[1] The district has four main ethnic groups: Lao, Hmong, Khmu, and O Du.

It was once the royal seat of the minor principality of Muang Phuan, renowned in the 16th century for its 62 opulent stupas, whose sides were said to be covered in treasure.

Years of bloody invasions by Thai and Vietnamese soldiers, pillaging by Chinese bandits in the 19th century, and a monsoon of American bombs that lasted nearly a decade during the Laotian Civil War taxed this region so heavily that, by the time the air raids stopped, next to nothing was left of the kingdom's exquisite temples.

All that remains of the kingdom's former glory is an elegant Buddha image towering over ruined columns of brick at Wat Phia Wat and That Dam, both of which bear the scars of the brutal wars that ended Xieng Khuang's centuries of rich history.

Although the town has since been rebuilt and renamed to Muang Khoun, its role as provincial capital has been permanently supplanted by Phonsavan.