The district of Lahaul-Spiti in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh consists of the two formerly separate districts of Lahaul and Spiti. The present administrative centre is Keylong in Lahaul. Before the two districts were merged, