Muli Tibetan Autonomous County is subordinate to Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan Province and is located at the southwest edge of Sichuan Province. The southeast of the county borders Mianning and Yanyuan counties in the prefecture. The administrative boundary is 217.75 kilometers; The northwest is connected with Daocheng County, Litang County, Yajiang County, Kangding City and Jiulong County of Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, with an administrative boundary of 520.7 kilometers; The southwest is respectively adjacent to Shangri-La City, Yulong Naxi Autonomous County and Ninglang Yi Autonomous County in Yunnan Province, with an administrative boundary of 134.81 kilometers. The average elevation of the whole county is 3100 meters, and the relative height difference is 4488 meters. Muli County is an autonomous county of 21 ethnic groups, mainly Tibetan, including Yi, Han, Mongolia, Naxi, and is one of the only two Tibetan autonomous counties in the country. According to the data of the seventh population census, as of 0:00 on November 1, 2020, the permanent population of Muli Tibetan Autonomous County was 122944.

There are important water conservation forests in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River in Muli, which is one of the few original forest areas in China; Muli has a unique natural landscape and cultural customs, has a high tourism taste, and has great potential to develop ecotourism and leisure tourism; Muli has been known as "the kingdom of gold" since ancient times. It has proved certain reserves of iron ore, copper and gold mines. It has started to develop the Soluogou gold mine with a reserve of 22 tons. The advantages of mineral resources have gradually emerged and become one of the pillar industries.

On September 25, 2018, it was awarded the honorary title of "2018 Comprehensive Demonstration County of E-commerce in Rural Areas" by the Ministry of Commerce. On February 18, 2020, the poor counties will be withdrawn. In 2020, the gross domestic product (GDP) of Muli Tibetan Autonomous County will be 5.45 billion yuan, up 5.6%.