products. In 2003, the population of the city was estimated at 1,091,235 inhabitants, for a total of 1,245,700 inhabitants adding the neighboring populations, making up 42% of the Armenian population, followed by Gyumri, with a population of 150,917 inhabitants. The history of Yerevan dates back to the 8th century BC. C., with the foundation of the urartiana strength of Erebuni in the year VIII century a. C. Progressively, the name Erebuni evolved in the Armenian language between the s. V or the 4th century BC C., modifying the letter "b" in the name, until becoming "v". It has its own university, Academy of Sciences, the National Gallery of Armenia, the Museum of Armenian History and various public libraries.
In the city there are the ruins of a urartian fortress about 3000 years old. Between the important buildings they emphasize the Cathedral, the Market and the Opera. Its airport is located in Zvartnots. Yerevan was the World Book Capital of 2012, declared by UNESCO.