Culture & Identity of Armenia
Introduction
The way of life in Armenia is still heavily reliant on the land as farming is the occupation for almost half the working population. However, other industries have made an impact, as does religion, and the large Armenian diaspora abroad, many of whom give the country a significant amount of money to help improve the infrastructure, educational system, and healthcare.
For the large proportion of agricultural workers, life is heavily based on the sun as work generally begins and ends with the sun. Life is also somewhat seasonal as the long summer days are busy and the short winter days tend to be slower. For many of these farmers fruits, including grapes, vegetables, and animals are the more common forms of agriculture. For the other half of the working population, which is heavily centered in the services industry, life has a more set pattern and schedule. These people also tend to be more urbanized, as nearly 65% of the people live in cities today. Work tends to begin at about 9:00am and ends at about 6:00 pm during the work week.
School occupies the days of most children as education is very important to the Armenians and children attend school from about age six to at least sixteen. Schools are struggling though as many people have turned to private schools, which are expensive, but often times seen as a worthwhile investment. For most children the school day is about five hours long, but tends to be a bit shorter for younger children and a bit longer for teenagers. However, the school work assigned to be done at home is generally quite significant.