Aghin is a village in the Alexandropol uezd of the former Iravan governorate, later in the former Aghin (Ani) district. The provincial centre lies 22-23 km to the southwest of the town of Gumru at the edge of the Arpa River. It was marked as Aghit in “The Iravan Province Review Book” and as Aghin on the five-verst map of the Caucasus.

The original inhabitants of the village were Azerbaijanis. In the early 19th century, the Azerbaijanis were ousted from their historical land, in 1829–1830 the Armenians were removed from the Turkish provinces of Mush, Alashkert, Erzurum and in 1877–1878 from Kars to be settled in Aghin.

The toponym was coined by combining the Old Turkic word “agh” meaning “tall, high, great” and the Old Turkic word “in” meaning “a hut, shack, cave”. It is a toponym of a complex structure generated on the basis of the relief.

By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Armenian SSR dated 12 October 1961, the village was renamed “Ani”. According to the law “On the administrative-territorial division of the Republic of Armenia” dated 7 November 1995, it was integrated into the administrative area of the Shirak province.

Geographic coordinates: latitude: 40°35′ N., longitude: 43°42′ E.