Mustang (मुस्ताङ) (from the Tibetan möntang
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. The district covers an area of
3,573 km2 (1,380 sq mi). The
headquarters is located at Jomsom. Mustang is the fifth largest district
of Nepal in terms of area. The district is home to Muktinath
Temple ('lord of liberation or moksha') and is a sacred
place for Hindus and Buddhists.
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 " and was not named after
the horse. 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). The kingdom of Mustang was a
dependency of the Kingdom of Nepal since 1795, but was
abolished by the republican Government of Nepal on
7 October 2008, after Nepal became a federal democratic republic.
