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Landlocked in the Lesser Caucasus mountains, Armenia is the smallest of the former Soviet republics. It was the first country to adopt Christianity as its state religion, early in the 4th century. Keen to deepen links with the rest of the CIS, Armenia has kept to a path of radical economic reform, including privatization. The confrontation with Azerbaijan over the exclave of Nagorno Karabakh has dominated national life since 1988.