Armenians in Russia or Russian Armenians are one of the country's largest ethnic minorities and the largest Armenian diaspora community outside Armenia. The 2010 Russian census recorded 1,182,388 Armenians in the country. Various figures estimate that the ethnic Armenian population in Russia is actually more than 2 million. Armenians populate various regions, including Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Krasnodar Krai in the North Caucasus and as far as Vladivostok in the East.
Portrait of Russian-Armenian General Valerian Madatov by George Dawe from the Military Gallery, 1820
Commemoration of the Armenian genocide in Volgograd, 2012
Protests in Moscow against the extradition and pardon of Ramil Safarov, 2012
The Armenian Cathedral of Moscow, completed in 2011
Armenian is an Indo-European language and the sole member of an independent branch of that language family. It is the native language of the Armenian people and the official language of Armenia. Historically spoken in the Armenian highlands, today Armenian is widely spoken throughout the Armenian diaspora. Armenian is written in its own writing system, the Armenian alphabet, introduced in 405 AD by the canonized saint Mesrop Mashtots. The estimated number of Armenian speakers worldwide is between five and seven million.
Armenian manuscript, 5th–6th centuries.
The Four Gospels, 1495, Portrait of St Mark Wellcome with Armenian inscriptions
First printed Armenian language Bible, 1666
Armenian language road sign.