# Armenia and Iran compared Armenia and Iran side by side: 43 shared sourced indicators across 9 domains, and the 1 events their chronicles record of each other. Canonical: https://terralore.co/compare/arm-vs-irn Updated: 2026-08-10 (latest of the two dossiers' refreshes and the two chronicles' verification dates) Two sourced records set beside each other — nothing on this page was written for the pair. Every figure is the same observation, with the same source, as on the two national dossiers; every event is the same record, with the same sources, as on its own chronicle. Figures are compared, never graded. A "—" is an absence in the source data, never a zero; each value shows its own observation year — vintages differ by indicator and nation. ## Formation - Armenia: 331 BCE — The Orontids rule Armenia as kings rather than satraps - Iran: 550 BCE — Cyrus the Great founds the Achaemenid Empire ## Economy | Metric | Armenia | Observed | Iran | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | GDP | $26 B | 2024 | $475 B | 2024 | | GDP per capita | $8,556 | 2024 | $5,190 | 2024 | | GDP growth | 5.9% | 2024 | 3.7% | 2024 | | Inflation | 0.3% | 2024 | 32.5% | 2024 | | Trade openness | 150.1% | 2024 | 52.1% | 2024 | ## Society | Metric | Armenia | Observed | Iran | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Population | 3.0 m | 2024 | 92 m | 2024 | | Life expectancy | 78.3 yrs | 2024 | 77.9 yrs | 2024 | | Urban population | 65.8% | 2024 | 77.0% | 2024 | | Fertility rate | 1.7 | 2024 | 1.7 | 2024 | ## Governance | Metric | Armenia | Observed | Iran | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Voice & accountability | 59.0 | 2024 | 29.7 | 2024 | | Political stability | 53.5 | 2024 | 38.9 | 2024 | | Government effectiveness | 44.3 | 2024 | 37.6 | 2024 | | Regulatory quality | 57.0 | 2024 | 31.0 | 2024 | | Rule of law | 54.5 | 2024 | 35.7 | 2024 | | Control of corruption | 50.8 | 2024 | 24.6 | 2024 | ## Health | Metric | Armenia | Observed | Iran | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Health spending | 9.3% | 2023 | 6.0% | 2023 | | Physicians | 3.36 | 2022 | 1.81 | 2023 | | Under-5 mortality | 9.6 | 2024 | 11.3 | 2024 | | Measles immunisation | 96.0% | 2024 | 99.0% | 2024 | | Safe drinking water | 82.1% | 2024 | 94.4% | 2024 | ## Education | Metric | Armenia | Observed | Iran | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Adult literacy | 99.8% | 2023 | 88.9% | 2023 | | Education spending | 2.4% | 2023 | 2.8% | 2023 | | Primary enrolment | 102.0% | 2024 | 102.0% | 2023 | | Secondary enrolment | 90.9% | 2024 | 85.1% | 2023 | | Tertiary enrolment | 52.8% | 2024 | 58.7% | 2022 | ## Technology | Metric | Armenia | Observed | Iran | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | R&D spending | 0.3% | 2024 | 0.7% | 2021 | | Researchers (per million) | 942 | 2024 | 2,240 | 2021 | | Internet users | 81.3% | 2024 | 85.3% | 2024 | | Mobile subscriptions | 135 | 2024 | 174 | 2024 | | High-tech exports | 23.6% | 2024 | 0.8% | 2022 | ## Geography | Metric | Armenia | Observed | Iran | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Land area | 28,199 km² | 2023 | 1,622,500 km² | 2023 | | Forest area | 11.6% | 2023 | 6.6% | 2023 | | Agricultural land | 58.6% | 2023 | 29.0% | 2023 | | CO₂ per capita (t) | 2.5 | 2024 | 9.1 | 2024 | | Renewable energy | 9.1% | 2021 | 0.9% | 2021 | ## Resources | Metric | Armenia | Observed | Iran | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Resource rents | 7.1% | 2021 | 30.4% | 2021 | | Oil rents | 0.0% | 2021 | 18.3% | 2021 | | Mineral rents | 6.8% | 2021 | 3.4% | 2021 | | Forest rents | 0.3% | 2021 | 0.0% | 2021 | | Electricity access | 100.0% | 2023 | 100.0% | 2023 | | Iron ore | — | — | 93 Mt | 2025 | ## Military | Metric | Armenia | Observed | Iran | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Military burden | 5.5% | 2024 | 2.0% | 2024 | | Defense spending | $1.4 B | 2024 | $7.9 B | 2024 | | Armed forces | 47,000 | 2020 | 650,000 | 2020 | Each metric is also ranked across all nations: https://terralore.co/rankings (markdown twins at /rankings/.md). Full dossiers: https://terralore.co/country/ARM.md and https://terralore.co/country/IRN.md. ## Entangled histories (1 event) Events in which either nation's sourced chronicle names the other — including under earlier names of the same state. Each is the record exactly as its own chronicle carries it, with that chronicle's sources. - 1828: **Russia annexes eastern Armenia** — Following war with Persia, Russia annexed the eastern (Persian) Armenian lands, dividing the Armenian homeland between the Russian and Ottoman empires. (from the Armenia chronicle; sources: Armenia — Caucasus, Soviet Union, Genocide (Modern Armenia)) ## Sources - World Development Indicators — World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-14 · https://data.worldbank.org - Worldwide Governance Indicators (via World Bank API) — Worldwide Governance Indicators / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/worldwide-governance-indicators - Global Health Observatory (WHO, via World Bank WDI) — WHO / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://www.who.int/data/gho - Child mortality & immunisation estimates (UN IGME and WHO/UNICEF, via World Bank WDI) — UNICEF and WHO / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://childmortality.org - R&D statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) — UNESCO Institute for Statistics / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-15 · https://uis.unesco.org - ICT indicators (ITU, via World Bank WDI) — ITU / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-15 · https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics - Military Expenditure Database (via World Development Indicators) — SIPRI / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-14 · https://www.sipri.org/databases/milex - Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 — U.S. Geological Survey · Public domain (U.S. Government work) · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://www.usgs.gov/centers/national-minerals-information-center Chronicle references are cited inline above and resolve in full at https://terralore.co/country/ARM/chronicle.md and https://terralore.co/country/IRN/chronicle.md. Citation template: Terralore, "Armenia and Iran compared", terralore.co/compare/arm-vs-irn, retrieved .