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Armenian is an Indo-European language spoken in the Caucasus mountains (particularly in the Armenian Republic) and also used by the Armenian Diaspora. It is its own independent branch of the family of the Indo-European languages, with no living close relatives. Many now believe that Armenian is close relative of the dead language Phrygian (and perhaps related to Thracian and Dacian). From the modern languages Greek seems to be the most closely related to Armenian, though it also contains many loanwords from Persian, which is also an Indo-European language.

While it contains many Indo-European roots, its phonology has been influenced by neighboring Caucasian languages, so that it shares a three-way distinction between voiceless, voiced, and ejective stops and fricatives.

Armenian was historically split in to two vaguely-defined primary dialectA dialect is a variant, or variety, of a language spoken in a certain geographical area. The number of speakers, and the area itself, can be of arbitrary size. It follows that a dialect for a larger area can contain plenty of (sub-) dialects, which in turs: Eastern ArmenianEastern Armenian is one of the two modern dialects of Armenian (an Indo-European language), spoken in the Caucasus mountains (particularly in the Armenian Republic). Phonology The phonology of Eastern Armenian features a three-way distinction in its stops, the form spoken in modern-day Armenia, and Western ArmenianWestern Armenian is one of the two modern dialects of Armenian, an Indo-European language spoken by the Armenian Diaspora, mainly in North America and Europe, but also in limited pockets of western Turkey and northern Syria. Phonology The phonology of Wes, the form spoken by Armenians in AnatoliaAnatolia ( Greek ανατολη anatole for "rising of the sun" or "East"; compare " Orient" and " Levant", by popular etymology Turkish Anadolu to ana "mother" and dolu "filled"), also called by the Latin name of Asia Minor. After the Armenian Genocide, the western form was primarily spoken only by those belonging to the diaspora.

Armenian is written in the Armenian alphabet, created by Saint Mesrop Mashtots in 406 AD.

The Armenians are a predominantly Christian ethnic group, primarily of the Armenian Church. Whether Armenians are Europeans or not is a bone of contention, as the people of Caucasia have become increasingly disregarded as being Europeans over the past couple of centuries. This process was arguably accelerating as the term "European" increasingly is being used to refer to citizens of the European Union rather than peoples of ethnic European origins, but the recent (2004) inclusion of Armenia in the EU "New Neighborhood", which is expected to lead to membership in the long term will once again swing the pendulum in the direction of Europe.