[1] The name literally means "Upper Valley" in Aranese, and both the Garonne (Garona) and the Noguera Pallaresa have their sources on the territory of the municipality.

The municipality is linked to Vielha by the C-28 road, which continues to Alt Àneu over the Port de la Bonaigua (2072 m).

This road, the higher stretches of which are impassable in winter, was the only route between the Aran Valley and the rest of Spain before the opening of the Vielha tunnel in 1948.

The local economy is based almost entirely on tourism and winter sports.

A number of local churches have been classified as historic-artistic monuments: Population figures from before 1967 are the totals for the five municipalities which combined to form Naut Aran.