Ararat, Armenia
| Ararat Արարատ |
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World War II memorial in Ararat
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 Ararat
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| Coordinates: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. | |
| Country | Armenia |
| Marz (Province) | Ararat |
| Founded | 1920 |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Hayk Haykian |
| Area | |
| • Total | 6 km2 (2 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 825 m (2,707 ft) |
| Population (2011 census) | |
| • Total | 20,235 |
| • Density | 3,400/km2 (8,700/sq mi) |
| Time zone | (UTC+4) |
| Sources: Population[1] | |
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Ararat (Armenian: Արարատ), is a town in the Ararat Province of Armenia, located 42 km (26 mi) southeast of Yerevan and 18 42 km (26 mi) south of the provincial centre Artashat. As of the 2011 census, the population of the town is 20,235.
Contents
History
The town was officially founded in 1920 as Davalu, and renamed Ararart in 1947, after the nearby biblical Mountains of Ararat.[2]
The cement factory of Ararat has been operating since 1927 along with few apartments to accommodate the workers. In 1935, the settlement was merged with the nearby village of Davalu and renamed Ararat. It was developed as an industrial centre and considered an urban-type settlement. However, due to its rapid growth and the gradual increase of the population, Ararat was given the status of a town in 1962.
Economy
The town of Ararat is home to 2 major industrial firms: the "Ararat Cement" factory and the "Geopromining Gold" recovery plant. Other enterprises in the town include the Ararat wine factory and the building materials production plant.
Controversy over the Ararat Gold Company
Besides the various enterprises based on the manufacturing of building materials, the town is also home to the Geopromining Gold recovery plant of Ararat, which extracts gold from the raw ore sent from the gold mine in Sotk which is 20 kilometres (12 miles) east of Lake Sevan.[3] About 0.46 grams of gold is extracted from each ton of sand unearthed at the mines. The extraction process involves first pulverizing the raw material, and then filtering out the gold using a cyanide nitrate chemical process.[3]
The soupy byproduct of the cyanide nitrate chemical process is both toxic and radioactive and collects in a tailings dam. There have been numerous incidents of animals dying near and around the plant's area.[3] Also, within the years 2003 and 2008, there have been at least 10 accidents at the plant, some of which have resulted in the discharge of the cyanide soup into neighboring agricultural lands and fisheries, killing off cows and fish stock.[3]
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A general view of the massive toxic tailing dump of the Ararat gold processing facility
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Tailing dump with the town of Ararat in the background
Climate
Ararat has a desert climate with low precipitation each month. Winters are cold, especially at night, and somewhat snowy, with highs usually from 30-45 and lows 15-30. Summers are long and hot with 100 degree weather being common. The ecology of the city is in danger due to emissions of cement dust and cyanide from the gold manufacturing plant. In summer 2005, the impurity of the atmosphere was recorded to be 9.6 times the acceptable norm.
| Climate data for Ararat | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °F (°C) | 35 (2) |
42 (6) |
55 (13) |
64 (18) |
76 (24) |
83 (28) |
93 (34) |
93 (34) |
83 (28) |
70 (21) |
56 (13) |
41 (5) |
65.9 (18.8) |
| Average low °F (°C) | 19 (−7) |
22 (−6) |
33 (1) |
44 (7) |
52 (11) |
59 (15) |
67 (19) |
66 (19) |
56 (13) |
45 (7) |
33 (1) |
25 (−4) |
43.4 (6.3) |
| Average precipitation inches (mm) | 0.9 (23) |
0.5 (13) |
0.2 (5) |
0.8 (20) |
0.8 (20) |
0.4 (10) |
0.3 (8) |
0.7 (18) |
0.1 (3) |
0.5 (13) |
0.7 (18) |
0.2 (5) |
6.1 (156) |
| [citation needed] | |||||||||||||
Sport
Araks Ararat had represented the town in domestic and international football competitions. The club was founded in 1960 and dissolved in 2001 due to financial difficulties. They won the Armenian Premier League in 2 occasions: in 1998 as Tsement Ararat and in 2000 as Araks Ararat. In 2001, the president of Araks Ararat; Abraham Babayan was unable to finance the club. Consequently, the rights of the club were sold to a new sponsor based in Yerevan in August 2001, and Araks Ararat FC was dissolved.
At the end of 2001, another football club with the name of FC Araks was founded in the town, in an effort to keep the football traditions alive among the new generation of Ararat. However, after 4 years of major difficulties, the financially struggling club was dissolved in 2005.
The town is served by the all-seater Ayg Stadium with a capacity of 1,280 spectators. It is part of a large sport complex with many other structures including an indoor sports hall, indoor swimming pool, billiards saloon, mini-football ground and other facilities.
The retired Olympic cyclist Arsen Ghazaryan is a native of Ararat.
International relations
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Twin towns – Sister cities
Ararat is twinned with
Bussy-Saint-Georges, since 7 August 2009[4]
References
- ↑ Ararat
- ↑ Armenian settlements dictionary
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Behind Gold's Luster Lie Lands Torn Asunder and Urgent Questions, Hetq Online, May 19, 2008.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
