At a press conference today, Sousanna Avetisyan (photo left), who heads the Shengavit Civil Status Acts Registry, said she has noticed a rise in the number of civil marriages in the Yerevan district.

Avetisyan presented the following figures for marriages and divorces: 2009 (1,000 marriages; 216 divorces) 2010 (924; 211) 2011 (1,006; 209) and 2012 to date (292; 80).

She also noted a tendency of Armenian women marrying at an earlier age than before. In Armenia, the legal age for marriage is 17 for females and 18 for males.