Kankan is a village in the Novo-Bayazid uezd of the former Iravan governorate, later in the former Ellar (Kotayk, Abovyan) district, and currently in the Kotayk province. The provincial centre lies 53 km to the south of the town of Akhta (Hrazdan), at a height of 2,025 m above sea level. It was marked on the five-verst map of the Caucasus.

The village was solely inhabited by Azerbaijanis: 548 in 1873, 772 in 1886, 740 in 1897, 939 in 1904, 1,144 in 1914 and 1,231 Azerbaijanis in 1916. In 1918 the Azerbaijanis were exposed to genocide by Armenian armed groups and deported, and the Armenians removed from Türkiye were settled in the village. Following the establishment of Soviet power in the territory of present-day Armenia, the surviving Azerbaijanis managed to return to their homeland. Along with the Armenians, the village was inhabited by 72 Azerbaijanis in 1922, 98 in 1926, and 147 Azerbaijanis in 1931. In accordance with 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 Azerbaijani population of the village was forcibly deported to Azerbaijan. Currently, the village is inhabited only by Armenians. The toponym was formed from the Persian word “kankan” meaning “a well-digger”.

By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Armenian SSR dated 25 January 1978, the village was renamed “Hatis”. 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.

Geographical coordinates: latitude: 40°20’ N., longitude: 44°43’ E.