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Armed Forces of Armenia

The Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia (Հայաստանի Հանրապետության զինված ուժեր, abbreviated ՀՀ ԶՈՒ, HH ZU), sometimes referred to as the Armenian Army (հայկական բանակ), is the national military of Armenia. It consists of personnel branches under the General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces, which can be divided into two general branches: the Ground Forces, and the Air Force. Although it was partially formed out of the former Soviet Army forces stationed in the Armenian SSR (mostly units of the 7th Guards Army of the Transcaucasian Military District), the military of Armenia can be traced back to the founding of the First Republic of Armenia in 1918. Being landlocked, Armenia does not have a navy.

The Commander-in-Chief of the military is the President of Armenia, Vahagn Khachaturyan. The Ministry of Defence is in charge of political leadership, headed by Suren Papikyan, while military command remains in the hands of the general staff, headed by the Chief of Staff, who is Major-General Eduard Asryan. Border guards subject to the Ministry of Defence until 2001, patrol Armenia's borders with Georgia and Azerbaijan, while Russian troops continue to monitor its borders with Iran and Turkey. Since 2002, Armenia has been a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization. Armenia signed a military cooperation plan with Lebanon on 27 November 2015.

Early Armenian Army
An Armenian military corps was established to fight against the Ottomans during the Turkish–Armenian War in early 1918. In accordance with the Treaty of Batum of 4 June 1918 the Ottoman Empire demobilized most of the Armenian army. Ethnic Armenian conscripts and volunteers in the Imperial Russian Army would later become the core of the military of the First Armenian Republic.

Soviet era
The 7th Guards Army was based in Yerevan from 1946 to 1992. In the late 1980s the Army consisted of:

 * Directorate – Yerevan
 * 15th Motor Rifle Division – Kirovakan (now Vanadzor)
 * 75th Motor Rifle Division – Nakhichevan
 * 127th Motor Rifle Division – Leninakan (now Gyumri)
 * 164th Motor Rifle Division – Yerevan

On 1 June 1992, ITAR-TASS reported that General Fyodor Reut said that some units of the 7th Guards Army would begin leaving Armenia in 10–15 days. The army was disbanded later that summer. The former Soviet Air Defense Forces in Armenia were drawn from the 14th Air Defense Corps of the 19th Separate Air Defense Army.

1988–1992
The modern Armenian military entered its first stage at the beginning of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, when Armenian militias were formed to combat Azerbaijani units in Artsakh. On 20 September 1990, the first military unit was created, the Yerevan Special Regiment, with the first oath being held in the Republican Assembly Point and was attended by the first President of Armenia Levon Ter-Petrosyan, Prime Minister Vazgen Manukyan, and defence minister Vazgen Sargsyan. Five battalions were also formed in Ararat, Goris, Vardenis, Ijan and Meghri. In 1991, by the decision of the government, the State Committee of Defense under the Council of Ministers, which facilitated the task of coordinating the defense operations of Armenia, becoming the basis on which the Ministry of Defense was to be established later on.

Post-1992
Armenia established a Ministry of Defence on 28 January 1992. The first military unit of the defence ministry to be formed was the 1st Airborne Regiment, where the first Armenian soldier took the oath to the nation that March. Since a significant part of the officers of the Armed Forces were fighters of the self-defense volunteer detachments, a center for raising the qualification of officers was established for their qualification and training, which during its activity it provided about 1,500 officer-graduates. The School of Non-Commissioned Officers produced about 1,000 graduates.

The Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe was ratified by the Armenian parliament in July 1992. The treaty establishes comprehensive limits on key categories of military equipment, such as tanks, artillery, armored combat vehicles, combat aircraft, and combat helicopters, and provides for the destruction of weaponry in excess of those limits. Armenian officials have consistently expressed determination to comply with its provisions and thus Armenia has provided data on armaments as required under the CFE Treaty. Despite this, Azerbaijan accuses Armenia of diverting a large part of its military forces to Nagorno-Karabakh and thus circumventing these international regulations. In March 1993, Armenia signed the multilateral Chemical Weapons Convention, which calls for the eventual elimination of chemical weapons. Armenia acceded to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty as a non-nuclear weapons state in July 1993.

In addition to the branches of services listed above, Armenia established its own Internal Troops from the former Soviet Interior Troops after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Up until December 2002, Armenia maintained a Ministry of Internal Affairs, but along with the Ministry of National Security, it was reorganized as a non-ministerial institution. The two organizations became the Police of Armenia and the National Security Service.

Organization and service branches
The Armenian Armed Forces are Headquartered in Yerevan, where most of the general staff is based. The general staff is responsible for operational command of the Armenian Military and its two major branches. The armed forces also has the following personnel branches:
 * Department of Military Preparedness
 * Department of Military Apparatus
 * Department of Aviation
 * Department of Missile Troops
 * Department of Air Defence
 * Department of Rear Services
 * Department of Signal Troops
 * Department of the Engineer Troops
 * Department of Armaments
 * Department of the RNBC Defence Troops
 * Medical Department
 * Personnel Department
 * Intelligence Department
 * Strategic Planning Department
 * Mobilization Department
 * Operative Department
 * Department of Military Service Security
 * Department of Military Commissars
 * Financial Department
 * Human Resources Department

Ground Forces

According to IISS 2010, Armenia has 30 T-80 tanks, 390 T-72 tanks, 14 T-54/55 tanks and 80 BMP-1's, 7 BMP-1K, 55 BMP-2 and 12 BRM-1K. Wheeled APCs reported included 11 BTR-60s, 21 BTR-70s, 4 BTR-80s, 145 MT-LBs, 5 BMD-1S, and 120 BRDM-2 scout vehicles.

Although the Russians have supplied newer equipment to Armenia over the years, the numbers have never been sufficient to upgrade all ground force formations and many of the lower readiness units still have older, Soviet-legacy systems that have not been upgraded or in many cases effectively maintained. These older systems are placing great demands on the logistics system for service, maintenance, replacement parts and necessary upgrades, costing the army both financially and in overall readiness. The ground force is engaged in an effort of reassessment, reorganisation and restructuring, as the future of Armenia's defence needs a revised force structure and unit mix. The army sees the need to maintain much of its traditional mechanised formations, but is looking to lighten and make more mobile and self-sustainable a small number of other formations. It must develop these newer formations to support its international requirements and effectively operate in mountainous and other rugged terrain, but it must do this without affecting the mechanised capability that is needed to confront Azerbaijan's conventional forces.

Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Armenia has followed a policy of developing its armed forces into a professional, well trained, and mobile military. In 2000, the Centre for International Studies and Research reported that at that time the Armenian Army had the strongest combat capability of the three South Caucasus countries' armies (the other two being Georgia and Azerbaijan). CSTO Secretary, Nikolay Bordyuzha, came to a similar conclusion after collective military drills in 2007 when he stated that, "the Armenian Army is the most efficient one in the post-Soviet space". This was echoed more recently by Igor Korotchenko, a member of the Public Council, Russian Ministry of Defense, in a March 2011 interview with Voice of Russia radio.

The Army is functionally divided into Active and Reserve Forces. Their main functions include deterrence, defense, peace support and crisis management, humanitarian and rescue missions, as well as social functions within Armenian society.

The Active Forces mainly have peacekeeping and defensive duties, and are further divided into Deployment Forces, Immediate Reaction, and Main Defense Forces. The Reserve Forces consists of Enhancement Forces, Territorial Defense Forces, and Training Grounds. They deal with planning and reservist preparation, armaments and equipment storage, training of formations for active forces rotation or increase in personnel.

During peacetime the Army maintains permanent combat and mobilization readiness. They become part of multinational military formations in compliance with international treaties Armenia is a signatory to, participate in the preparation of the population, the national economy and the maintenance of wartime reserves and the infrastructure of the country for defense.

In times of crisis the Army's main tasks relate to participation in operations countering terrorist activities and defense of strategic facilities (such as nuclear power plants and major industrial facilities), assisting the security forces in proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, illegal armaments traffic and international terrorism.

In case of low- and medium-intensity military conflict the Active Forces that are part of the Army participate in carrying out the initial tasks for the defense of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the country. In case of a high intensity conflict the Land Forces, together with the Air Force, Air Defense and Border Guards, form the defense group of the Armenian Armed Forces aiming at countering aggression and protect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the country.

Experiments in developing small arms have been undertaken in Armenia, producing the K-3 assault rifle, but Jane's Infantry Weapons estimates that the program has ceased, and the rifle is not in widespread service with the army. The AK-74 is the standard-issue rifle of the Armenian Army with older AKMs in reserve use. Beside AK rifles Armenian forces use mostly Russian small arms like the Makarov pistol, SVD sniper rifle, and the PKM general purpose machine gun.

Air Force and Air Defense
The Armenian Air Force consists of 15 Su-25 ground attack planes, 18 Su-30 jet fighters, 1 Mig 25, 16 Mil Mi-24 helicopter gunships, 6 L-39 trainer and attack aircraft, 16 Yak-52 trainer aircraft, 3 Il-76 cargo planes, 18 Mil Mi-8 transport helicopters, and 10 Mil Mi-2 light utility helicopters. There are an additional 18 MiG-29 fighter jets of the Russian 102nd Military Base stationed in Gyumri.

