Norashenik 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 10 km to the northeast of the town of Gapan, on the left bank of the Khalaj River, at a height of 1,080 m above sea level. After the establishment of the Zangezur uezd in Soviet Armenia on 31 August 1921, the settlement was integrated into the administrative area of Armenia.

Along with the Armenians, the village was inhabited by eight Azerbaijanis in 1831, 55 in 1873, 60 in 1886 and 179 in 1897. The Azerbaijanis were deported from their historical-ethnic territories having been exposed to aggression by Armenian militants in 1918. Currently, only Armenians live in the village.

The toponym was coined by adding the word “shenik” (originally “shenlik”) used to mean “a village, place of residence, settlement” in Turkic to the word “nora”, which is a phonetic form of the word “nori” used in the Turkic language to mean “a steep rock, deep ravine, abyss”. The word “Shenik” (şenlik) has survived in the personal name of the Azerbaijani ashug “Ashig Shenlik”. “Norashenik” is a toponym of a compound structure formed on the basis of a relief.

At present, the name of the settlement is referred to as “Norashenik” in official documents in Armenian. 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°16’ N., longitude 46°23’ E.