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Armenians ((アルメニア語:հայեր), ''hayer'' (:hɑˈjɛɾ)) are an ethnic group native to the Armenian Highlands. Armenians constitute the main population of Armenia and the ''de facto'' independent Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. There is a wide-ranging diaspora of around 5 million people of full or partial Armenian ancestry living outside of modern Armenia. The largest Armenian populations today exist in Russia, the United States, France, Georgia, Iran, Ukraine, Lebanon, and Syria. With the exceptions of Iran and the former Soviet states, the present-day Armenian diaspora was formed mainly as a result of the Armenian Genocide.〔Richard G. Hovannisian, ''The Armenian people from ancient to modern times: the fifteenth century to the twentieth century'', Volume 2, p. 427, Palgrave Macmillan, 1997.〕 Most Armenians adhere to the Armenian Apostolic Church, a non-Chalcedonian church, which is also the world's oldest national church. Christianity began to spread in Armenia soon after Jesus' death, due to the efforts of two of his apostles, St. Thaddeus and St. Bartholomew.〔see 〕 In the early 4th century, the Kingdom of Armenia became the first state to adopt Christianity as a state religion, by which previously predominant Zoroastrianism and paganism in Armenia gradually declined.〔Mary Boyce. (''Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices'' ) Psychology Press, 2001 ISBN 0415239028 p 84〕〔Charl Wolhuter,Corene de Wet. (''International Comparative Perspectives on Religion and Education'' ) AFRICAN SUN MeDIA, ISBN 1920382372. 1 March 2014 p 31〕 Armenian is an Indo-European language. It has two mutually intelligible and written forms: Eastern Armenian, today spoken mainly in Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh, Iran and the former Soviet republics, and Western Armenian, used in the historical Western Armenia and, after the Armenian Genocide, primarily in the Armenian diasporan communities. The unique Armenian alphabet was invented in 405 AD by Mesrop Mashtots. == Etymology == (詳細はArmenia. The earliest attestations of the exonym ''Armenia'' date around the 6th century BC. In his trilingual Behistun Inscription dated to 517 BC, Darius I the Great of Persia refers to ''Urashtu'' (in Babylonian) as ''Armina'' (in Old Persian; ''Armina'' (30x20pxpx 30x20pxpx 30x20pxpx 30x20pxpx 30x20pxpx) and ''Harminuya'' (in Elamite). In Greek, "Armenians" is attested from about the same time, perhaps the earliest reference being a fragment attributed to Hecataeus of Miletus (476 BC).〔" (The Armenians border on the Chalybes to the south)". 〕 Xenophon, a Greek general serving in some of the Persian expeditions, describes many aspects of Armenian village life and hospitality in around 401 BC. He relates that the people spoke a language that to his ear sounded like the language of the Persians. Armenians call themselves ''Hay'' (Հայ, pronounced (); plural: Հայեր, ()). The name has traditionally been derived from Hayk (), the legendary patriarch of the Armenians and a great-great-grandson of Noah, who, according to Moses of Chorene, defeated the Babylonian king Bel in 2492 BC and established his nation in the Ararat region.〔Razmik Panossian, The Armenians: From Kings And Priests to Merchants And Commissars, Columbia University Press (2006), ISBN 978-0-231-13926-7, p. 106.〕 It is also further postulated〔Rafael Ishkhanyan, "Illustrated History of Armenia," Yerevan, 1989〕〔Elisabeth Bauer. ''Armenia: Past and Present'' (1981), p. 49〕 that the name ''Hay'' comes from one of the two confederated, Hittite vassal states—the Ḫayaša-Azzi (1600–1200 BC). Movses Khorenatsi, the important early medieval Armenian historian, wrote that the word ''Armenian'' originated from the name Armenak or Aram (the descendant of Hayk). 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Armenians」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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