The village is beside the Hunza River about 180 kilometres (110 mi) upriver from Gilgit.

From Karakoram Highway, the trek to Shimshal follows the Boiber River, leading through Avgarch village, Chilkhun, Boiber, Piryar and Dut pass (river crossing), eventually arrive at Shimshal village.

The name Moorkhun allegedly comes from the Wakhi Language, which is spoken in Badakhshan and Pamir.

Most of the people are farmers, belonging from one of the few major tribal families locally known as "Ruum".

However, it is not uncommon for residents to speak more than five languages, including Urdu, English, Brushaski and sometimes basic Chinese.

There are about 50,000–58,000 Wakhi-speakers in the world, divided between four countries -- Wakhan District of Afghanistan, Gilgit-Baltistan of Pakistan, Xinjiang of China, and Tajikistan.

The association introduced a script that was applied into linguistic and literary textbooks, and organized cultural festivals.