Shinikh is a village in the Borchali uezd of the former Tiflis governorate, later in the former Allahverdi (Tumanyan) district, and currently in the Lori province. The provincial centre lies 67 km to the northeast of the town of Boyuk Garakilsa (Vanadzor), at a height of 725 m above sea level.

The village was originally inhabited by Azerbaijanis, but following the settlement of Armenians there, its population gradually left the village. It was inhabited by five Azerbaijanis in 1897 and two Azerbaijanis in 1926. Currently, the village is solely inhabited by Armenians.

The toponym was coined by adding suffix “-ikh” to the word “shin” which means “a steep mountain slope, inaccessible”, “a deep abyss” in Turkic. It is an orotoponym. Structurally, it is a derived toponym.

The name of the village was Armenianised and formalized as “Shcnogh”. According to the law “On the administrative-territorial division of the Republic of Armenia” dated 7 November 1995, it was integrated into the administrative territory of the Lori province.

Geographic coordinates: latitude 41°08’ N., longitude 44°50’ E.