The
Armenian diaspora refers to the communities of
Armenians outside the
Republic of Armenia including the self-proclaimed
de facto independent
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. Since antiquity, Armenians have established communities in many regions throughout the world. However, the modern Armenian diaspora was largely formed as a result of the
Armenian Genocide of 1915, when the Armenians living in their ancestral homeland in eastern
Turkey, known as
Western Armenia to Armenians, were systematically exterminated by the Ottoman government.