An Armenian tightrope walker steadies himself with his balance pole as he prepared to perform a trick.

Throughout its history Armenia has walked a sort of geopolitical tightrope of its own, situated as it is on one of the region's most venerable trade routes—the land bridge between Europe and Asia. Centuries of invasion and foreign rule have shaped and reshaped this tiny republic's borders and hammered an ethic of resilience into its people.

(Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "The Rebirth of Armenia, " March 2004, National Geographic magazine)