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Mustang district, a part of Dhawalagiri zone, is one of the seventy-five districts of Nepal, a landlocked country of South Asia. The district, with Jomsom as its headquarters, covers an area of 3,573 km² and has a population (2001) of 14,981. The district lies across the Himalayas in the Tibetan plateau and encloses the Lho Mang Thang, a small kingdom under one of the few Nepalese principality titular kings, King Jigme Palwar Bista. The district is famous for Muktinath (a popular Hindu pilgrimage site), its apples and distilled product Marpha brandy. Mustang from Mustang Tibetan Mun Tan (Wylie smon-thang) which depicts fertile plain, Mustang or Kingdom of Lo is part of the Kingdom of Nepal and one of its districts (see Mustang District), in the north-east of that country, bordering China (Tibet) on the Central Asian plateau between the Nepalese provinces of Dolpo and Manang. It is roughly 80 km long (north-south) and 45 km at its widest, and is at an elevation of over 2500 m. Meteorological It is largely dry and arid (annual precipitation is in the range of 250-400 mm) due to its position in the rain shadow of surrounding mountains. Human The population is around 9,000, spread between three towns and approximately thirty smaller settlements; the people are either Thakalis or Tibetan. Most of the population of Mustang live near the river, 2-3,000 m above sea level, but the tough conditions cause a large seasonal migration into lower regions of Nepal. The administrative centre of the district is at Jomsom (Dzong Sampa), population 5,363 (1998), which has had an airport since 1962 and has become the main tourist centre since the area was opened to tourism in the 1970s. Physical The main feature of Mustang is the Gandaki river, its valley and tributaries. The river runs north-east to south-west towards Nepal Terai, bisecting the territory. It once served as the major trade route between Tibet and India, especially for salt. Part of the river valley, the Thak Khola, forms the deepest gorge in the world. Mustang History Mustang was once an independent kingdom, although closely tied by language and culture to Tibet. From the 15th century to the 17th century, its strategic location granted Mustang control over the trade between the Himalayas and India. By the end of the 18th century, the kingdom was annexed by Nepal. However, the monarchy still survives as the Kingdom of Lo in Upper (northern) Mustang, with its capital at Lo Manthang. The current king (raja or gyelpo) is Jigme Palbar Bista (b. 1930), who traces his lineage back to Ame Pal the warrior who founded the Buddhist kingdom in 1450[citation needed]. Mustang Tourism Even though foreign visitors have been allowed to the kingdom since 1991, tourism to Upper Mustang is very restricted. Foreigners need to obtain a special permit to enter, which costs $700 per 10 days per person. A shepherd in Mustang discovered a collection of 55 cave paintings depicting the life of Buddha in 2007.
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