Syunik (Սյունիք, ) is the southernmost province of Armenia. It is bordered by the Vayots Dzor Province to the north, Azerbaijan's Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic exclave to the west, Azerbaijan to the east, and Iran to the south. Its capital and largest city is the town of Kapan. The Statistical Committee of Armenia reported its population was 141,771 in the 2011 census, down from 152,684 at the 2001 census.
Syunik was one of the 15 provinces of the Kingdom of Armenia. The early Armenian historian Movses Khorenatsi connected the name of the province with Sisak, a descendant of the legendary Armenian patriarch Hayk and supposed progenitor of the ancient Siunia (or Syunik) dynasty, which ruled Syunik from the first century CE. However, historian Robert Hewsen considered Sisak to be a later eponym. Historian Armen Petrosyan suggested that Syunik is derived from name of the Urartian sun god Shivini/Siwini (itself a borrowing from the Hittites), noting the similarity between the names and the high number of sun-related placenames in the historical Syunik region. At various times, the region of present-day Syunik was also known by other names such as Syunia, Sisakan and Zangezur (or Zangadzor ). The region of Syunik geographically was called Siounia Caucasiana in the 5-6th century by the Ravenna Cosmography.
