Armagnac \,ar-ma-'nyak\ Small territory in historical Gascony, south¬ western France. A portion was part of the Roman province of Aquitania (see Aquitaine). From c. 960 it was the separate countship of Armagnac, and it grew to occupy a buffer zone between lands controlled by the French kings (Toulouse) and those controlled by the English (Guyenne). It led the resistance to the English king Henry V’s invasion of France but suffered a setback at the Battle of Agincourt. It was first annexed to France in 1497, became a countship again, but finally, by descent through the rulers of Navarra, returned to the French crown in 1607. Again a count- ship from 1645, it was dissolved in 1789. The region produces the famous Armagnac brandy.
Armani \ar-'ma-ne\, Giorgio (b. July 11, 1934, Piacenza, Italy) Ital¬ ian fashion designer. He abandoned medical school and worked as a buyer
for a department store (1957-64) before training as a fashion designer. In 1974-75 he introduced his own label of ready-to-wear apparel for men and women. In 1980-81 he founded Giorgio Armani USA, Emporio Armani, and Armani Jeans, and in 1989 he opened shops in London. He was a leader in the move toward a pared-down, unstructured silhouette in menswear and was responsible for the wide-shouldered look for execu¬ tive women. His designs, often characterized by understated glamour and luxurious fabrics, introduced ease and streamlined modernity into late 20th-century dressing.
Armed Islamic Group French Groupe Islamique Armee (GIA) Algerian militant group. It was formed in 1992 after the govern¬ ment nullified the likely victory of the Islamic Salvation Front in 1991 leg¬ islative elections and was fueled by the repatriation of numerous Algerian Islamists who had fought in the Afghan War (1978-92). The GIA began a series of violent, armed attacks against the government and against for¬ eigners in Algeria and has been accused of civilian massacres—although it has been alleged that many such atrocities were committed by security- service infiltrators and special military units. It has also engaged in attacks abroad (particularly in France) and purportedly maintained links with militant Islamic groups throughout the world. Estimates of GIA strength have varied from hundreds to several thousand guerrillas.
Armenia officially Republic of Armenia Country, Transcaucasia, western Asia. Area: 11,484 sq mi (29,743 sq km). Population (2005 est.): 2,983,000. Capitaclass="underline" Yerevan. Armenians constitute nine-tenths of the popu-
dominantly Armenian Apostolic; also Roman Catholic); also Islam. Currency: dram. Armenia is a mountainous country with an average elevation of 5,900 ft (1,800 m). The Lesser Cau¬ casus ranges stretch across its northern portion, and Lake Sevan lies in the east-central part. Armenia has a dry and continental climate that changes dramatically with elevation. Though the country has become highly industrialized (as a result of the development of hydroelectric power during Soviet rule) and increasingly urbanized, agriculture is still important. The Republic of Armenia is a successor state to a historical region in Caucasia. Historical Armenia’s boundaries have varied consid¬ erably, but old Armenia extended over what are now northeastern Turkey and the Republic of Armenia. The area was equivalent to the ancient kingdom of Urartu, which ruled c. 1270-850 bc. It was later conquered by the Medes (see Media) and Macedonia and still later allied with Rome. Armenia adopted Christianity as its national religion c. ad 300. For cen-
Nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus).
APPEL COLOR PHOTOGRAPHY
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Armenia ► Armour I 105
turies the scene of strife among Arabs, Seljuqs, Byzantines, and Mongols, it came under the rule of the Ottoman Empire in 1514-16. Over the next centuries, as parts were ceded to other rulers, nationalism arose among the scattered Armenians; by the late 19th century it had caused widespread disruption. Fighting between Ottomans and Russians escalated when part of Armenia was ceded to Russia in 1828, and it continued through World War 1 (1914-18), leading to genocide against Armenians (see Armenian massacres). With the Ottoman defeat, the Russian portion became part of a Soviet republic in 1922. Armenia was established as a constituent repub¬ lic of the U.S.S.R. in 1936. The U.S.S.R. began to dissolve in the late 1980s, and Armenia declared its independence in 1991. In the years that followed, it fought Azerbaijan for control of Nagorno-Karabakh, a con¬ flict that continued despite attempts to settle it. Large numbers of Arme¬ nians left the country in the 1990s following an economic downturn, and many stayed away even after the economy began to improve.
Armenia, Little See Little Armenia
Armenian Armenian Hay plural Hayk or Hayq Member of an Indo-European people first recognized in the early 7th century bc when they moved into areas of Transcaucasia, Anatolia, and the Middle East that came to be known as Armenia. Armenian history has been one of nearly constant struggles for independence from foreign domination, first from the Medes and Persians, the Seleucid dynasty, and the Roman Republic and Empire and later from the Byzantine Empire, the SeuGq dynasty, the Otto¬ man Empire, the Safavid dynasty, and tsarist Russia. At the beginning of the 20th century most Armenians were driven from Anatolia or killed by Ottoman forces during the Armenian massacres. The Republic of Armenia was declared in 1990 after being part of the Soviet Union since 1922. More than 3.5 million Armenians live there, and there is an appreciable diaspora in other countries of Transcaucasia, in parts of the Middle East, and in the West. Armenian culture reached an apex in the 14th century, producing highly regarded sculpture, architecture, and fine art. Until the 20th century, Armenians were primarily agricultural; now they are highly urbanized. Traditionally they are either Orthodox or Roman Catholic Christians; Armenia was considered the first Christian state.
Armenian language Indo-European language of the Armenians. It is spoken by perhaps five to six million people worldwide. Armenian has undergone phonetic and grammatical changes that make it completely dis¬ tinct from other branches of Indo-European; its closest affinity may be with Greek, though this hypothesis has been vigorously disputed. Its long his¬ tory of contact with Iranian languages has resulted in the adoption of many Persian loanwords. According to tradition, the unique Armenian alphabet was created by the cleric Mesrop Mashtots in ad 406 or 407. Armenian of the 5th-9th centuries (Grabar, or Classical Armenian) was employed as the literary language into modern times. A 19th-century cultural revival led to the formation of two new literary languages: West Armenian, based on the speech of Istanbul Armenians, and East Armenian, based on the speech of Transcaucasian Armenians. Because of a long tradition of emigration and the massacres and expulsions during the last decades of Ottoman rule, most speakers of West Armenian live outside Anatolia. East Armenian is the lan¬ guage of the present-day Republic of Armenia.
Armenian massacres Murder and expulsion of Turkish Armenians by the Ottoman Empire under Abdulhamid II in 1894-96 and by the Young Turk government in 1915-16. In 1894, when the Armenians began agitat¬ ing for territorial autonomy and protesting against high taxes, Ottoman troops and Kurdish tribesmen killed thousands. In 1896, hoping to call attention to their plight, Armenian revolutionaries seized the Ottoman Bank in Istanbul. Mobs of Muslim Turks, abetted by elements of the gov¬ ernment, killed more than 50,000 Armenians in response. Sporadic kill¬ ings occurred over the next two decades. In response to Russia’s use of Armenian troops against the Ottomans in World War I (1914-18), the government deported 1.75 million Armenians south to Syria and Meso¬ potamia, in the course of which some 600,000 Armenians were killed or died of starvation.