History of Armenia

Armenialies in the highlands surrounding the Biblical mountains ofArarat. The originalArmenianname for the country was Hayk, later Hayastan (Armenian:), translated as the land of Haik, and consisting of the name of the ancient Mesopotamian godHaya(ha-i) and theIraniansuffix '-stan' ("land"). The name Armenia was given to the country by the surrounding states, and it is traditionally derived from Armenak orAram(the great-grandson of Haik's great-grandson, and another leader who is, according to Armenian tradition, the ancestor of allArmenians). In theBronze Age, several states flourished in the area of Greater Armenia, including theHittite Empire(at the height of its power),Mitanni(South-Western historical Armenia), andHayasa-Azzi(16001200 BC). Soon after the Hayasa-Azzi were theNairi(14001000 BC) and theKingdom of Urartu(1000600 BC), who successively established their sovereignty over theArmenian Highland. Each of the aforementioned nations and tribes participated in the ethnogenesis of theArmenianpeople. In the 1960s excavations in the Yerevan 1 Cave uncovered evidence of ancient human habitation, including the remains of a 48,000 year old hearth, and a human cranial fragment and tooth of a similar age. TheArmenian Highlandshows traces of settlement from theNeolithicera. Archaeological surveys in 2010 and 2011 have resulted in the discovery of the world's earliest known leather shoe (3,500 BC), straw skirt (3,900 BC), and wine-making facility (4,000 BC) at theAreni-1 cave complex.

History of Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan(Azerbaijani:Azrbaycan) is a country in theCaucasusregion ofEurasia. It's bounded byCaspian Seato the east, Russia'sDaghestanregion to the north,Georgiato the northwest,ArmeniaandTurkeyto the southwest, andIranto the south. Azerbaijan is a home to various ethnicities, majority of which areAzerbaijani, aTurkicethnic group which numbers close to 9 million in the independentRepublic of Azerbaijan.

During Median and Persian rule, manyCaucasian AlbaniansadoptedZoroastrianismand then switched toChristianityprior to coming of MuslimArabsand more importantly Muslim Turks. The Turkic tribes are believed to have arrived as small bands ofghaziswhose conquests led to theTurkificationof the population as largely native Caucasian and Iranian tribes adopted the Turkic language of the Oghuz and converted to Islam over a period of several hundred years.

After more than 80 years of colonization under theRussian Empirein the Caucasus, theAzerbaijan Democratic Republicwas established in 1918. The state was invaded by Soviet forces in 1920 and remained under Soviet rule until the collapse of theSoviet Unionin 1991.