Ayrum () is a town and urban community in the Noyemberyan Municipality of the Tavush Province of

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

, located at a road distance of northeast of the capital

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...

and north of the provincial capital Ijevan. It is situated on the shores of Debed river, only away from the Armenia–Georgia border. As of the 2011 census, Ayrum had a population of 2,126. As of the 2016 official estimate, the population of Ayrum is 2,000. As of the 2022 census, Ayrum has a population of 1,740. The importance of the town is derived from its geographical location as the northeastern gate and railway hub for the entire republic.

Etymology

The word ''Ayrum'' means ''burning'' in the

Armenian language Armenian (endonym: , , ) is an Indo-European languages, Indo-European language and the sole member of the independent branch of the Armenian language family. It is the native language of the Armenians, Armenian people and the official language of ...

. According to the Soviet Armenian Encyclopedia, the area has been known as Ayrum after being burnt by the enemies long time ago. According to another theory, the name of the town is derived from the presence of the Ayrum people, who are a sub-ethnic group of

Azerbaijanis Azerbaijanis (; , ), Azeris (, ), or Azerbaijani Turks (, ) are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group living mainly in the Azerbaijan (Iran), Azerbaijan region of northwestern Iran and the Azerbaijan, Republic of Azerbaijan. They are predomin ...

in the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, some migrated to

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

and to

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

History

Historically, the area of modern-day Ayrum was part of ancient Gugark; the 13th province of Greater Armenia. Separated by the Debed river, the eastern half of Ayrum was part of the ''Koghbapor'' () canton of the historic province, while the western half belonged to the ''Dzobopor'' () canton of the same province. In 1501-02, most of the Eastern Armenian territories including the historic region of ''Dzobopor'', were swiftly conquered by the emerging

Safavid dynasty The Safavid dynasty (; , ) was one of Iran's most significant ruling dynasties reigning from Safavid Iran, 1501 to 1736. Their rule is often considered the beginning of History of Iran, modern Iranian history, as well as one of the gunpowder em ...

of Iran led by Shah

Ismail I Ismail I (; 17 July 1487 – 23 May 1524) was the founder and first shah of Safavid Iran, ruling from 1501 until his death in 1524. His reign is one of the most vital in the history of Iran, and the Safavid period is often considered the beginn ...

. The territories of present-day Lori and Tavush along with the neighboring

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, became part of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

in 1800-01. The territories became an official region of Russia as per the

Treaty of Gulistan The Treaty of Gulistan (also spelled Golestan: ; ) was a peace treaty concluded between the Russian Empire and Qajar Iran on 24 October 1813 in the village of Gülüstan, Goranboy, Gulistan (now in Goranboy District, the Goranboy District of Azerb ...

signed between Imperial Russia and Qajar Persia in October 1813, following the Russo-Persian War of 1804–13. In 1840, the Elizavetpol uezd was formed and most of the territories of Tavush became part of the newly-founded administrative division of the Russian Empire. Later in 1868, the Elizavetpol Governorate was established and Tavush became part of the newly-formed Kazakh uezd of the governorate. After the short-lived independent Republic of Armenia in 1918-20, the Soviet Red Army entered the Armenian territories on 29 November 1920 and the

Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (ArSSR), also known as Soviet Armenia, or simply Armenia, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union, located in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Soviet Armenia ...

was officially declared on 2 December 1920. Under the Soviet rule, the settlement of Ayrum was founded in 1937 as a small village called ''Banavan'', within the Noyemberyan raion of Soviet Armenia. It was mainly founded as a labour settlement for the newly-established food

canning Canning is a method of food preservation in which food is processed and sealed in an airtight container (jars like Mason jars, and steel and tin cans). Canning provides a shelf life that typically ranges from one to five years, although under ...

factory. The village has gradually grown as a centre for food-processing industry and received the status of an

urban-type settlement Urban-type settlement, abbreviated: ; , abbreviated: ; ; ; ; . is an official designation for lesser urbanized settlements, used in several Central and Eastern Europe, Central and Eastern European countries. The term was primarily used in the So ...

town in 1960.

Geography

Ayrum is located in northeastern Armenia, at a road distance of northeast of the capital

and north of the provincial capital Ijevan. It is situated on the shores of Debed river, only south of the Armenia-

borderline, and west of the border with

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

. Covering an area of around , the town is at an elevation of

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...

. Ayrum has a mild temperature in summer with an average degree of . The temperature is quite cold and snowy during winter, with an average degree of .

Demographics

Economy

Ayrum was considered a large centre for the production of canned food during the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

years. Currently, the town is home to the "Ayrum Cannery" operating since 1937, and the "Ayrum Fruits" food-processing factory operating since 2014. Recently, a

zeolite Zeolites are a group of several microporous, crystalline aluminosilicate minerals commonly used as commercial adsorbents and catalysts. They mainly consist of silicon, aluminium, oxygen, and have the general formula ･y where is either a meta ...

processing plant known as ''Zeolite Pro'' was opened in Ayrum. The processed zeolites are mainly brought from the nearby mines of Koghb.Ինչո՞ւ է Այրում քաղաքը պատվել ցեոլիտի փոշով
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Culture

During excavations conducted in the archaeological site located 3 km southwest of Ayrum, the remains of a

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

cyclopean fortress were found, along with small metallic sculptures of a human face and several animals, dating back to the period between the 10th and 7th centuries BC. The community of Ayrum is served by a house of culture as well as a public library.

Education

Ayrum has a pre-school kindergarten as well as a public education school designated for 700 students. However, the number of the students did not exceed 300 in recent years.

Administration

With the new regulations of the administrative subdivisions of Armenia in 1995, Ayrum was classified as a village (rural settlement) within the Tavush Province. Later in 2006, Ayrum received the status of a town (urban settlement). Following the community mergers in 2016, the municipality of Ayrum was enlarged to include the surrounding villages of Archis, Bagratashen, Debetavan, Deghdzavan, Haghtanak, Lchkadzor and Ptghavan.

Transportation

Ayrum is the northeastern gate of Armenia and the connection point on the railroad that extends between Yerevan in Armenia and

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

in Georgia. Being the country's main railway hub on the border with Georgia, the Ayrum border checkpoint located at the Ayrum railway station, provides visa on arrival to the citizens of

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an,

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

n, and many

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

n countries. The M-6 Motorway that connects Yerevan with Georgia also passes through the town of Ayrum.

References

{{Portal bar, Geography Populated places in Tavush Province Populated places established in 1937 Elizavetpol Governorate