Armavir (), is a town and urban municipal community located in the west of Armenia serving as the administrative centre of Armavir Province. It was founded in 1931 by the government of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic. As of the 2011 census, the population of the town is 29,319, declined from 46,900 reported at the 1989 census. Currently, the town has a population of 37,053 as per the 2019 official estimate. The town was known as Sardarabad before 1935, and Hoktemberyan from 1935 to 1995. Currently, Armavir is the seat of the Diocese of Armavir of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Etymology Founded in 1931 as Sardarabad, the town was known as Hoktemberyan (meaning the city of October) between 1935 and 1995, named in honor of the October Revolution. In 1992, the town was named Armavir by the government of independent Armenia, after the nearby ancient city of Armavir, that was founded in the 8th century BC by King Argishti I of Urartu, and became the capital of the Kingdom of Armenia under the Orontid Dynasty in 331 BC. History Historically, the territory of modern-day Armavir is located in the Aragatsotn canton at the centre of Ayrarat; the 15th province of ancient Greater Armenia. The Soviet 11th Red Army invaded Armenia on 29 November 1920, and a few days later Armenia became an official part of the Soviet Union on 2 December 1920. The Soviets proclaimed Armenia as a Soviet Socialist Republic under the leadership of Aleksandr Myasnikyan. However, in 1922, Armenia was included in the newly created Transcaucasian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic. By the decision of the Soviet government, the settlement of Armavir was founded as Sardarabat on 26 July 1931, only 8 km north of the ancient city of Armavir, to become the regional centre of the Hoktemberyan raion created earlier in 1930 (known as Ghurdughuli raion until 1935). It was originally founded as a railway station connecting Yerevan with Leninakan (Gyumri). The first major urban plan of the town was introduced by architect Alexander Tamanian. In 1935, the name of the settlement was changed from Sardarabat to Hoktemberyan in honor of the 1917 October Revolution. At the beginning, it was home to Armenian families who migrated from Javakheti, Shirak and Zangezur. During the 1940s, many Yazidis and Kurds from the nearby villages have also settled in Hoktemberyan. With the rapid development of the settlement as an industrial hub,