Yukhari Ganlija is a village in the Alexandropol uezd of the former Iravan governorate, in the former Duzkend (Akhurian) district, and currently in the Shirak province. The provincial centre is located 7 km to the northwest of the town of Gumru and at a height of 1,620 m above sea level. It had been within the Gumru (Leninakan) district until 1937.

The Azerbaijanis, the original inhabitants of the village, were deported in 1828 and the Armenians removed from Türkiye between 1828 and 1830 were settled in the village. At present, the village is inhabited only by Armenians.

The toponym was coined by combining the word “yukhari” denoting a distinctive feature and the name of the ancient Turkic tribe “Ganli” followed by the suffix “–ja”. It is an ethnotoponym.

By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Armenian SSR dated 26 April 1946, the village was renamed “Marmashen”. 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 Shirak province.

Geographic coordinates: latitude 40°50’ N., longitude 43°46’ E.