Armenia - Infrastructure, power, and communications



Armenia's infrastructure needs substantial improvement. Much of the nation's roadways and railways were built during the Soviet period and are in need of repair and renovation. The length of the railway system in 1995, excluding industrial lines, was 825 kilometers (512 miles). Armenia had 15,998 kilometers (9,942 miles) of roads in 1998, of which 7,567 kilometers (4,702 miles) were expressways. All major roads were paved. Pipelines for natural gas in 1991 were 900 kilometers (560 miles) long. Armenia does not have any ports or harbors. There are 12 airports in Armenia (5 with paved runways), but only 10 are in service. Armenian Airlines, the national air carrier, operates service to a variety of international destinations including, Moscow, Paris, Athens, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, and Tehran.

In 1995, of Armenia's total production of electric energy, 60 percent was from gas-fired plants, 34 percent was hydroelectric, and 5 percent was atomic. By 1998 these rates had changed to 25 percent thermal, 49 percent hydro, and 26 percent atomic. The total production of electrical energy in that same period was 5.6 million kilowatt hours (kWh), according to the IMF.

The nation has approximately 650,000 telephones, which gives it a telephone density of 17.7 phones per 100 people. This is relatively low when compared with Western European nations. For instance, Belgium has a telephone density of 50 per 100 people. However, the German company Siemens is engaged in a US$100 million project to upgrade the nation's telephone system with fiber optic and digital telephone systems. About 90 percent of the nation's telecommunications system is now privately-owned. Mobile phone use is increasing with 20,000 mobile units in use in 1998. Use of the Internet is also on the rise with the number of Internet service providers increasing from 1 in 1999 to 7 in 2000. The United States has provided US$1 million to Armenia to supply Internet service for schools.

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