Mer Hayrenik

"Mer Hayrenik" (Armenian: Մեր Հայրենիք, Armenian pronunciation: [mɛɾ hɑjɾɛnikʰ]; "Our Fatherland") is the national anthem of the Republic of Armenia. Adopted on 1 July 1991, it was also the national anthem of the First Republic of Armenia (1918–1920), the first modern Armenian state.

The lyrics of the anthem are adapted from a version of Song of an Italian girl (Armenian: Իտալացի աղջկա երգը, written in 1859) by Mikael Nalbandian (1829–1866). Later set to music by composer Barsegh Kanachyan (1885–1967).

Lyrics

Comparison with the original text

Mer Hayrenik is based on the first, third, fourth and sixth stanzas of the original poem The Song of an Italian Girl.

Notes

References

External links

National anthem

A national anthem (also state anthem, national hymn, national song etc.) is a generally patriotic musical composition that evokes and eulogizes the history, traditions and struggles of its people, recognized either by a nation's government as the official national song, or by convention through use by the people. The majority of national anthems are either marches or hymns in style. The countries of Latin America tend towards more operatic pieces, while a handful of countries use a simple fanfare.

Languages

Although national anthems are usually in the most common language of the country, whether de facto' or official, there are notable exceptions-

States with more than one national language may offer several versions of their anthem: for instance, Switzerland's anthem has different lyrics for each of the country's four official languages (French, German, Italian and Romansh). Canada's national anthem has different lyrics in each of the country's official languages (English and French), and on some occasions is sung with a mixture of stanzas taken from its French and English versions. The Irish national anthem was written in English; an Irish translation, although never formally adopted, is now almost always sung.

Armenia

Coordinates: 40°N 45°E / 40°N 45°E / 40; 45

Armenia (ⁱ/ɑːrˈmiːniə/, /-ˈmiːnjə/;Armenian: Հայաստան, tr. Hayastan, IPA: [hɑjɑsˈtɑn]), officially the Republic of Armenia (Armenian: Հայաստանի Հանրապետություն, tr. Hayastani Hanrapetut’yun), is a sovereign state in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located in Western Asia, it is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia to the north, the de facto independent Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and Azerbaijan to the east, and Iran and the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan to the south.

Armenia is a unitary, multi-party, democratic nation-state with an ancient cultural heritage. The Kingdom of Van was established in 860 BC and by the 6th century BC it was replaced by the Satrapy of Armenia. In the 1st century BC the Kingdom of Armenia reached its height under Tigranes the Great. Armenia became the first state in the world to adopt Christianity as its official religion. In between the late 3rd century to early years of the 4th century, the state became "the first Christian nation." The official date of state adoption of Christianity was 301 AD. The ancient Armenian kingdom was split between the Byzantine and Sasanid empires around the early 5th century. Under the Bagratuni dynasty, the Armenian Kingdom was restored in the 9th century. Declining due to the wars against the Byzantines, the kingdom fell in 1045 and Armenia was soon after invaded by the Seljuk Turks. An Armenian principality and later a kingdom Cilician Armenia was located on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea between the 11th and 14th centuries.

Mikael Nalbandian

Mikael Nalbandian (Armenian: Միքայել Նալբանդյան; 14 November [O.S. 2 November] 1829 – 12 April [O.S. 31 March] 1866) was an Armenian writer, a major figure in 19th century Armenian literature. The lyrics of "Mer Hayrenik", Armenia's national anthem, are based on the lyrics of one of his poems, Song of Italian Girl.

Biography

Armenian

Armenian refers to something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia:

See also