As a result of the community mergers in 2016, the municipality of Meghri was enlarged to include the surrounding villages of Agarak, Alvank, Aygedzor, Gudemnis, Karchevan, Kuris, Lehvaz, Lichk, Nrnadzor, Shvanidzor, Tashtun, Tkhkut, Vahravar, and Vardanidzor.

Many archaeological sites are found in the vicinity of the town dating back to the 7th and 6th centuries BC, during the period of the kingdom of Urartu.

[5] With the establishment of the Tatev Monastery in the 8th century, the region of modern-day Meghri witnessed a rapid social and economic development.

[4] Between the 12th and 15th centuries, Syunik, along with the rest of the historic territories of Armenia, had their melikdoms and had to fight Seljuk, Mongol, Aq Qoyunlu and Kara Koyunlu invasions, respectively.

At the beginning of the 18th century, the region was involved in the liberation campaign of the Armenians of Syunik led by David Bek against Safavid Persia and the invading Ottoman Turks.

In early 1810, Iranian crown prince Abbas Mirza sent thirty thousand troops to Nakhichevan in order to invade the Karabakh Khanate and go on to seize Georgia.

Divided into three columns, the Russian detachment secretly approached Meghri along the valley of the Aras River and on the morning of June 17 suddenly attacked the central fortification of the Persians, broke into the village and, after a stubborn battle, captured it.

His 1856 memoirs paint a vivid picture of the Meghri valley which he describes as a "romantic glen" that he rates as "one of the most beautiful in Persia, or indeed in any country."

He notes that "in former times [it] has evidently been densely peopled for churches, abandoned but still perfect, are thickly scattered on the slopes of the mountains, which here rise to a height on the western side of 8000 to 10,000 feet, covered with forests.

The trees are of no great size, and much interspersed with apple, pear, and walnut, probably the remains of former gardens, or produced by seeds carried by the birds and wind into the once cultivated land.

"[10] He describes the settlement of Meghri itself as being divided into two sections, each about half a mile from the river Araz, and separated by "small enclosed gardens, surrounded by vines".

However, the self-proclaimed republic had a short life, when the Red Army conducted massive military operations in the region during June–July 1921, attacking Syunik from the north and east.

The town of Meghri has experienced relative population growth since the 19th century and especially during the Soviet years when several factories were set up there.

It continued to grow in the following decades and peaked in 2011, when, according to that year's census, it had 4,580 inhabitants but due to the country's economic crisis the population declined to 3,500 in 2016.

Meghri has a significantly milder climate than the rest of the cities in Armenia, and produces fruits not found in other parts of the country.

This US$1.7 billion project would be led by Gazprom[19] whose Armenian subsidiary is already the country's main energy supplier[20] though in 2016 a new agreement opened up the possibility of having Meghri area's domestic gas supply (around 5000 households[21]) to be provided by Iranian company Sanergy.

[25] Although the region is unique for its climate and abundant honey and fruit production (pomegranate, one of the national symbols of Armenia is only cultivated in Meghri)[citation needed], landscapes with rocky mountain ranges, the Aras River, an equally unique cultural heritage that is partly influenced by the Persian culture, for example, the murals of the local church, recently renovated thanks to a US subsidy,[26] the remoteness of the country’s capital and the complicated conditions of the mountain roads lengthen the drive and therefore few tourists choose it.

According to the Meghri administration, there are a total of 11 small hotels and hostels offering 170 rooms with 171 beds, despite the annual average number of guests reaching only 6580 people.

In the city there is an inn called Arevik which has between 8 and 10 beds created to somehow welcome tourists but due to the distances between Yerevan and Meghri there is not much investment because entrepreneurs are afraid of not receiving income and lack infrastructure.

It consists of four main components: development planning, reconstruction of the neighborhood, capacity building and advertising of Meghri as a new tourist destination.