A former federate republic of the USSR, Armenia declared independence on 23 September 1991. Since 1988 it has been in an undeclared state of war with Azerbaijan over the sovereignty of Nagorno-Karabakh, a region belonging to Azerbaijan though mostly inhabited by Armenians. A pact ratified on 12 October 1997 granted ample autonomy to the province, which is connected by a land corridor to Armenia. In 2015, the Constitution, adopted on 5 July 1995, was amended to transform the political structure into a parliamentary republic. The President of the Republic is now elected for a seven-year term by the National Assembly (at least 101 elected members serving five-year terms) and nominates the candidate elected by the National Assembly as Prime Minister. The judicial system is based on European principles.

Arable farming is mainly concentrated in the Araks valley, with livestock farming (cattle and sheep) a major resource in the mountain areas. There are sizeable deposits of molybdenum (Agarak, K’ajaran) and smaller deposits of gold and copper. The nuclear power reactor at Metsamor, even if obsolete, still meets a significant proportion of the energy needs of the country. Substantial hydroelectric and thermoelectric power generation occurs, which harnesses Russian and Iranian natural gas piped through pipelines. Industries include chemicals (Alaverdi, Yerevan, Vanadzor), textiles (Yerevan, Vanadzor, Gyumri), mechanical engineering (Gyumri, Vanadzor) and cement (Ararat).
The economy is supported by exports of raw materials and by foreign investment, especially by Russia and Armenians resident abroad.

Main exports (M US$ - 2017) copper 587, cigars and cigarettes 242, spirits 207, gold 147, aluminium 106, iron and steel 87, unrefined copper 79