It is located in the northern part of Shan State, with the Salween River to its west, and sharing a border with China's Yunnan Province to the east.

[4] After the collapse of the Communist Party of Burma in 1989, Peng Jiasheng's Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) took control of the region.

A ceasefire between the group and the Tatmadaw was signed in the same year, the area controlled by MNDAA was assigned as the autonomous "First Special Region" of Shan State (Chinese: 缅甸掸邦第一特区; Burmese: မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ ရှမ်းပြည်နယ်အထူးဒေသ (၁)).

[9] As a result of the conflict the MNDAA lost control of the area and as many as 30,000 refugees fled to Yunnan province in neighboring China.

[10] On 17 February 2015 Myanmar president Thein Sein declared a state of emergency and a three-month period of martial law in Kokang in response to fighting between government troops and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), a Kokang insurgent group.

[11] In November 2023, the MNDAA began encircling and attacking Laukkai as part of Operation 1027, a joint effort by the Three Brotherhood Alliance coalition during the renewed civil war following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état.

[12] The MNDAA successfully encircled and captured Laukkai, the capital of the Kokang Self-Administered Zone, with key victories in Chinshwehaw and other strategic border towns, leading to the surrender of the Tatmadaw's military and Border Guard Forces in Laukkai by December 26, ultimately securing control of the city by December 28.