Sevan, Armenia

40°33′18″N 44°57′13″E / 40.55500°N 44.95361°E / 40.55500; 44.95361 Sevan (Armenian: Սևան [sɛˈvɑn]) is a city as well as one of the most popular resorts in Armenia, located in the Sevan Municipality of the Gegharkunik Province on the northwestern shores of Lake Sevan. The town is built at a height of more than 1,925 metres (6,316 feet) above sea level, 65 km (40 mi) northeast of the capital Yerevan, and 35 km (22 mi) north of the provincial centre Gavar. Sevan is surrounded by the Sevan National Park, a natural protected area extending from the northeastern parts of the town to the southwest, while Lake Sevan forms the natural border of the city to the east. As of the 2011 census, the population of the town was 19,229, and as per the 2016 official estimate, the population of Sevan is 19,200. As of the 2022 census, the population of the town was 18,705. Sevan was founded as Yelenovka (Armenian: Ելենովկա, Russian: Еленовка) in 1842 to become a Russian-populated village. It was named after Yelena Pavlovna the daughter of Tsar Paul I of Russia. The town was known as Yelenovka until 1935 when it was renamed Sevan after the Lake Sevan. The scholarly consensus is that the word Sevan originated from the Urartian word su(i)n(i)a, usually translated as "lake". The term is found on an 8th-century BC cuneiform inscription by the Urartian king Rusa I, found in Odzaberd, on the southern shore of the lake.