Many famous artists were captured in the paintings, and the poets sung in poetry the nature of this picturesque corner of the earth. Joseph Mandelstam, Andrei Bely, Nikolai Tikhonov and Valery Bryusov wrote about the richness and strict beauty of these places. Unique landscapes are reflected in the paintings of Minas Avetisyan and Martiros Saryan, as well as in the priceless paintings of Ivan Aivazovsky ("Ararat Valley" and "View of Lake Sevan").
Natural monuments of Armenia, especially flora and fauna - the topic of this article.
General information
The nature of these places played an important role in the history of the people of Armenia. Just as during the period of the global flood, it became a hotbed of the emergence of a new humanity, so later it helped its people during the struggle against enemy brutal attacks. Thanks to numerous deep gorges and high mountains, lakes and rivers, the fortresses of Armenians were almost impregnable.
Many poems and songs are devoted to the nature of Armenia, which emphasizes its consonance with the centuries-old history and culture of the local people.
Climatic conditions
The territory of Armenia is located at an altitude of 1000-2500 meters above sea level. The geographical latitude of its location corresponds to the latitude of such European countries as Italy, Greece and Spain.
Armenia attracts not only numerous natural and historical sights, but also a favorable continental climate. It is warm in summer and moderately cold in winter. A total of 280 days a year are sunny.
The mountains
The sacred symbol of Armenia is the largest and highest volcanic massif, which is a stratovolcano (two cones merged with their bases - the sleeping volcanoes Big and Small Ararat) of the Armenian Highlands. It is currently located in eastern Turkey. This is the greatest Ararat. Armenia (its border) is today located about 28 kilometers from it.
However, this state also has its own beautiful mountain ranges. One of the names of Armenia is Karastan, which means "Country of stones." From the east and north, this country is framed by the ridges of the Lesser Caucasus. It is the highest mountain country in the Caucasus, since at an altitude of 1000 meters is more than 90% of its territory. The largest peak in Armenia is Aragats (altitude 4090 m), the second mountain in descending order of height is Kaputjuh (3904 meters).
Armenia is rich in deposits of rocks and minerals, precious metals, including gold, molybdenum, zinc. In addition, the nature of Armenia has enormous reserves of building stone: basalt, tuff, felsite and travertine.
Lakes and rivers
The longest river in Armenia is the Araks, whose left tributary is Hrazdan, which has important hydropower and irrigation significance.
In total, there are more than 100 lakes in this country, the largest of which is the alpine lake Sevan with fresh water. It is located at an altitude of 1900 m. The area of its water surface is more than 1200 square meters. kilometers. Sevan is of great importance in shipping, fishing, and is also an excellent recreation area.
Flora and fauna of Armenia
The territory of Armenia is at the junction of the Caucasian forest-meadow and Iranian desert-semi-desert geobotanical provinces. The diversity of its flora is connected with this. More than 3200 species of plants grow in this secluded corner of the earth, 120 of which are found only here.
Forests of Armenia occupy 12% of its entire territory. Beech, oak, and hornbeam grow here, sometimes ash, maple and fruit wild trees are found. In the plains, feather grass, wheat grass, fescue and thin-leg grow. Shrubs such as buckthorn, almonds, and tree branches, as well as cushion-like vegetation (cecum, tragacanth astragalus, thyme, acantholimon, and sage) are characteristic of rocky sites.
The nature of Armenia has always helped the people living in these places to deal with various wounds, ailments and even old age. These territories differ in the variety of medicinal plants. It should be noted that the Ararat Valley is the center of distribution of the first types of cereal crops, in particular wheat.
The fauna is represented by rare species of birds and animals. There are up to 450 species of vertebrates, 44 reptiles and 6 amphibians, as well as more than 10, 000 invertebrates and 24 species of fish.
The nature of Armenia is rich in endemic. This is explained by the peculiarities of the region’s geography, the diversity of soils and climate, the presence of freshwater bodies of water, and large elevations.
Natural monuments
Volcanic formations found in the valleys of the Arpa, Azat and Hrazdan rivers, presented in the form of cones, basalt pillars and ray-shaped forms of the Vardenis and Gegham massifs, as well as natural pyramids (the rarest relief weathering) are all natural monuments of Armenia.
They also include the most beautiful alpine lakes, numerous fresh, mineral springs and many others. other
