It is in the Annamese Range, at the southern limit of the Xiangkhoang Plateau in Xaisomboun Province.

Owing to its elevation—2,830 m (9,280 ft), the highest terrestrial point in Laos, the climate is cold and the area around the mountain is mostly cloudy.

[citation needed] On 10 April 1970, an Air America C-130A aircraft crashed into the mountain.

In the 1970s, c. 60,000 Hmong supporting FAC operations took refuge at the Phou Bia massif.

[4] Phou Bia rises in a restricted military area near the abandoned Long Chen air base, and for this reason sees few outside visitors.