Ellar is a village in the Iravan uezd of the former Iravan governorate, later in the former Ellar (Kotayk, Abovyan) district, now the town of Abovyan in the Kotayk province. The provincial centre lies at a 37 km distance from the town of Akhta (Hrazdan), in the northeast of the city of Iravan, at a height of 1,360 m above sea level.

The village was inhabited by Azerbaijanis who left it after Armenians had been settled in the region. It became the centre of the district of Ellar established on 9 September 1930. In 1961 it was called “Abovyan” in honour of the Armenian writer Khachatur Abovyan. In 1963 it received the status of a town. It was mentioned as “Eylayar” on the five-verst map of the Caucasus, as “Eylar”, “Elar” in the works of Armenian writers.

The toponym was coined by adding the suffix of plurality “-lar” to the word “el” denoting “people, tribe”, “a tribal unit, tribal union” in Turkish. The word “el” is also used as “il” in Turkish.

The settlement was renamed “Abovyan” by the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Armenian SSR dated 12 October 1961. 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 Kotayk province.

Geographic coordinates: latitude: 40°16′ N., longitude: 44°37′ E.