The Armenian anti-aircraft branch was equipped and organized as part of the military reform program of Lieutenant-General Norat Ter-Grigoryants. It consists of an anti-aircraft missile brigade and two regiments armed with 100 anti-aircraft complexes of various models and modifications, including the SA-8, Krug, S-75, S-125, SA-7, SA-10, SA-13, SA-16 and SA-18. Russia has SA-6 and S-300 long range surface-to-air missiles at the Russian 102nd Military Base. There are also 24 Scud ballistic missiles with eight launchers. Numerical strength is estimated at 3,000 servicemen, with plans for further expansion.

In late December 2010, the Armenian Defense Minister, Seyran Ohanyan, officially acknowledged that the army are equipped with the Russian-made S-300 surface-to-air missiles. The statement was made while the Minister was inspecting a new air-defense command point that maintains "state-of-the-art equipment" built specifically for the operation of the S-300's. Russian specialist started to train Armenian teams on sophisticated Missiles and Defensive Systems. The S-300 was paraded for the first time in the 2011 Parade and the only S-300 missile system (SA10 Grumble) which likes mobility. The S-300 is the main Air Defensive system that protects Armenia's air security. In the 2016 Armenian Parade celebrating the Armenian Independence BUK-M2 Air Defense Systems were shown. These systems were not part of the 200 million dollar contract agreement between Yerevan and Moscow but an agreement between CSTO partners. Other devices such as stem of electronic warfare (EW) "Infauna" and P-325U consist in the Armenian Armed Forces.

Military of Artsakh
In addition to forces mentioned above, there were around 20,000 active soldiers defending Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed territory which seceded from Azerbaijan from 1991 to 2023. They were well trained and well equipped with the latest in military software and hardware. The Karabakh army's heavy military hardware included: 316 tanks, 324 armored vehicles, 322 artillery pieces of calibers over 122 mm, 44 multiple rocket launchers, and a new anti-aircraft defense system. In addition, the Artsakh Defence Army maintained a small air-force of 2 Su-25s, 5 Mi-24s and 5 other helicopters. The Artsakh Defence Army was disbanded on 21 September 2023 under the terms of Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement following the 2023 Azerbaijani military offensive on the territory.

Personnel
The Armed Forces of Armenia is constitutionally a conscript force, but there is also a growing number of professional officers. There were roughly 19,000 conscripts and 23,000 professionals serving in 2017. Enlistment, which is performed twice a year, is handled by military commissariats. Male draftees between the ages of 18 and 27 are obliged to present themselves in the commissariats for registration. People who have changed their citizenship or have dual citizenship are also subject to conscription, unless they have already served in the armed forces of another country. Since 2003, conscientious objectors can apply for alternative service. Draft evaders can not be appointed to public service positions. Citizens who have completed military service are registered in the reserve and are divided into rank and file, non-commissioned and commissioned staff of the reserve. Reservists can be called up to training musters and exercises in peacetime. Reserve obligation lasts up to the age of 50.

Educational institutions

 * National Defense Research University
 * Vazgen Sargsyan Military University
 * Monte Melkonian Military Academy
 * Armenak Khanperyants Military Aviation University
 * Yerevan State Medical University Military Faculty
 * Foreign institutions for Armenian soldiers
 * Military Academy of Modena
 * École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr
 * Hellenic Military Academy
 * Military University of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation—College of Military Finance

Higher military education is provided by the National Defense Research University in Yerevan. It was established in 2016, on the basis of the Institute for National Strategic Studies.

The I Have the Honour State Program is an educational program of the ministry of defence that serves conscripts in the army. Participants of the program are given the right to defer conscription in favor of education in post-secondary institutions with full reimbursement of tuition fees, after which the conscript is awarded the rank of lieutenant and is appointed to the service for a period of 2 years and 3 months.

Contract service
A contractual military service is a service last for 3–12 months, or for a term of three or five years. Males under 36 who have not previously served as contract servicemen and are registered in the reserve, can be enrolled in contractual military service as privates. Felons and those not fit for service are ineligible for contract service. Since 2008, sergeant training courses for contract servicemen have operated in the Armed Forces and since 2013, the duration of the courses has three months. The courses are open to reservist privates under the age of 25.

Conscription
Military service in Armenia is mandatory. Citizens aged 27 to 50 are registered in the reserve and may be drafted if a national mobilization was declared. The enlistment process is handled by the military commissariats in January and May. Dual citizens are not be exempt from the draft. If one fails to follow through with their obligations, a criminal case is then instituted, which could lead to 3 years in jail.

The following military commissariats operate in Armenia:

The armed forces also sport the following volunteer units:
 * Yerevan
 * Conscription and Mobilization Service
 * No.1 territorial subdivision
 * No.2 Territorial Subdivision
 * No.3 Territorial Subdivision
 * No.4 Territorial Subdivision
 * Ashtarak
 * Aragatsotn Regional Subdivision
 * Artashat
 * Ararat Regional Subdivision
 * Armavir
 * Armavir Regional Subdivision
 * Martuni
 * Gegharkunik Regional Subdivision
 * Abovyan
 * Kotayk Regional Subdivision
 * Vanadzor
 * Lori Regional Subdivision
 * Gyumri
 * Shirak Regional Subdivision
 * Goris
 * Syunik Regional Subdivision
 * Ijevan
 * Tavush Regional Subdivision
 * Yeghegnadzor
 * Vayots Dzor Province Regional Subdivision
 * Sisakan Regiment
 * Erato Detachment
 * Vanadzor Volunteer Detachment
 * Homeland Detachment
 * ARF Battalion
 * Tigran the Great International Military Regiment

Women in the armed forces
During the First Nagorno-Karabakh War in the early 90s, at least 115 Armenian women were known to have taken part in combat operations. Many women from the diaspora arrived to serve in non-combat missions. The first woman to have been given a significant position in the military was Zhanna Galstyan, who was appointed deputy commander of the Central District Defensive Unit after the formation of the Artsakh Defense Army.

More than 2,000 women currently serve in the army, with most working in administrative positions or in liaison and medical units. In October 2016, a program, approved by the National Assembly, committed the military to "creating additional opportunities" for women serving in the army or seeking military service. Defense Minister Vigen Sargsyan at the time told the MPs that "It would be wrong not to let them (women) reach their full potential." The Erato Detachment was the first all-women military unit in the Armenian Armed Forces, being created after of clashes between the Azerbaijani Army and Armenia occurred in July 2020. Anna Hakobyan, the wife of the current Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, underwent a week long combat readiness program with women from the Republic of Artsakh who joined the unit.

Minorities
During the 2020 war, a group of Yazidi reservists formed a reserve military unit that joined the frontline in Karabakh. The unit was led by Rzgan Sarhangyan and is composed of 50 soldiers aged between 18 and 55.

Equipment
The Armenian Army operates a wide variety of older equipment, mostly of Soviet origin. There is also some newer equipment from Russia. In 2015, a US$200m loan was ratified by Russia for the purchase of modern weapons between 2015 and 2017. Armenia produces its own combat helmets and body armors through the works of a joint Armenian-Polish company. Some personal equipment used by special units (Future Assault Shell Technology helmets, plate carriers and special pouches) is imported. Armenia also produces most of its small arms, with only specialised units being imported.

Following the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh clashes, the Helsinki Citizens' Assembly released a report, which detailed the circumstances of death of Armenian servicemen. Among the contributing factors were stated to be malfunctioning equipment and lack of necessary materiel, especially ammunition. This was followed by plans to increase Armenian defense spending to purchase more weapons and ammunition.

Armenia is not a significant exporter of conventional weapons, but it has provided support, including material, to the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Russia
Russia is one of the closest allies of Armenia. The Russian 102nd Military Base, the former 127th Motor Rifle Division, is stationed in Gyumri. The military alliance of the two nations and, in particular, the presence of Russian troops on Armenian soil has been a key element of Armenia's national security doctrine since Armenia gained independence in 1991. Russia stations an estimated 5,000 soldiers of all types in Armenia, including 3,000 officially reported to be based at the 102nd Military Base. In 1997, the two countries signed a far-reaching friendship treaty, which calls for mutual assistance in the event of a military threat to either party and allows Russian border guards to patrol Armenia's frontiers with Turkey and Iran. In early 2005, the 102nd Military Base had 74 tanks, 17 battle infantry vehicles, 148 armored personnel carriers, 84 artillery pieces, 18 MiG-29 fighters, one battery of SA-6 and two batteries of S-300 anti-aircraft missiles. However, in 2005–2007, following an agreement on the withdrawal of two Russian military bases from Georgia, a great deal of military hardware was moved to the 102nd Base from the Russian 12th Military Base in Batumi and the 62nd Military Base at Akhalkalaki, Georgia. Russia also supplies weapons at the relatively lower prices of the Russian domestic market as part of a collective security agreement since January 2004.

