Located on the western slopes of the Golan Heights, it falls under the jurisdiction of Upper Galilee Regional Council.

Following the 1948 Arab–Israeli War the United Nations-established border between Israel and Syria was drawn to run only a few hundred yards east of the kibbutz.

Judith Sinton (19),[5] a Kibbutz volunteer from New Zealand, on her way back to the apiary after breakfast, was shot and killed by one of the terrorists.

As of 2006, Shamir was one of the most prosperous kibbutzim in Israel, producing honey, toiletries, and advanced optical products.

As the kibbutz is nested in the steeply-rising western slopes of the Golan, when the sun rises, its first rays at daybreak illuminate the peaks of the Ramim mountain range across the valley to the west of Shamir.