Ashaghi Khotanan is a village in the Zangezur uezd of the former Yelizavetpol (Ganja) governorate, later in the former Gafan district, and currently in the Syunik province. The provincial centre lies 21 km to the northwest of the town of Gapan, and at a height of 1,150 m above sea level. Following the establishment of the Zangezur uezd in Soviet Armenia on 31 August 1921, the settlement was integrated into the administrative area of Armenia. It was marked on the five-verst map of the Caucasus.

The village was initially inhabited by Azerbaijanis who gradually left it after the Armenians had been settled in the region.

The toponym was coined on the basis of the Turkic “Khotan” ethnonym. The ending “-an” at the end of the toponym denotes plurality. It implies “the village where the Khotan tribe lives”. The Armenian literature presents it as “Nerkin Khotanan”.

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 Syunik province.

Geographic coordinates: latitude: 39°17’ N., longitude: 46°22’ E.