According to unconfirmed reports by the Azeri media, Russia has supplied $1 billion worth of arms and ammunitions to Armenia in 1996; and handed over an additional $800 million worth of arms to Armenia in 2008–2009. According to AzerNews, the weapons in this latest transfer include 21 tanks, 12 armored vehicles, five other battle machines, a great number of rocket launchers, over 1,050 cases of grenades, nearly 7,900 types of ammunition, 120 grenade launchers, over 4,000 sub-machine guns, TNT fuses, mines of various types, 14 mine-launchers, 9 Grad launchers, five cannons, and other weapons.

Officer training is another sphere of Russian-Armenian military cooperation. In the first years of sovereignty when Armenia lacked a military educational establishment of its own, officers of its army were trained in Russia. Even now when Armenia has a military college on its own territory, the Armenian officer corps honors the tradition and is trained at Russian military educational establishments. In 1997, 600 Armenian servicemen were being trained at Russian Military Academies: the training was conducted by the Marshal Bagramyan Training Brigade.

At the first meeting of the joint Russian-Armenian government panel for military-technical cooperation that took place during autumn 2005, Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov reported that, Russian factories will participate in the Armenian program of military modernization, and that Russia is prepared to supply the necessary spare parts and equipment. In accordance with this agreement, Armenia and Russia agreed to work together in exporting weapons and other military equipment to third countries in December 2009. The export agreement was signed by Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan and a visiting senior Russian official, Konstantin Biryulin, during a meeting of a Russian-Armenian inter-governmental commission on bilateral military-technical cooperation. The agreement envisages the two countries' interaction in exporting military production to third countries, which will help to strengthen the armed forces of the two states, and further cement the already close Russian–Armenian military cooperation.

A Russian-Armenian defense agreement signed in August 2010 extends Russia's military presence in Armenia till 2044 and commits Russia to supplying Armenia with modern and compatible weaponry and special military hardware at reduced prices.

At the beginning of 2009, Azerbaijani media published allegations that Russia had made extensive weapons transfers to Armenia throughout 2008 costing about $800 million. On 12 January 2009, the Russian ambassador was invited to the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs and asked about this information. On 21 January 2009, Russian ministry of foreign relations officially denied the transfers. According to US diplomatic cables leaked in December 2010, Azerbaijani defence minister Safar Abiyev claimed that in January 2009 during his visit to Moscow, his Russian counterpart Anatoly Serdyukov unofficially had admitted to weapons transfers "after the second bottle of vodka" that evening, although officially it was denied.

In June 2013 it was revealed that Russia has deployed in Armenia several Iskander-M ballistic missiles systems, which are stationed at undisclosed locations in the country.

Collective Security Treaty Organisation
On 7 October 2002, the Presidents of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan, signed a charter in Tashkent, founding the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) (Russian: Организация Договора о Коллективной Безопасности (ОДКБ~ODKB)) or simply Ташкентский договор (The Tashkent Treaty). Nikolai Bordyuzha was appointed secretary general of the new organisation. On 23 June 2006, Uzbekistan became a full participant in the CSTO and its membership was formally ratified by its parliament on 28 March 2008. Furthermore, the CSTO is an observer organisation at the United Nations General Assembly.

The charter reaffirmed the desire of all participating states to abstain from the use or threat of force. Signatories would not be able to join other military alliances or other groups of states, while aggression against one signatory would be perceived as an aggression against all. To this end, the CSTO holds yearly military command exercises for the CSTO nations to have an opportunity to improve inter-organisation cooperation. The largest-scale CSTO military exercise held, to date, were the "Rubezh 2008" exercises hosted in Armenia where a combined total of 4,000 troops from all 7 constituent CSTO member countries conducted operative, strategic, and tactical training with an emphasis towards furthering the efficiency of the collective security element of the CSTO partnership.

The Ministry of Defense of Armenia has repeatedly stated that it would expect direct military assistance from the CSTO in case war with Azerbaijan resumes, as recently as December 2009, Defense Minister Ohanyan made the same statement. In August 2009, Nikolay Bordyuzha, the CSTO's secretary-general, confirmed that official Yerevan can count on such support.

On 4 February 2009, an agreement to create the Collective Rapid Reaction Force (KSOR) was reached by five of the seven CSTO members, with plans finalized on 14 June 2009. Armenia is one of the five member states. The force is intended to be used to repulse military aggression, conduct anti-terrorist operations, fight transnational crime and drug trafficking, and neutralize the effects of natural disasters.

NATO
Armenia participates in NATO's Partnership for Peace (PiP) program and it is in a NATO organization called Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC). Armenia is in the process of implementation of Individual Partnership Action Plans (IPAPs), which is a program for those countries that have the political will and ability to deepen their relationship with NATO. Cooperative Best Effort exercise (the first where Russia was represented) was run on Armenian territory in 2003.

France
On 5 October 2023, following the 2023 Azerbaijani offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh, France announced that it would send defense aid to the Armenian military.

Greece
Greece is Armenia's closest ally in NATO and the two cooperate on multiple issues. A number of Armenian officers are trained in Greece every year, and military aid/material assistance has been provided to Armenia. In 2003, the two countries signed a military cooperation accord, under which Greece will increase the number of Armenian servicemen trained at the military and military-medical academies in Athens.

In February 2003, Armenia sent 34 peacekeepers to Kosovo where they became part of the Greek contingent. Officials in Yerevan have said the Armenian military plans to substantially increase the size of its peacekeeping detachment and counts on Greek assistance to the effort. In June 2008, Armenia sent 72 peacekeepers to Kosovo for a total of 106 peacekeepers.

Baltic States
Lithuania has been sharing experience and providing consultations to the Armenian Defense Ministry in the field of democratic control of armed forces, military and defense concepts and public relations since 2002. Since 2004, Armenian officers have been invited to study at the Lithuanian War Academy and the Baltic Defence College in Tartu, Estonia. Lithuania covers all study expenditures. In early 2007, two Armenian officers for the first time took part in a Baltic lead international exercise, Amber Hope, which was held in Lithuania.

United States
The United States has been steadily upping its military clout in the region. In early 2003, the United States Department of Defense announced several major military programs in the Caucasus. Washington's military aid to Armenia in 2005 amounted to $5 million, and in April 2004, the two sides signed a military-technical cooperation accord. In late 2004, Armenia deployed a unit of 46 soldiers, which included bomb-disposal experts, doctors, and transport specialists, to Iraq as part of the American-led Multi-National Force Iraq. In 2005, the United States allocated $7 million to modernize the military communications of the Armenian Armed Forces.

Since 2003, Armenia and the Kansas National Guard have exchanged military delegations as part of a National Guard Bureau program to promote better relations between the United States and developing nations. The program has largely consisted of mutual visits to each other's countries in an effort to share "ideas and [the] best practices for military and emergency management."

Eagle Partner 2023 was a military exercise which took place in Armenia from 11 September to 20 September 2023. The main goal of the exercise was the fortifying of the alliance between the United States with Armenia and also the training of the 12th Peacekeeping Brigade of the Armed Forces of Armenia for future peacekeeping missions.

Peacekeeping operations
As of 2022, Armenia is involved in peacekeeping operations in Kosovo, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Mali and Kazakhstan

Kosovo
There are 70 Armenian soldiers serving in Kosovo as peacekeepers.

Armenia joined the Kosovo Force in Kosovo in 2004. Armenian "blue helmets" serve within the Greek Army battalion. The relevant memorandum was signed on 3 September 2003, in Yerevan and ratified by the Armenian Parliament on 13 December 2003. The sixth deployment of Armenian peacekeepers departed for Kosovo on 14 November 2006. In 2008, the Armenian National Assembly voted unanimously to double the peacekeeping force in Kosovo by sending an extra 34 peacekeepers to the region, increasing the total number of peacekeepers in the region to 68. Armenia temporarily withdrew its peacekeepers from Kosovo in February 2012 as a result of the reduction of the Greek subdivisions. Armenia redeployed them in July to serve alongside American soldiers in Kosovo.

Iraq
After the end of the invasion of Iraq, Armenia deployed a unit of 46 peacekeepers under Polish command. Armenian peacekeepers were based in Al-Kut, 62 mi from the capital of Baghdad. On 23 July 2006, the fourth shift of Armenian peacekeepers departed for Iraq. The shift included 3 staff commanders, 2 medical officers, 10 combat engineers and 31 drivers. Throughout the length of the deployment, there was one Armenian wounded and no deaths. The Armenian government extended the small troop presence in Iraq by one year at the end of 2005 and 2006. On 7 October 2008, Armenia withdrew its contingent of 46 peacekeepers. This coincided with the withdrawal of the Polish contingent in Iraq.

Afghanistan
Armenia deployed 130 soldiers in Afghanistan as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). They were serving under German command protecting an airport in Kunduz.

Lebanon
In 2014, Armenia deployed 33 peacekeepers to Lebanon as part of UNIFIL. They currently serve under the Italian contingent and fulfill headquarter security functions.

