A mass emigration from the Republic of Armenia (Armenian: արտագաղթ artagaght' ) started during the last years of the Soviet Union due to harsh socio-economic conditions in the country, caused by several factors.
In December 1988, the Spitak Earthquake left hundreds of thousands in northern Armenia without homes and up to 50,000 dead.[1] In 1989, the Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant, which provides 40% of Armenia's electricity, was shut down for about 6 years (until 1995), while since 1992, the Armenian forces were actively involved in the Nagorno-Karabakh War with neighboring Azerbaijan over the disputed Armenian-populated region. A regional conflict started in 1988 and included cases of ethnic violence prior to the escalation of the war.[2]
The World Bank estimated that by 2010, 28.2% Armenia's population (about 870,200 people) have emigrated.[3]
- ^ Fein, Esther B. (10 December 1988). "Soviet aides say deaths in quake may reach 50,000". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
- ^ Münz, Rainer (2003). Diasporas and Ethnic Migrants: German, Israel, and Post-Soviet Successor States in Comparative Perspective. London: Psychology Press. p. 161. ISBN 9780714652320.
The situation changed drastically in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The disintegration of the USSR had a significant impact on Armenian population which intensified by other regional events, in particular the earthquake of 1988, the war between Armenia and Azerbaijan and, after 1991, the growing political tension in Transcaucasia, the North Caucasus and Central Asia. On the one hand, these changes provoked forced migration of Armenians from Azerbaijan, North Caucasus and Abkhazia. The number of Armenian refugees from Azerbaijan in 1988-91 alone is estimated at 350,000. On the other had, the deterioration of the economic and political situation in Armenia entailed a massive emigration from Armenia, which largely facilitated with the help of relatives and friends belonging to the diaspora, either in Russia, on other former Soviet republics or in Western countries. Between 1990 and 1998, according to official Russian data, the net migration of Armenians to Russia reached 312,000 persons, but it is likely that not all immigrants were include in official data. Taking into consideration natural increase, the number of Armenians in Russia in 1999 is estimated at no less than 875,000. In 1989 the number was 532,000. Moreover, a wave of Armenian emigration occurred not only to other former Soviet republics, for example to Ukraine, but also to Western countries. The total number of Armenian emigrants to the United States in the first half of the 1990s was estimated at 80,000. According to estimates by Armenian experts, the total emigration between 1990 and 1997 amounted to 700,000 persosn or 20 per cent of Armenia's population.
{{cite book}}: line feed character in|quote=at position 877 (help) - ^ Migration and remittances factbook 2011 (PDF). Washington, DC: The World Bank. 2010. ISBN 978-0-8213-8218-9.