Tashir (Armenian: Տաշիր) is a town and urban municipal community located in Lori Province at the north of Armenia.

[2] Tashir was first mentioned by the Armenian historian Movses Khorenatsi in his 5th-century monumental work History of Armenia as one of the cantons of the lords of Gugark.

The region became a prominent centre of the Armenian culture and scholars under the rule of the Zakarid princes of Armenia.

After the fall of the Ilkhanate in the mid-14th century, the Zakarid princes controlled over Tashir until 1360 when they fell to the invading Turkic tribes.

After suffering from the invasion of Aq Qoyunlu, Kara Koyunlu, Ottomans and Persians from the 14th to 18th centuries, most of the territories in northern Armenia were annexed from Qajar Persia in favour of the Russian Empire In 1801.

The region of Tashir became officially part of the Russian Empire at the Treaty of Gulistan signed on 24 October 1813 between Imperial Russia and Qajar Persia.

In 1935, during the Soviet rule, the settlement was renamed Kalinino after the Russian Bolshevik revolutionary leader Mikhail Kalinin and was called.

Mount Achkasar which is the highest point of the range with a height of 3,196 meters, is located 25 km west of Tashir.

The town's Surp Sarkis Armenian Apostolic church was built between 1995 and 2000 through donations from businessman Samvel Karapetyan and his brother Karen.

Other agricultural products and activities include grain, melons and gourds, potatoes and fruits, cattle-breeding, pig-breeding, poultry farming and bee-keeping.