Mali
In 2015, one peacekeeper was dispatched to Mali on a monitoring-peacekeeping mission.

Kazakhstan
In 2022, Armenia sent around 100 servicemen to Kazakhstan as part of the Collective Security Treaty Organization peacekeeping forces. Nikol Pashinyan, who serves as the CSTO chairman, confirmed that the alliance will send 'peacekeepers' to Kazakhstan for a limited period given the threat to national security and the sovereignty of Kazakhstan, due to the 2022 Kazakh protests.

title: Armed Forces of Armenia


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Foreign relations of Armenia

Since its independence, Armenia has maintained a policy of trying to have positive and friendly relations with Iran, Russia, and the West, including the United States and the European Union. It has full membership status in a number of international organizations, such as the Council of Europe and the Eurasian Economic Union, and observer status, etc. in some others. However, the dispute over the Armenian genocide of 1915 and the ongoing Nagorno-Karabakh conflict have created tense relations with two of its immediate neighbors, Azerbaijan and Turkey.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs implements the foreign policy agenda of the Government of Armenia and organizes and manages diplomatic services abroad. Since August 2021, Ararat Mirzoyan has served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia.

Foreign relations
Armenia is a member of more than 70 different international organizations, including the following:
 * Asian Development Bank
 * Collective Security Treaty Organization and the Commonwealth of Independent States
 * Council of Europe
 * The EU's Eastern Partnership and the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly
 * The UN's Eastern European Group
 * Eurocontrol
 * European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
 * European Political Community
 * Eurasian Economic Union
 * Eurasian Development Bank and the Eurasian Customs Union
 * Federation of Euro-Asian Stock Exchanges
 * International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
 * International Monetary Fund
 * Interpol
 * La Francophonie
 * NATO's Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, Individual Partnership Action Plan, and Partnership for Peace
 * Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
 * Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation
 * TRACECA
 * United Nations
 * World Bank, the World Customs Organization, and the World Trade Organization

Armenia is also an observer member of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, the Community of Democratic Choice, the Non-Aligned Movement, the Organization of American States, the Pacific Alliance, the Arab League, the Community of Democracies, a dialogue partner in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, and a regional member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

Armenian genocide recognition

As of 2024, 34 states have officially recognized the historical events as genocide. Parliaments of countries that recognize the Armenian genocide include Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Cyprus, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lebanon, Libya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, United States, Uruguay, Vatican City and Venezuela. Additionally, some regional governments of countries recognize the Armenian genocide too, such as New South Wales and South Australia in Australia as well as Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales in the United Kingdom. US House Resolution 106 was introduced on 30 January 2007, and later referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. The bill has 225 co-sponsors. The bill called for former President George W. Bush to recognize and use the word genocide in his annual 24 April speech which he never used. His successor President Barack Obama expressed his desire to recognize the Armenian genocide during the electoral campaigns, but after being elected, did not use the word "genocide" to describe the events that occurred in 1915. The US House of Representatives formally recognized the Armenian genocide with House Resolution 296 on 29 October 2019. The United States Senate unanimously recognized the genocide with Senate Resolution 150 on 12 December 2019. In 2021, President Joe Biden became the first U.S. president to formally recognize the Armenian genocide. As of 2022, all 50 U.S. states have also recognized the events as genocide.

Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
Armenia provides political, material and military support to the Republic of Artsakh in the longstanding Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The current conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh began in 1988 when Armenian demonstrations against Azerbaijani rule broke out in Nagorno–Karabakh and later in Armenia. The Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast voted to secede from Azerbaijan and join Armenia. Soon, violence broke out against Armenians in Azerbaijan and Azeris in Armenia. In 1990, after violent episodes in Nagorno–Karabakh and Azerbaijani cities like Baku, Sumgait and Kirovabad, Moscow declared a state of emergency in Karabakh, sending troops to the region, and forcibly occupied Baku, killing over a hundred civilians. In April 1991, Azerbaijani militia and Soviet forces targeted Armenian populations in Karabakh, known as Operation Ring. Moscow also deployed troops to Yerevan. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, conflict escalated into a full-scale war between the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (supported by Armenia), and Azerbaijan. Military action was influenced by the Russian military, which manipulated the rivalry between the two neighbouring sides in order to keep both under control.

More than 30,000 people were killed in the fighting during the period of 1988 to 1994. In May 1992, Armenian forces seized Shusha and Lachin (thereby linking Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia). By October 1993, Armenian forces succeeded in taking almost all of former NKAO, Lachin and large areas in southwestern Azerbaijan. In 1993, the UN Security Council adopted four resolutions calling for the cessation of hostilities, unimpeded access for international humanitarian relief efforts, and the eventual deployment of a peacekeeping force in the region. Fighting continued, however, until May 1994 at which time Russia brokered a cease-fire between the three sides.

Negotiations to resolve the conflict peacefully have been ongoing since 1992 under the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. The Minsk Group is co-chaired by Russia, France, and the United States and has representation from Turkey, the U.S., several European nations, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Despite the 1994 cease-fire, sporadic violations, sniper-fire and land mine incidents continue to claim over 100 lives each year.

Since 1997, the Minsk Group co-chairs have presented three proposals to serve as a framework for resolving the conflict. Each proposal was rejected. Beginning in 1999, the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia initiated a direct dialogue through a series of face-to-face meetings, often facilitated by the Minsk Group Co-Chairs. The OSCE sponsored a round of negotiations between the presidents in Key West, Florida. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell launched the talks on 3 April 2001, and the negotiations continued with mediation by the U.S., Russia and France until 6 April 2001. The Co-Chairs are still continuing to work with the two presidents in the hope of finding lasting peace.

The two countries are still at war. Citizens of Armenia, as well as citizens of any other country who are of Armenian descent, are forbidden entry to Azerbaijan. If a person's passport shows evidence of travel to Nagorno–Karabakh, they are forbidden entry to Azerbaijan.

In 2008, in what became known as the 2008 Mardakert Skirmishes, Armenian forces and Azerbaijan clashed over Nagorno-Karabakh. The fighting between the sides was brief, with few casualties on either side.

The 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war and the 2023 Azerbaijani offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh were the latest escalations of the unresolved conflict.

Countries without diplomatic relations
Armenia does not have diplomatic relations with the following countries (organized by continent):

Africa

 * 🇱🇸 Lesotho, São Tomé and Príncipe, 🇸🇸 South Sudan

The Americas

 * 🇧🇧 Barbados

Asia

 * 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan, 🇵🇰 Pakistan (Pakistan is the only country in the world that does not recognize Armenia), 🇹🇷 Turkey

Oceania

 * 🇲🇭 Marshall Islands, 🇵🇬 Papua New Guinea, 🇼🇸 Samoa, 🇸🇧 Solomon Islands, 🇹🇴 Tonga

Armenia also has no diplomatic relations with states with limited recognition except for the now defunct Republic of Artsakh.

Countries with diplomatic relations
List of countries which Armenia maintains diplomatic relations with:

Multilateral relations
Notes on some of Armenia's multilateral relations follow:

Bilateral relations
Notes on some of Armenia's bilateral relations follow (organized by continent):

Other international organizations
Armenia is additionally a full member, unless otherwise noted, in the following international organizations, programs and treaties: • Ancient Civilizations Forum

• Artemis Accords

• Assembly of European Regions

• Berne Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats

• Black Sea Trade and Development Bank

• Bologna Process

• British Council

• Commonwealth of Independent States Free Trade Area

• Energy Charter Treaty

• Eurasian Patent Organization

• Eurimages

• European Athletic Association

• European Atomic Energy Community (Cooperation agreement)

• European Audiovisual Observatory

• European Aviation Safety Agency (Pan-European Partner)

• European Broadcasting Union

• European Civil Aviation Conference

• European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages

• European Committee for Standardization (Affiliate member)

• European Common Aviation Area

• European Convention for the Prevention of Torture

• European Cooperation in Science and Technology

• European Court of Human Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights

• European Cultural Convention

• European Higher Education Area

• European Neighbourhood Policy

• European Olympic Committees

• European Organization for Nuclear Research (Cooperation agreement)

• European Social Charter

• European Telecommunications Satellite Organization

• European University Association

• FIFA and UEFA

• Food and Agriculture Organization

• Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities

• Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe

• ICRANet

• International Atomic Energy Agency

• International Chamber of Commerce

• International Civil Aviation Organization

• International Committee of the Red Cross

• International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

• International Criminal Court (Signatory)

• International Development Association

• International Finance Corporation

• International Labour Organization

• International Olympic Committee

• International Organization for Migration

• International Organization for Standardization

• International Renewable Energy Agency

• International Road Transport Union and the TIR Convention

• International Solar Alliance

• International Telecommunications Satellite Organization

• International Telecommunication Union

• International Union of Railways (Associate member)

• Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy

• Inter-Parliamentary Union

• Intra-European Organisation of Tax Administrations

• Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency

• Open Government Partnership

• Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons

• Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe

• PostEurop

• Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation

• UNESCO

• United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space

• United Nations Conference on Trade and Development

• United Nations Development Programme

• United Nations Economic Commission for Europe

• United Nations Industrial Development Organization

• Universal Postal Union

• U.S. European Command State Partnership Program

• Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe

• Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons

• Venice Commission

• Warsaw Declaration

• World Health Organization

• World Intellectual Property Organization

• World Meteorological Organization

• World Peace Council

• World Tourism Organization

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Foreign relations of Armenia


text:
Demographics of American Samoa

Demographics of American Samoa include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects. American Samoa is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean.

