1991 Armenian independence referendum

21 September 1991

Do you agree that the Republic of Armenia should be an independent democratic state outside of the USSR?

Results

Politics of Armenia


CIS Member State, CoE Member State
Constitution Constitutional court President: Hrayr Tovmasyan Human rights
Head of state President Vahagn Khachaturyan
Executive Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan Mher Grigoryan Current government
Legislature National Assembly President: Alen Simonyan Members
Judiciary Law
Administrative divisions Provinces (marz) Municipalities (hamaynk)
Elections Political parties Civil Contract Armenia Alliance I Have Honor Alliance Central Electoral Commission Recent parliamentary elections: 2018 2021 Next
Foreign relations Ministry of Foreign Affairs Minister: Ararat Mirzoyan Diplomatic missions of / in Armenia Nationality law Passport Diaspora Visa requirements Visa policy Armenia–BSEC relations Armenia–Council of Europe relations Armenia–European Union relations Armenia–NATO relations Armenia–OSCE relations Armenia–United Nations relations Armenia–Azerbaijan relations Armenia–Georgia relations Armenia–Iran relations Armenia–Russia relations Armenia–Turkey relations Armenia–United States relations
Related topics Armenian genocide recognition History OSCE Minsk Group Politics of Artsakh
Other countries
v t e

An independence referendum was held in the Armenia SSR on 21 September 1991 to determine whether to secede from the Soviet Union.^[1] It followed a declaration of independence on 23 August 1990.^[2] 99.5% of voters voted in favour, with a turnout of 95%.^[3] The country officially became an independent state on 23 September 1991.^[4]

Background

The May 1990 Armenian Supreme Soviet election resulted in the formation of a non-Communist government led by Levon Ter-Petrosyan, chairman of the Pan-Armenian National Movement.^[5] In December 1990, Mikhail Gorbachev proposed a referendum on the continuation of the Soviet Union, as a federative state.^[5] The Ter-Petrosyan government rejected the proposal on 1 March 1991 and decided instead to hold a referendum on independence.^[5]

Results

Following the referendum, Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev unsuccessfully attempted to persuade Armenia to join the Union of Soviet Sovereign Republics. However, the Armenian government signed an economic treaty with Russia that created a free-trade zone.^[6]

Levon Ter-Petrosyan was elected the first president of Armenia in November 1991 and Armenia formally gained independence on 26 December 1991.

Nohlen, Dieter; Hartmann, Christof; Grotz, Florian (2001). "Armenia". Elections in Asia and the Pacific: A Data Handbook: Volume I: Middle East, Central Asia, and South Asia. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/019924958X.003.0016. ISBN 978-0-19-924958-9.
Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (1991). Report on the Armenian Referendum on Independence (PDF).

v t e Elections and referendums in Armenia
Parliamentary elections	1919 1938 1947 1951 1955 1959 1963 1967 1971 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 1999 2003 2007 2012 2017 2018 2021 Next
Presidential elections	1991 1996 1998 2003 2008 2013
Local elections	1919 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2023
Referendums	1991 1995 2003 2005 2015
Central Electoral Commission of Armenia

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v t e Independence referendums in the Soviet Union
1991 Lithuania Estonia Latvia Galicia Georgia Armenia Turkmenistan Transnistria Gagauzia Ukraine Nagorno-Karabakh Azerbaijan Uzbekistan 1992 South Ossetia Tatarstan Autonomy referendum Transnistria (1989–1990) Soviet Union (1991) Narva and Sillamäe (1993)