The Lake Sevan catchment basin is situated in Gegharkunik province. The region includes the towns of Gavar, Chambarak (former Krasnoselsk), Martuni, Sevan and Vardenis. The administrative center of the province is set in Gavar. The total area is ​​5,348.000 km², with roughly 240.033 hectares  for agricultural needs.

The primary focus of economy in Gegharkunik region is agriculture. There are around 60,000 farms developing nowadays. The region is well known for its cattle-breeding, bee-keeping, fishing and fish-farming, potato cultivation, husbandry.

The population is primarily engaged in agriculture producing mainly potato, fodder and wheat.

Recently cultivation of fruit-trees (apples, pears and plums) has become more widespread.  The frost-resistant sorts of these trees are particularly valuable.

Cattle-breeding is also developed with a special focus on milk, meat and wool production. More prospective are considered mining, food production and light industry. The Sotq gold and the Artanish lime mines are exploited in the region.  There are carpet-weaving manufactories in the towns of Martuni, Sevan, Chambarak and Karmirgyugh exporting their  production to the United States and European countries.

The diverse alpine flora creates favorable conditions for honey production with approximately 300 tons of annual outcome.

In the past Gegharkunik province was most famous for its fishing industry, which currently is in decline because of irreversible damage caused to the fish reproducing stocks. Presently the RA authorities are taking necessary actions for recovering the natural population of fish and developing the fishing industry.

The Lake Sevan basin has great facilities to provide services for healthcare, recreation and tourism activities (alpine climate, mineral waters, scenic landscapes, etc.). It offers various entertainments such as swimming, sun-bathing, water skiing, surfing and just enjoying beautiful scenes of nature. For the bravest the Lake has a special offer – diving.

The hotspots of the Lake basin are the Lake itself with its beaches, the Artanish peninsula, the so-called “Gull Island”, rare relic (relic is an organism that at an earlier time was abundant in a large area but now occurs at only one or a few small areas) juniper and oak residual forests. Lake Sevan is surrounded by the the Areguni, Sevan, Vardenis and Geghama mountain ridges. The Sevan National Park and its protection zone areas registered in
total 1,489  monuments of history and culture, including natural monuments and various memorials from the 15th century BC to the 20th century AD. Archaeological and historical monuments have played a major role in the development of the Armenian nation. Today they promote development of cultural, educational and scientific (archaeological, geological), ecological, ethnographic and other forms of tourism.

The Lake Sevan basin offers a rare opportunity of observing bird populations.  The main attraction is the so-called “Gull Island” with inhabiting Armenian gull population. Of particular interest are the lough near Lchashen village, Noratus promontory, the small pond near Lichq protected zone, the delta of the Masrik River, the former Gilli Lake area and the slopes of the Areguni ridge.