The Upper Mustang was a restricted kingdom until 1992 which makes it one of the most preserved regions in the world, with a majority of the population still speaking traditional Tibetic languages.

[4] The last official and later unofficial king (raja or gyelpo) was Jigme Dorje Palbar Bista (1930–2016),[5] who traced his lineage directly back to Ame Pal, the warrior who founded this Buddhist kingdom in 1380.

Traditional Mustang (the Lo Kingdom) is 53 km (33 mi) north–south at its longest, 60 km (37 mi) east–west at its widest and ranges from a low point of 2,750 m (9,020 ft) above sea level on the Kali Gandaki River just north of Kagbeni to 6,700 m (22,000 ft) at Khamjung Himal, a peak in southeast Mustang.

Upper Mustang is on an ancient trade route between Nepal and Tibet exploiting the lowest 4,660-metre (15,300 ft) pass Kora La through the Himalaya west of Sikkim.

[9] Mechanized access inside Nepal began with the opening of an airstrip at Jomsom at the approximate boundary between the southern Thak and northern Lo sections of the valley, which was in operation by the 1960s.

China eventually decided to revitalize trade and in 2001 completed a 20-kilometre (12 mi) road from the international border to Lo Manthang.

China National Highway 219 follows the valley of the Yarlung Tsangpo River some 50 kilometres (31 mi) north of the border.

In 2010, a nine-kilometre (6 mi) gap remained but the road was completed before 2015 and is suitable for high clearance and four wheel drive vehicles.

[13] Mustang is rich in Buddhist culture, similar to the area of the Tibet Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China.

The first westerner in Mustang was Toni Hagen, Swiss explorer and geologist, who visited the Kingdom in 1952 during one of his travels across the Himalayas.