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Where did Armenian-speaking people live in ancient times?

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In ancient times, Armenian-speaking people inhabited the Armenian Highland, a mountainous region spanning parts of modern-day northeastern Turkey, the Republic of Armenia, and surrounding areas.12

While the exact timing of their arrival remains uncertain, they were established in eastern Anatolia and the territories surrounding Lake Van, Lake Sevan, and Lake Urmia by at least the mid-1st millennium BCE. By approximately 520 BCE, they were recognized as the successors to the local Urartians, appearing in historical records under the names Armina and Armaniya within the Achaemenian Empire of Persia. Throughout antiquity, these populations maintained a presence across this highland region, which served as a crossroads of civilizations and was later governed by various powers, including the Seleucid kingdom.34