Vital statistics
Births and deaths

Population statistics
The statistics from 1900 to 1950 and every decennial census are from the U.S. Census Bureau. There was no census taken in 1910, but a special census taken in 1912. Beginning with the 1930 Census, Swain Island is included in the population count for American Samoa. The remaining statistics are from the World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.

Population

 * Approximately 55,212,  but the Factbook states 49,437 (2020 estimate). About 65% of the population are U.S. nationals, of whom at least 10% are U.S. citizens. Of the foreign-born population, 81% are from Samoa, 9% are from other parts of Oceania, and 9% are from Asia.

Age structure

 * 0–14 years: 27.76% (male 7,063/female 6,662)
 * 15–24 years: 18.16% (male 4,521/female 4,458)
 * 25–54 years: 37.49% (male 9,164/female 9,370)
 * 55–64 years: 9.69% (male 2,341/female 2,447)
 * 65 years and over: 6.9% (male 1,580/female 1,831) (2020 est.)

Median age

 * total: 27.2 years
 * male: 26.7 years
 * female: 27.7 years (2020 est.)

Population growth rate

 * −2.1% (2021 est.)

Birth rate

 * 17.19 births/1,000 population (2021 est.)

Death rate

 * 6 deaths/1,000 population (2021 est.)

Net migration rate

 * −32.18 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2021 est.)

Urbanization

 * Urban population: 87.2% of total population (2020)
 * Rate of urbanization: 0.07% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.)

Sex ratio

 * At birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
 * 0–14 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
 * 15–24 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
 * 25–54 years: 0.98 male(s)/female
 * 55–64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female
 * 65 years and over: 0.86 male(s)/female
 * Total population: 1 male(s)/female (2020 est.)

Infant mortality rate

 * Total: 10.25 deaths/1,000 live births
 * Male: 12.39 deaths/1,000 live births
 * Female: 8 deaths/1,000 live births (2021 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

 * Total population: 75.06 years
 * Male: 72.55 years
 * Female: 77.72 years (2021 est.)

Total fertility rate

 * 2.28 children born/woman (2021 est.)

Nationality

 * Noun: American Samoan(s) (US Nationals)
 * Adjective: American Samoan

Ethnic groups

 * Pacific Islander 92.6% (includes Samoan 88.9%, Tongan 2.9%, other 0.8%)
 * Asian 3.6% (includes Filipino 2.2%, other 1.4%)
 * Mixed 2.7%
 * Other 1.2% (2010 est.)

Religions
Major Christian denominations on the island include the Congregational Christian Church in American Samoa, the Catholic Church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Methodist Church of Samoa. Collectively, these churches account for the vast majority of the population.
 * Christian 98.3%
 * Other 1%
 * Unaffiliated 0.7% (2010 est.)

J. Gordon Melton in his book claims that the Methodists, Congregationalists with the London Missionary Society, and Catholics led the first Christian missions to the islands. Other denominations arrived later, beginning in 1895 with the Seventh-day Adventists, various Pentecostals (including the Assemblies of God), Church of the Nazarene, Jehovah's Witnesses, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The World Factbook 2010 estimate shows the religious affiliations of American Samoa as 98.3% Christian, other 1%, unaffiliated 0.7%. World Christian Database 2010 estimate shows the religious affiliations of American Samoa as 98.3% Christian, 0.7% agnostic, 0.4% Chinese Universalist, 0.3% Buddhist, and 0.3% Baháʼí.

According to Pew Research Center, 98.3% of the total population is Christian. Among Christians, 59.5% are Protestant, 19.7% are Catholic and 19.2% are other Christians. A major Protestant church on the island, gathering a substantial part of the local Protestant population, is the Congregational Christian Church in American Samoa, a Reformed denomination in the Congregationalist tradition. , The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints website claims membership of 16,180 or one-quarter of the whole population, with 41 congregations, and 4 family history centers in American Samoa. The Jehovah's Witnesses claim 210 "ministers of the word" and 3 congregations.

Languages
Native languages include:
 * Samoan 88.6%
 * English 3.9%
 * Tongan 2.7%
 * Other Pacific islander 3%
 * Other 1.8% (2010 est.)

English proficiency is very high.

title: Demographics of American Samoa


text:
Politics of American Samoa

Politics of American Samoa takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic dependency, whereby the governor is the head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. American Samoa is an unincorporated and unorganized territory of the United States, administered by the Office of Insular Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior. Its constitution was ratified in 1966 and came into effect in 1967. Executive power is discharged by the governor and the lieutenant governor. Legislative power is vested in the two chambers of the legislature. The party system is based on the United States party system. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.

There is also the traditional village politics of the Samoan Islands, the fa'amatai and the faʻa Sāmoa, which continues in American Samoa and in independent Samoa, and which interacts across these current boundaries. The faʻa Sāmoa is the language and customs, and the fa'amatai the protocols of the fono (council) and the chiefly system. The fa'amatai and the fono take place at all levels of the Samoan body politic, from the family, to the village, to the region, to national matters. The matai (chiefs) are elected by consensus within the fono of the extended family and village(s) concerned. The matai and the fono (which is itself made of matai) decide on distribution of family exchanges and tenancy of communal lands. The majority of lands in American Samoa and independent Samoa are communal. A matai can represent a small family group or a great extended family that reaches across islands, and to both American Samoa and independent Samoa.

Government
The government of American Samoa is defined under the Constitution of American Samoa. As an unincorporated territory, the Ratification Act of 1929 vested all civil, judicial, and military powers in the president, who in turn delegated authority to the secretary of the interior in. The secretary promulgated the Constitution of American Samoa which was approved by a constitutional convention of the people of American Samoa and a majority of the voters of American Samoa voting at the 1966 election, and came into effect in 1967.

The governor of American Samoa is the head of government and along with the lieutenant governor of American Samoa is elected on the same ticket by popular vote for four-year terms.

The legislative power is vested in the American Samoa Fono, which has two chambers. The House of Representatives has 21 members serving two-year terms, being 20 representatives popularly elected from various districts and one non-voting delegate from Swains Island elected in a public meeting. The Senate has 18 members, elected for four-year terms by and from the chiefs of the islands.

The judiciary of American Samoa is composed of the High Court of American Samoa, a District Court, and village courts. The High Court is led by a chief justice and an associate justice, appointed by the secretary of the interior. Other judges are appointed by the governor upon the recommendation of the chief justice and confirmed by the Senate.

International organization participation

 * United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (associate)
 * Interpol (subbureau)
 * International Olympic Committee
 * Pacific Community

title: Politics of American Samoa


text:
Economy of American Samoa

The economy of American Samoa is a traditional Polynesian economy in which more than 90% of the land is communally owned. Economic activity is strongly linked to the United States, with which American Samoa conducts the great bulk of its foreign trade. Tuna fishing and processing plants are the backbone of the private sector, with canned tuna being the primary export. Transfers from the U.S. federal government add substantially to American Samoa's economic well-being. Attempts by the government to develop a larger and broader economy are restrained by Samoa's remote location, its limited transportation, and its devastating hurricanes.

Statistics
GDP: purchasing power parity – $537 million (2007 est.) country comparison to the world: 210

GDP (official exchange rate): $462.2 million (2005)

GDP – real growth rate: 3% (2003) country comparison to the world: 139

GDP – per capita: purchasing power parity – $7,874 (2008) country comparison to the world: 120

GDP – composition by sector: agriculture: NA% industry: NA% services: NA% (2002)

Labor Force: 17,630 (2005) country comparison to the world: 203

Labor force – by occupation: government 33%, tuna canneries 34%, other 33% (1990)

Unemployment rate: 23.8% (2010) country comparison to the world: 175

Population below poverty line: NA% (2002 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices): NA% (2003 est.)

