Armenia
Armenia is a wonderland of forests and highlands, and is the home of the second largest lake in the world. It is famous for its cafe culture, and boasts a rich and fascinating history. Armenia is a product of an ancient and significant history. With the founding of capital city Yerevan dating back to 782 BC, this is a country where every place has a story or holds meaning. Archaeologists excavating caves in the Armenian highlands have unearthed the world’s earliest known shoe, skirt, and winery. Armenia declared its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, which accounts for Russian influences and history throughout the country. The nation’s complex past includes the tragic Armenian Massacres of the early 1900s by the Ottoman Empire, one of history’s most studied cases of genocide.