FACTBOX-Key facts about Armenia

(Reuters) - Armenian President Robert Kocharyan declared a state of emergency in the capital on Saturday as he sought to end protests over a presidential election which the opposition says was rigged.

A statement from the presidential press service said Kocharyan had signed a decree declaring the state of emergency until March 20 "to prevent a threat to constitutional order".

Here are some key facts about the ex-Soviet republic in the Caucasus mountains.

POPULATION - 3.22 million as of January 2007, according to the National Statistics Service.

ETHNIC COMPOSITION - More than 97 percent of the population is Armenian. There are small minorities of Russians, Kurds and Greeks.

GEOGRAPHY - Landlocked, bordering Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran and Turkey, and with a total area of 29,800 square km.

CAPITAL - Yerevan.

LANGUAGE - Armenian is the official language. Russian and Kurdish are also spoken. Armenian belongs to a branch of the Indo-European family of languages with a unique 39-character script.

RELIGION - Most Armenians belong to the Armenian Apostolic Church, an ancient independent branch of Christianity. Armenia was the first state in the world to adopt Christianity as its state religion, in 301.