Budget: revenues: $155.4 million (37% in local revenue and 63% in US grants) expenditures: $183.6 million (FY07)

Agriculture – products: bananas, coconuts, vegetables, taro, breadfruit, yams, copra, pineapples, papayas; dairy products, livestock

Industries: tuna canneries (largely dependent on foreign fishing vessels), handicrafts

Industrial production growth rate: NA%

Electricity – production: 180 GWh (2006) country comparison to the world: 179

Electricity – production by source: fossil fuel: 100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001)

Electricity – consumption: 167.4 GWh (2006) country comparison to the world: 179

Electricity – exports: 0 kWh (2007)

Electricity – imports: 0 kWh (2007)

Oil – production: 0 oilbbl/d (2007 est.) country comparison to the world: 209

Oil – consumption: 4053 oilbbl/d (604 m3/d), 2006 country comparison to the world: 170

Oil – exports: 0 oilbbl/d (2005) country comparison to the world: 142

Oil – imports: 4066 oilbbl/d (2005) country comparison to the world: 166

Natural gas – production: 0 cu m (2007) country comparison to the world: 208

Natural gas – consumption: 0 cu m (2007) country comparison to the world: 207

Natural gas – exports: 0 cu m (2007) country comparison to the world: 202

Natural gas – imports: 0 cu m (2007) country comparison to the world: 201

Natural gas – proved reserves: 0 cu m (2006) country comparison to the world: 205

Exports: $445.6 million (2004) country comparison to the world: 167

Exports – commodities: canned tuna 93% (2004)

Exports – partners: Indonesia 70%, Australia 6.7%, Japan 6.7%, Samoa 6.7% (2002)

Imports: $308.8 million (2004) country comparison to the world: 195

Imports – commodities: materials for canneries 56%, food 8%, petroleum products 7%, machinery and parts 6% (2004)

Imports – partners: Australia 36.6%, New Zealand 20.3%, South Korea 16.3%, Mauritius 4.9% (2002)

Debt – external: $NA (2002 est.)

Economic aid – recipient: $NA; note – important financial support from the US, more than $40 million in 1994

Currency: US dollar (USD)

Currency code: USD

Exchange rates: US dollar is used

Fiscal year: 1 October – 30 September

title: Economy of American Samoa


text:
Talk:Australia/Archive 3

Misc
Wikipedians wishing to contribute with an Australian focus are encouraged to take a look at Australian wikipedians' notice board -- Chuq 02:44, 24 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Australian is supererogatory with reference to Aborigines because of the context. scanos
 * I disagree. The correct and official terminology is 'Australian Aborigine'. The term 'Aboriginal' simply refers to something being the first of its kind in a particular region. - Mark 15:14, 14 Jan 2004 (UTC)

Formatting
See also essentially means the same thing as Other topics. Why don't we just follow the convention and use see also? I havent seen one other article that has listed Other topics under Main article. Let's stay consistent.

Many of the topics listed under other topics are listed under ==Miscellaneous topics== on all other country template. I have standardized that for this article. Do not revert.

Why is military and foreign relations put under politics? Australian Prime Ministers under history and not politics? Communications and transportation under demographics! These are definately not the same topic.

--Jiang 20:38, 20 Sep 2003 (UTC)

 * If you had ever contributed to this topic area, people might take you seriously. As it stands, you are just mindlessly deleting links and moving stuff about to the detriment of the entry, and you will continue to be reverted by the people who actually write these pages until such a time as you take the trouble to figure out what articles go where and link to them appropriately. Tannin 22:32, 20 Sep 2003 (UTC)

 * Address the issues. Stop attacking the person. How am I "mindlessly deleting links and moving stuff about to the detriment of the entry". What did I delete? Explain. --Jiang 22:34, 20 Sep 2003 (UTC)

 * Just show me some other pages that format articles like this. --Jiang 22:35, 20 Sep 2003 (UTC)

I did look over the articles I moved to miscellanous. Those are standard country template components taken from the CIA factbook. Take a look at WikiProject_Countries. Thank you. --Jiang 22:39, 20 Sep 2003 (UTC)

 * Look, just stop buggerising about with the page until you have familiarised yourself with the topic area, please. It is perfectly clear that you don't know what you are doing - which is no surprise, as you have not worked in this area before. Learn first, then make changes. Tannin

Don't want to address my concerns? So you want this to be a flame war? Okay, then, what other country templates have you regularly edited? Why dont you just stop buggerising about with the page until you have familiarised yourself with the country template?

I've looked over the articles I rearranged. They belong where I put them in order to standardize the template. No other articles have this silly format other topics listed under main article. --Jiang 22:47, 20 Sep 2003 (UTC)

I was quite deliberately not "answering your concerns", Jiang. Tim Starling already answered them: I intervened here not as a direct participant, but in order to maintain the established and successful page layout - in other words, this is essentially a dispute between you and Tim Starling. I stepped in when I saw that you had reverted Tim's revert of your unwise changes. Tannin 22:56, 20 Sep 2003 (UTC)

What was the explaination? "it's not really something different to see, it's part of the same topic"? My issue here is with a lack of standardization and relation between lumped articles. If it were the same topic, the "Other topics" label would not be necessary. How is other topics different from see also? Why should these articles be listed under the main article heading instead of below the section? What makes this situation so special that it is inapproprate for all other articles I have seen in WP?

I don't see the logic behind lumping the articles under the topics they are placed under. Like all other countries, these articles are basically copied text from the CIA factbook/state dept. What makes Australia's transporation statistics so special that it should be listed under "demographics" rather than "miscellaneous". What's wrong with a miscenllaneous section?

If you and Tim believe the template needs to be changed, go argue that at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject_Countries. Don't unilaterally change the agreed upon style and format and make WP inconsistent. --Jiang 23:11, 20 Sep 2003 (UTC)

Look, I don't have time for this shit right now - I have to go. Meanwhile, just look over the mess you are making. For example, right in the first topic (history) you have blown away the section with a great deal of Australian political history: Australian Prime Ministers. Your "work WITH me" edit summaries are highly misleading - you had the oportunity to work WITH Tim, but chose not to. You had the opportunity to DISCUSS your proposed changes with the people who work in this topic area, but chose not to. For now, just go ahead and bugger it up, I'll fix it when I get back tonight. Tannin

 * We can only choose one section to put the PM article in. The PM article has closer relation with politics (since even the history is over the history of the role, ie, a political history) than with history in general, which has more to do with a wider range of events. Note the the PM articles for the UK, Canada, New Zealand (and probably more) are incorporated into the text of the politics section, as I have done here. The article focuses on what powers the PM has, not the policies of various past PM's. This makes it a political article.

 * Please cut the personal attacks. They're not helping. --Jiang 23:24, 20 Sep 2003 (UTC)

Protected
I have protected this page. Of couse, the protection is entirely symbolic in this case.

I provide these data for the interest of the disputants:

 * The miscellaneous links section is indeed part of WikiProject Countries. (See WikiProject Countries#Miscellaneous topics.) Having this section is the norm among country articles to which the template has been applied.

 * Inspecting Kuwait, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Mexico, Poland, Romania, and Portugal, I never found a list of "other topics". There was a smattering of "see also" lists; these were found at the bottom of the relevant sections, with the exception of the "see also" list under Romania. (There was a "see also" in the middle of a table in Mexico; but since it pertains only to a single table entry, it's not really germaine.)

On another topic, this whole conflict reminds me a lot of the recent edit war over VfD. Two experienced and trustworthy contributors get overexcited and somehow forget that anyone's change is easily undone. It just doesn't make sense to get into a revert war - it's wasted effort! It doesn't matter what format the article is in for a few hours today or tomorrow; continuous reverting is a hostile action, and is entirely counterproductive to the disputants' efforts to understand and address each other's concerns. -- Cyan 00:55, 21 Sep 2003 (UTC)

Thank you for protecting the page, Cyan. However, you have protected the wrong version. In the case of a dispute, it is conventional and proper to use the last version prior to the dispute, and most certainly not the version that the instigator of the dispute is insisting on. Tannin

The page history was a little too messy to determine which version was pre-edit war, what with Jiang's edit being reverted by Tim Starling, whose changes were then reverted by Jiang and then reverted back and forth by Jiang and yourself, and other contributors making small changes in the middle. Under the premise that the question of which particular version is preserved for the cooling-off period is far less important than just moving the action to the talk page, I simply protected it in the condition I found it. In short, neither revision was "wrong" - both were temporary, and the version I protected on was luck of the draw. -- Cyan 21:05, 21 Sep 2003 (UTC)

 * Actually on first inspection I'm inclined to agree with Tannin re: placement of "Military of..." and some other sections. However, we should respect the fine work in WikiProject_Countries and stick with their format.  Lots of thought and debate there have created a good boilerplate.  Think of it as freedom -- instead of wasting time on format, spend your energies on putting in good content, which is the value you bring to this article.  Also, threatening to use sysop powers to protect a page you're involved with is clearly against community policy, so don't do it. You'll have morning-after guilt. Fuzheado 00:13, 21 Sep 2003 (UTC)

 * Please, for the love of Mike read the edit history. I am NOT personally involved in this dispute. I stepped in to prevent Jiang buggering up the work of other people - not my work at all. Tannin

 * Whilst I personally prefer Tannin's version, other countries are listing their "see also's" at the end rather than directly under the "main article" link. See England, United States and Spain for example. Consistency would be a good thing. Angela 00:42, Sep 21, 2003 (UTC)
 * It is NOT "Tannin's version", Angela. Read the edit history, please. Tannin
 * I meant the version you were arguing for, not your version as such. Angela

