Mustang District

Mustang District (मुस्ताङ जिल्ला ) (from the Tibetan möntang (), मुस्तांग Mustāṃg "fertile plain") is one of the eleven districts of Gandaki Province and one of seventy-seven districts of Nepal which was a Kingdom of Lo-Manthang that joined the Federation of Nepal in 2008 after abolition of the Shah dynasty. It covers an area of and has a population (2011) of 13,452. The headquarters is located at Jomsom. Mustang is the 5th largest district (by area) of Nepal. The district is a part of Gandaki Province in northern Nepal, straddles the Himalayas and extends northward onto the Tibetan Plateau. The district is one of the remotest areas in Nepal and is second in terms of the sparsity of population. The elevation ranges from 1,372 to 8,167 meters (Mount Dhaulagiri, the 7th highest mountain in the world), with several peaks above 7,000 meters. Mustang was an ancient forbidden kingdom, bordered by the Tibetan Plateau and sheltered by some of world's tallest peaks, including 8000-meter tall Annapurna and Dhaulagiri. Strict regulations of tourists here have aided in maintaining Tibetan traditions. Upper Mustang was a restricted area until 1992, which makes it one of the most preserved regions in the world due to its relative isolation from the outside world, with a majority of the population still speaking traditional Tibetic languages. The name "Mustang" is derived from the Tibetan word meaning, "Plain of Aspiration." Upper Mustang was only opened to foreigners in 1992 (annual quota at present of 1,000 people). It is a popular area for trekking and can be visited year round (regardless of season). Agriculture and animal husbandry are the main occupations. The entire district is included within the Annapurna Conservation Area, the largest protected area of Nepal. Development programmes, tourism management, and so on are primarily overseen by the Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP), a division of the National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC).

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Related concepts (8)

Pokhara

Pokhara (पोखरा ˈpokhʌɾa) is a metropolitan city in central Nepal, which serves as the capital of Gandaki Province. It is the second most populous city of Nepal after Kathmandu, with 599,504 inhabitants living in 120,594 households in 2021. It is the country's largest metropolitan city in terms of area. The city also serves as the headquarters of Kaski District. Pokhara is located west of the capital, Kathmandu. The city is on the shore of Phewa Lake, and sits at an elevation of approximately 822m.

Muktinath

Muktinath is a Vishnu temple sacred to both Hindus and Buddhists. It is located in Muktinath Valley at the foot of the Thorong La mountain pass in Mustang, Nepal. It is one of the world's highest temples (3,800 m). Within Hinduism, it is one of the 108 Divya Desams and the only Divya Desam located outside India. It is known as Mukti Kshetra, which literally means the 'liberation arena' (moksha) and is one of the Char Dhams in Nepal. This temple is considered to be the 106th of the 108 Divya Desam considered sacred by the Sri Vaishnava sect.

Gandaki River

The Gandaki River, also known as the Narayani and the Gandak, is one of the major rivers in Nepal and a left bank tributary of the Ganges in India. Its total catchment area amounts to , most of it in Nepal. In the Nepal Himalayas, it is notable for its deep canyon. The basin also contains three mountains over , namely Dhaulagiri, Manaslu and Annapurna I. Dhaulagiri is the highest point of the Gandaki basin. The Kali Gandaki river source is at the border with Tibet at an elevation of at the Nhubine Himal Glacier in the Mustang region of Nepal.