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| |
| Capital | Yerevan |
| Largest city | Yerevan |
| Other cities | Tbilisi, Baku, Van, Trebizond |
| Language official |
Armenian |
| others | Georgian, Greek, Persian |
| Hypatos | |
| Population | 22,720,501 |
| Currency | Solidus |
The Republic of the Caucasus, commonly known as Armenia after the Armenians, its dominant and most numerous ethnic group, is a sovereign state located in the southern foothills of the Caucasus Mountains. It is bordered by the Roman Empire and Iran to the south and Lithuania to the north, and has shorelines along both the Black and Caspian Seas.
A republic was established in the area more than a thousand years ago, when Armenia was a vassal of the Roman Empire. As Rome weakened over the centuries Armenia gradually gained independence and began the process of unifying the Caucasus. It reached its greatest extent in the 11th century when, following the downfall of the Sassanid dynasty, it was able to acquire much of Persia - but most of its eastern territories were lost from the 13th century to the Mongols and to native Persian dynasties.