Historically, the people of Khinalig have long been practising transhumance - the moving of their livestock between ‘yaylags’ (highland summer pastures close to their ancestral village) and ‘gishlags’ (lowland winter pastures in central Azerbaijan). The process of movement, which happens twice a year in spring and autumn, lasts around two weeks each time.

Gishlag (qışlaq) is one of the three major components of the semi-nomadic lifestyle of the Khinalig people. Shepherds spend 7-8 months from early autumn to mid-spring here with their families. In winter, living on the gishlag allows the livestock to stay in moderate temperatures and to eat fresh fodder throughout the year. A gishlag is a parcel of land within the winter pastures of the state. For example, a 20,000-hectare territory of winter pastures within the borders of an administrative district can be divided into 20-25 parcels or gishlags. Each gishlag covers a region of 500-1,500 hectares with its own boundaries. Usually, gishlags are identified with a name in the form of a toponym.

Gishlags of all transhumance people are concentrated in the Shirvan plains of central Azerbaijan and in the Kura depression, mainly in the Aran region of Azerbaijan in the districts of Hajigabul, Absheron, Salyan and Gobustan. The gishlags of the Khinalig people are located in the central plains of the country in the districts of Hajigabul and Absheron. The territory is at an altitude of up to 1,000 m above the coast of the Caspian Sea. Winter pasture lands are the property of the state. The families live in subterranean houses in areas called ‘yatag’, and the labour is shared among the shepherds and other family members.

For gishlags, the shepherds of Khinalig usually choose parcels of land at the intersection of hills and plains, ranging from 40-50 to 400-450 metres. Therefore, the altitudinal range between the highest and lowest points of the gishlags is around 400 metres. The shepherds of Khinalig organise different parts of the gishlag as per the needs of different animal groups and seasonality to make the best of the available land resources.

The Khinalig people spend only the four warmer months of the year in Khinalig village and its summer pastures (‘yaylags’). They spend the seven colder months of the year in gishlags and one month on the journey between the yaylags and gishlags, droving livestock along the Köç Yolu seasonal transhumance route.

The yaylag and gishlag areas and the seasonal movement route are essential components of the cultural landscape of the village, the people of Khinalig and their traditional transhumance practice. The movement of livestock is led by herders on a fixed route twice a year,  in spring and autumn.

The shepherds and their flocks from Khinalig join around 7,000 people and 400,000 sheep from other nearby settlements on the seasonal migration route, which starts from Khinalig village and ends in the winter pastures of Hajigabul and Absheron.

Yaylags are summer pastures and camps, comprising one of the three essential elements in the transhumance practice of the Khinalig people, located in mountain meadows at an altitude of 1,700-3,200 metres in different parts of Azerbaijan.

Herders live with yaylags with their families for about four and half months during the spring and summer season to do their livestock husbandry until they move to the lower winter pastures in autumn. Each yaylag has administratively and historically defined borders that can provide a large herd of 1,000-1,500 sheep with green grass fodder. The borders of yaylags are often characterised by natural mountain relief, such as valleys and rivers.

Summer pastures usually have green grass cover from May until the end of September. The livestock is kept in the open air during this period, while natural fodder is in abundance. The sheep arrive in the summer pastures in late May-early June and quickly gain weight due to the abundant quality food.

The Khinalig shepherds often lease yaylags to take care of their animals. An entrepreneur herder who rents a yaylag usually hires four to five shepherds from the village to take care of the herd. The shepherds have an agreement with the employer to bring their own animals to graze in the yaylag. The shepherds organise the sheep into several groups in the yaylags.

People from Khinalig attract special attention among those who use the migration route. The people of Khinalig only live in the village of Khinalig for four months of the year, where they graze their flocks in the surrounding mountain meadows. They spend the remaining eight months of the year in winter camps far away from their villages and on the migration route. Nomadic families live in winter camps and ‘digs’ (buildings located half underground) in the districts of Absheron and Hajigabul. After spending 7-8 months of the year here, they return to the mountains.

In nomadic families, everyone participates. Men graze the herds, while women weave carpets and socks from wool, and do household chores. Thus, the nomadic population continues Azerbaijan's intangible cultural heritage and traditions and passes it on to future generations. The shepherds, who travel 15-20 kilometres every day, build traditional huts for camping at night. 25-30 flexible sticks with a slanted shape are buried in the ground to build a hut, tied with a rope into the form of a frame, before transverse stakes and sticks are again tied together with rope. The internal height of the circular hut reaches 2-2.5 m. The top of the tent is covered with waterproof felt. Numerous tombs, holy ‘pirs’, mosques and other places of faith and cultural sites were built along the migration route. Sacred and protected forests are located on the migration route. Cemeteries on the route were also built to bury people who died during the migration.