Yukhari Akhtala is a village in the Borchali uezd of the former Tiflis governorate, later in the former Allahverdi (Tumanyan) district at the foot of Lalvar Mountain, and currently in the Lori province. The provincial centre is located 4 km to the east of the town of Boyuk Garakilsa (Vanadzor), on the Akhtala-Shamlig road and at a height of 1375 m above sea level. In 1886 the village was under the subordination of the Lori-Pambak province.

The village was inhabited by 76 Azerbaijanis in 1886, 30 in 1897 and 161 in 1916. In 1918 the Azerbaijanis were attacked by Armenian armed units, massacred and deported from the village. After the establishment of Soviet power in the territory of present-day Armenia, the Azerbaijanis who survived were able to return to their homes. The village was inhabited by 77 Azerbaijanis, 27 Greeks in 1922, 82 Azerbaijanis in 1926, 119 Azerbaijanis, 30 Greeks in 1931. The Greeks were settled in the village to work in copper mines in the 1770s. In November 1988 the Azerbaijanis were completely ousted from their historical and ethnic territories by the Armenian state. At present, the village is inhabited by Armenians as well as several Greeks.

The toponym was coined from the word “yukhari” denoting a distinctive feature and the Turkic ethnonym “Akhta”.

According to the law “On the administrative-territorial division of Armenia” dated 7 November 1995, the village was integrated into the administrative territory of the Lori province.

Geographic coordinates: latitude 41°10’ N., longitude 44°46’ E.