The Ngari Prefecture is located in the western part of the Tibetan Autonomous Region, at the centre of the Changtang Plateau on the northern part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. It begins at Zhamai Mountain, west of the Tanggula Mountains, in the east, bordering on the Nagqu Prefecture, and stretches to the western section of the Himalayas in the west and southwest, bordering on India and Nepal. It joins the middle section of the Kangdese Mountains, neighbouring the Zongba and Sagar counties of the Xigaze Prefecture, and ends on the southern side of the Kunlun Mountains in the north, neighbouring the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. It covers a vast stretch of land and has a sparse population. The border totals 1,116 km, with 57 passageways linking the prefecture to other places. The prefecture stretches 600 km from east to west and measures 550 km from north to south, covering a total area of 34,500 square km.

The Ngari Prefecture is made up by seven counties, Burang, Gar, Ge'gyai, Gerze, Choqen, Zhada and Rutog, which hold 30 districts, 106 townships, and 359 administrative villages. Burang, Zhada, Gar and Rutog, in the south-western and middle parts of the prefecture, engage mainly in agriculture, supplemented by animal husbandry, while Choqen, Gerze and Ge'gyai, in the east, engage purely in animal husbandry.

More than 1,000 years ago, a powerful kingdom with a splendid civilization was born here. But after over 700 years of rule, the kingdom was destroyed by internal disorder and invasion from the outside. What is left here are the ruins of the capital of the Guge Kingdom. Located in Zhada County, the ruins are well-known throughout the world and are under key protection of the State.

Zhada County, more than 3,800 meters above the sea level, is famous for the ruins of the Guge Kingdom and the vast stretches of clay forests peculiar to it. Most of the visitors who travel to Ngari come in order to visit Zhada and the Guge. Xiangquanhe River, one of the four large rivers in Ngari, runs through Zhada, but the majority of the county is dry desert. The clay forests cover several hundred square kilometers, in various unique shapes. The county town of Zhada and the ruins of Guge, which are 18 km away from the county town, are surrounded by uninterrupted clay forests. The scene is really a wonderful view created by the uncanny workmanship of nature.

Besides the ruins of the Guge Kingdom, Ngari also boasts a number of noted monasteries, temples and ruins, including the Toding Monastery at the county town of Zhada, the Kegya monastery in Burang County, the Rutog Monastery in Rutog County, and the Doshang and Shangze ruins. They constitute the valuable historical and cultural heritage left by the ancestors of the Tibetan ethnic group.