Let's get one thing straight right away. We are not talking about my version here, nor have I been involved in the dispute, until I stepped in to protect other people's work from Jiang's revert-on-sight policy. (Read the edit history: it's all there.) I would indeed have protected the page earlier today - it is the duty of all sysops to stop revert-happy stupidities, and to do our best to allow the peope who create and improve content to get on with things free from interference by the likes of Jiang. Unfortunately, I had a 9:00AM appointment, and while protecting a page takes practically no time at all, it takes more time than I had available to post a properly detailed sest of reasons. Tannin

 * You are very much involved in the dispute and it would have been wrong for either one of you to protect the page. As well as editing the page, you have been expressing strong opinions on the talk page. Both of these things make you involved. Angela

On returning, I see that someone has protected the wrong version! This is crazy. If Jiang wants to horn in here (where he has no expertise and has never contributed anything of note), then the onus is on him to persuade the people who are working on these pages that his suggestions are good ones. Tannin

 * There is no "wrong version". The guidelines for protecting a page state that an admin may edit the page in order to revert to an old version, but they do not say that this must be done. I assume Cyan protected the page as it happened to be when he decided to protect it. I very much doubt he purposely waited for Jiang to make an edit before protecting it. Angela

Now, let us turn to the meat of the matter, and examine the merits of the Jiang insists on so mindlessly:

Right at the top, he deletes the links to two important Australian history topics: Australian Constitutional History, and Australian Prime Ministers. Next he deletes the links aain: this time to three articles about political matters, only one of which gets a mention in the "see also" section he adds. I don't think anyone has an objection to setting a good, standard format and sticking to it - but deleting important links purely in order to mindlessly impose a particular format is not a good idea.

Insisting on doing this in the face of objections (rather than being prepared to discuss things and work towards a mutually acceptable result) is very poor behaviour indeed. Tannin 09:34, 21 Sep 2003 (UTC)

 * You are not required to be the original author to partake in an edit war. As long as you side with a certain content (or in this case, formatting), you are taking a side. If you were truly neutral, you would not care which version is used.

 * It is true that this formatting was originally inserted by Tim Starling and not you. However, this was not the original formatting. The current format ("my format") was present when the template was first implemented until Tim changed it against the established conventions. I can say too that I am preventing Tim Starling (not that I have anything against him) from "buggering up the work of other people" - all the people who created the country template.

 * Attacking me for lacking crediblity is a fallacy. I probably have worked with the country template more than you have. (This is besides the point. There is no need to prove to each other who has more experience here.) You still fail to convince us why this article deserves an exception to the established convention. Please discuss the issues. Don't attack the person.

 * Those links you claim have been deleted all are still on the page. Please check again. Now who is trying to elicit an explaination from whom? You're not convinving anyone here. --Jiang 09:47, 21 Sep 2003 (UTC)

 * The format is not an issue I care about either way. Well, Tim's version is better, but it's really a small point. However, deleting links is another question entirely. Restore the links you deleted, and (so far as I care) you can have any format you want (within reason). But, of course, this may or may not meet with the approval of other interested parties. Tannin 09:55, 21 Sep 2003 (UTC)

 * I did not delete any links. Do a CTRL-F and you'll find it on the page. --Jiang 09:56, 21 Sep 2003 (UTC)

If I have to use control-F to find a link to an important article, whoever laid out the page is incompetent. Tannin

 * You don't have to. I don't have to. I just thought it would help since you seem to be having some difficulty seeing (or scrolling). Maybe the PM link is not prominent enough. The text should be reworded to include "Prime Minister of Australia" as a phrase so the entire link can be seen. Other than that, nothing is hidden. --Jiang 10:09, 21 Sep 2003 (UTC)

OK, let's try this. With your agreement, I'll unprotect the page and make what I see as the minimum required changes to it (i.e., edit your version so that the links work sensibly, as opposed to a complete revert of it). That should take 5 minutes or so. Then, you run your eye over the changes. If you are happy with them, problem solved. If we can't agree on them, then we revert to the current version (it really should be Tim's version, but I'll let that point go for the time being) and protect it again. Fair enough?

(Note that this woud not commit any other users, of course, only you and me.) Tannin

Okay...go ahead. I think it basically amounts to changing "a prime minister" to "the Prime Minister of Australia". What else do you propose to change? (It's already 3:22 AM here. Go ahead and edit as you see fit. I won't be checking until a few hours later.) --Jiang 10:22, 21 Sep 2003 (UTC)

Give me 2 minutes. Tannin

Done. Probably a duplicate or two there still, bit close enough to give a general idea, in any case. Tannin

I just spent about 30 seconds scanning over this debate, so I can't comment in depth. But Jiang is right in one respect: we should go over to Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Countries and make our case. Our formatting is better than that of the other countries. I didn't apply my changes to the rest of the countries, due to selfish patriotic pride. -- Tim Starling 13:06, Sep 21, 2003 (UTC)

No agreement from Jiang, restored the protection. (Correctly. it should be restored to the version BEFORE his edits, but in order to demonstrate fairness I restored Jiang's disputed version. I leave it to another sysop to restore the last non-controversial version, however - i.e., the Tim Starling version. Tannin 00:22, 22 Sep 2003 (UTC)

Okay, I have now made my case at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Countries. -- Tim Starling 01:41, Sep 22, 2003 (UTC)

Summary of Tannin's edits and my comments: --Jiang 01:44, 22 Sep 2003 (UTC)
 * moved "Australian Constitutional History" from see also under history section to part of the main articles list. - although I'd rather not have it there, reserving the main article to the main article, I don't really mind since this is a history article
 * Added "Republic Advisory Committee" and "Foreign relations of Australia" to the see also list of the politics section - First, "Republic Advisory Committee" is already there. Don't link it twice on the same line! Second, foreign relations should be at the miscellaneous section since that is how the template has it. I see how it relates to politics, but moving it there would require we change the template (and have some mention of foreign relations be added to the discussion of government in that section).
 * Moved "Australian birds" from the see also list to the main article list Flora and Fauna - Please reserve main articles'' for just that. Birds are only a subset of the fauna, obviously not qualifying as a "main" article.Perhaps the link could be incorporated into the text, which only discusses flora at this moment.
 * Crap. Australian birds are quite extraordinary, and have great significance. The linked article does not yet explain this (someone, probably me, should do a major re-write), but (a) Australia has ~900 species, significantly more than you would expect from its small land ara relative to other continents, particularly so given that the continent is so barren. and (b) the development of birds in Australia-New Guinea was crucial to the development of bird life worldwide: more than half of all living birds are passerines: i.e., they are directly descended from the birds of Australasia. So far as worldwide significance goes, Australian plants are not important, and neither are Australian mammals, reptiles, or any other group. The birds, however, are. In short, if you don't understand a subject, you shouldn't try to edit it. If you do edit it anyway, that's fine, but be prepared to accept corrections to your work from people who do know what they are taliking about. Tannin 04:16, 22 Sep 2003 (UTC)

Just because Australian birds are unique does not elevate them to a higher category. If australian birds could munch off the heads of humans, they would still be birds. Being special does not make them "all animals." It's not about the importance. It's about the scope of the article. If you think birds are so important, create a new section. If the section is not entitled "birds", it can't be considered a "main article." Get you vocabulary straight. --Jiang 05:28, 22 Sep 2003 (UTC)

Even if we put Australian birds in the main articles of "Flora and Fauna", people may not realise how important it is. A subsection "birds" under "Flora and Fauna" does a better job than that. (a view from the point of a layman) --wshun 05:44, 22 Sep 2003 (UTC)

 * Can we please sort out the overall structure of the article before we start bickering about the importance of Australian birds? It may well become a moot point by the time we've sorted out the layout. See Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Countries. -- Tim Starling 05:53, Sep 22, 2003 (UTC)

 * Without taking a position on the positions of information about Australian birds, I have to ask Tannin why Australian mammals aren't important. Though I'm no biologist, I would think that the presence of a nearly unique major grouping

(marsupials) would make Australian mammals a useful article. In what way are Australian birds so important that doesn't apply to Australian mammals? Tuf-Kat 06:03, Sep 22, 2003 (UTC)

 * Because (judging by Tannin's comment above) marsupials merely hop and scurry and make a nuisance of themselves, whereas the birds colonised the rest of the world. -- Tim Starling 07:36, Sep 22, 2003 (UTC)

 * I would not object to that, Tuf-Kat. Indeed, I have contributed many thousands of words on that very topic. Over time, I expect to add as many more. But yes, as Tim says, the birds have a special significance. Of more import to this current dispute, however, is that Jiang stop buggerising about in this area where he has no contribution record, accept the more-than-generous compromise I offered, and stop wasting everyone's time. Tannin

 * Address the issues. My cotribution record is irrelevant here. I am not adding content to the page. The dipute is over the formatting. Since you cannot logically refute my point that the article does not qualify as a "main article", my point stands. Of more import to this current dispute, however, is that Tannin stop buggerising about in this area where he has no contribution record, accept the more-than-generous compromise I offered, and stop wasting everyone's time. --Jiang

The implication of some type of entititlement or expertise here which disallows edits by non-Aussies or non-biologists is quite un-Wikipedian. Smells like a strain of academic_standards_kick. Let's get less abusive and get back to the content. Fuzheado

Please add pl:Australia user:80.55.19.182
 * Done. I assume that as this is not a content change it's ok to do whilst the page is protected. Revert if not. Angela 13:56, 24 Sep 2003 (UTC)

 * This is why page protection in an argument between two sysops is a bad idea. Jiang just ignored it anyway. The only people it affects are the many readers of this page, and innocent bystanders like 80.55.19.182. I've unprotected it. -- Tim Starling 00:27, 25 Sep 2003 (UTC)

Are you sure? As far as I can tell, Jiang's sole edit after I protected it was in the period where Tannin had unprotected it to see if Jiang would start reverting again.

