Lori

Lori, is a province of Armenia. It is located in the north of the country, bordering Georgia. Vanadzor is the capital and largest city of the province. Other important towns include Stepanavan, Alaverdi, and Spitak.

Situated at the north of modern-day Armenia, Lori covers an area of 3,789 square kilometres (1,463 sq mi) (12.7% of total area of Armenia). It is bordered by Tavush Province from the east, Kotayk Province from the southeast, Aragatsotn Province from the southwest and Shirak Province from the west. The province is bordered by the Kvemo Kartli region of Georgia.Historically, the territories of modern-day Lori are associated with the cantons of Tashir, Boghnopor and Dzorapor of Gugark province of Ancient Armenia.Lori is a mountainous region, dominated by the ranges of Javakheti, Bazum, Pambak, Gugark, Halab and Somkheti. The highest point of the province is Mount Achkasar of the Javakheti range with a height of 3196 meters. The lowest point is 380 meters in the valley of Debed in the northeast of the province.The main water resource of the province is the Debed river with its tributaries Dzoraget, Pambak and Martsaget.The climate is characterized with extremely cold snowy winters and mild summers. The annual precipitation level is between 600 and 700 mm (24 and 28 in).

The majority of Lori are ethnic Armenians who belong to the Armenian Apostolic Church. The regulating body of the church is the Diocese of Gougark, headed by Archbishop Sebouh Chouldjian. The Saint Gregory of Narek Cathedral in Vanadzor is the seat of the diocese.However, small communities of ethnic Russian Molokans are mainly found in the villages of Fioletovo and Lermontovo, and in less numbers in the villages of Sverdlov, Mikhayelovka, Privolnoye, Pushkino, Medovka and the town of Tashir.[14] The total number of Molokans in Lori is 3,882 individuals. There are few Orthodox Russians and Ukrainians in Vanadzor, Stepanavan and the village of Amrakits.