Zar is a village in the Iravan uezd of the former Iravan governorate, later in the former Ellar (Kotayk, Abovyan) district, and currently in the Kotayk province. The provincial centre is located 47 km to the south of the town of Akhta (Hrazdan) and at a height of 1,650 m above sea level. The village was noted in “The Iravan Province Comprehensive Data Book” and marked on the five-verst map of the Caucasus.

The village was inhabited by 89 Azerbaijanis only in 1831, but along with the Armenians, 490 Azerbaijanis in 1873, 634 in 1886, 757 in 1897 and 1,250 Azerbaijanis in 1914. In January 1918 the village was inhabited by 706 Azerbaijanis. In February 1918 the Azerbaijanis were attacked by Armenian armed units and deported from the village. The Armenians removed from the Turkish provinces of Van and Malazgird were settled in the village. After the establishment of Soviet power in the teritory of present-day Armenia, the Azerbaijanis who survived were able to return to their homes. Along with the Armenians, the village was inhabited by 52 Azerbaijanis in 1922, 51 in 1926, and 93 in 1931. According to the decision of the USSR Council of Ministers “On the resettlement of collective farmers and other Azerbaijani population from the Armenian SSR in the Kur-Araz lowland of the Azerbaijan SSR” dated 23 December 1947, the Azerbaijanis were forcibly resettled in Azerbaijan in 1948–1949. At present, the village is inhabited only by Armenians.

The toponym was coined on the basis of the Turkic word “jar/zar” which means “a ravine”.

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 Kotayk province.

Geographic coordinates: latitude 40°15’ N., longitude 44°44’E.