When I enacted the protection, I realized that the people who would be most tangibly affected were the innocent bystanders. I felt this was unfortunate, but necessary. My goal was to move the action out of the article namespace and into the talk namespace; even though the protection was symbolic, in the sense that it had no hard-security-type binding power on the disputing parties, I believe it was effective nonetheless. (Symbols have power, after all.) -- Cyan 01:09, 25 Sep 2003 (UTC)

Is anyone any good with maps? The current one needs correcting: the Southern Ocean is mislabelled as the Indian Ocean. Tannin

 * Yep, I'll just fix it right now. Apparently some group of 'important people' have decided that the Southern Ocean is a whole band around Antarctica. Well, the Southern Ocean has always been the bit of water between Australia and Antarctica. I know that Cape Leewin (the southern tip of WA) is where the two oceans meet. - Mark Ryan 12:55, 28 Nov 2003 (UTC)

 * Done. - Mark Ryan 13:11, 28 Nov 2003 (UTC)

Is there anything in wikipedia about the rabbit fence? I don't even know how to look it up :) Kyk 06:46, 3 Jan 2004 (UTC)

This might sound odd, but I'm surprised at the Jervis Bay Territory being treated like a 'regular' territory. Sure, it is one, but it's not at the same 'level' as NT or the ACT. I always thought JBT was part of the ACT myself. If separate, I thought it would be on the same level as Macquarie Island or Christmas Island or Cocos Islands, etc.--Chuq 04:17, 2 Mar 2004 (UTC)

External links removed
I have removed some external links. For following reasons.

The link to the Worldwide press freedom index was out of date, also the freedom of the press in Australia is not even mention in the article.

The link to AUSMAG was removed because it didn't have much information on the site.

I replaced the link to the Sunnybank directory with a link the the Australia section of the Open Directory Project because it is more comprehensive.

-- Popsracer 12:50, 14 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Hutt river province
I removed the HRP reference from the main page, because it gives an amusing little hobby of a few cranks a prominence that it does not deserve. Nobody else takes the claims seriously, unlike, say, the "Provisional Aboriginal Republic" stunt pulled by Michael Mansell and his Tasmanian Aboriginal buddies in the 1980's. --Robert Merkel 12:39, 31 May 2004 (UTC)

Categori[zs]ation
Australia had been removed from Category:Oceanic countries and added to Category:Australia. However all sub-sub-articles of Category:Countries should only contain country articles. Category:Australia contains many more articles that just Australia, for example, Australian fauna. See the Beatles/John Lennon example at Wikipedia talk:Categorization -- Chuq 00:30, 9 Jun 2004 (UTC)

In Australasia or only country in a continent
The article contains "sixth-largest country in the world (geographically), the only one to occupy an entire continent, and the largest in Australasia" in the opening paragraph. This contains mutually contradictory statements: Will those with an interest in this article please modify this as required? Jamesday 15:19, 1 Jul 2004 (UTC)
 * the only one to occupy an entire continent
 * the largest in Australasia (which is described as including the country of New Zealand)

 * Huh? Where is the problem, James? Are you getting Australia and Australasia mixed up?Tannin 19:12, 1 Jul 2004 (UTC)

 * No! What James is saying is that if Australia is the largest country in Australasia, being larger than New Zealand, it cannot therefore be the only country in the continent. I understood James, thinks most of us did! have changed accordingly. Grunners194.168.3.18 11:40, 6 Aug 2004 (UTC)

 * I believe you are under the mistaken assumption that Australasia is a continent. It is not - it is a region. Examine its article. The article continent also spells out that "a continent ... is a large continuous mass of land... ." It says that Oceania and Australasia are terms used to define the region including Australia and the Pacific Islands. The article Oceania also mentions that the islands of Oceania do not form part of a true continent. Thus, I see no problem with the article as it stood. However, I will change it to more clearly state that Australasia is merely a regional grouping of islands. - Mark 12:04, 6 Aug 2004 (UTC)

SAMPA pronunciation
I have removed the SAMPA and IPA pronunciations from the first sentence of this article. They were far too long for the first sentence (it is jarring for the reader) and the IPA ones do not display properly on a standard XP/IE setup. I have placed them in their own section entitled "pronunciation" until someone can write a more interesting thing about the pronunciation (though I cannot see how it can be made to be interesting at all). Anyway, Wikipedia is not a dictionary. We have Wiktionary for things like pronunciation. - Mark 05:51, 17 Jul 2004 (UTC)

Excessive categories
I've just removed the following categories from the article (which were just added today):

Category:Geochemistry Category:Earthquakes Category:Geography Category:Geologic timescale Category:Geology Category:Geophysics Category:Plate tectonics Category:Seismology

This may suit Gondwana and Laurasia, for example, but I think even for them, it's a bit over the top seeing as all of these could be condensed into the one category, if needed. (Probably Plate tectonics, but I'll leave that to someone more experienced in the area.)

As far as this article goes, I don't think this is the right place for this sort of category - because it is about Australia the country, not Australia the continent, Australasia, Oceania or the Indo-Australian tectonic plate.

Maybe an article Australia (continent) is needed? Thought I wouldn't want to encourage this if it isn't definitely needed.

Chuq 00:11, 19 Jul 2004 (UTC)

 * Good thinking, Chuq. There is no need for Australia (continent): we have a perfectly good article on that topic already in Australia-New Guinea. Not to mention Geography of Australia. Tannin 00:23, 19 Jul 2004 (UTC)

 * Ahh thanks - I hadn't noticed that article before. I took a look at Plate tectonics and List of tectonic plates, they refer to the articles Australian Plate, Indo-Australian Plate, both of which are also good candidates for this sort of categorisation. Chuq 01:11, 19 Jul 2004 (UTC)

 * ¡Sorry!

 * I suppose that the trouble is that Australia is both a continent and a country. I am sorry for the inconvenience.  I do love continents.  I just finished all of the big supercontinents, with the article about Pannotia.  I still have lots of lesser supercontinents to do; such as Euramerica, regular ancient continents like Laurentia, and small continental fragments like Avalonia.  I did not mean to cause trouble.

 * Ŭalabio 04:18, 2004 Jul 19 (UTC)

 * It's ok, Ŭalabio, it's all part of the learning curve of becoming a Wikipedia editor! There are more tips etc. at the Community Portal, but don't worry, most people will point things out to you on Talk pages as I have done. -- Chuq 04:37, 19 Jul 2004 (UTC)

Force Fonts
For the pronunciation section in the Australia page?

What do you mean don't forces fonts?

 * Exactly what I said. Don't force the font to be something other than what the user wants.

How are we suppost to see the IPA symbols?

 * They should work. If you cannot see them, then it is a problem on your end.
 * How do I fix this with a Windows XP OS? --203.220.171.162 12:36, 21 Jul 2004 (UTC)

How is "r" incorrect?

 * In the IPA, 'r' is heavily trilled. http://www.ling.hf.ntnu.no/ipa/full/snd/IPA122.mp3 is a sample of how 'r' is pronounced in the IPA.
 * This is a sample of the 'r' pronounced in English: http://www.ling.hf.ntnu.no/ipa/full/snd/IPA151.mp3. Symbol is a turned r, IPA /ɹ/, X-SAMPA /r\/. --203.220.171.156 11:28, 23 Jul 2004 (UTC)

--203.220.171.162 11:55, 21 Jul 2004 (UTC)

 * Darrien 12:32, 2004 Jul 21 (UTC)

Violet Crumble
I am considering reverting this; even if it is true, I don't think that Violet Crumble warrants a link as an Australian-related article - it's just another chocolate bar. -- Chuq 02:46, 23 Jul 2004 (UTC)

 * I am surprised that there is no "Food of Australia" or "Cuisine in Australia" article to link to it from. - Mark 03:04, 23 Jul 2004 (UTC)

 * I found Australian cuisine :) -- Chuq 09:16, 24 Jul 2004 (UTC)

What about the Continent?
I was reading the Australia page, and I cannot figure out why there is no distinction between Australia the continent and Australia the country. Since many people confuse Oceania and Australia, should this not be made more clear? Just a thought.

--LuYu

 * Hi LuYu. The country and the continent are coextensive, so 'Geography of Australia' should describe both the country and the continent adequately. Having said that, I would not be opposed to a separate treatment of the continent and the country, so long as Australia remains as the country article. - Mark 07:49, 7 Sep 2004 (UTC)

title: Talk:Australia/Archive 3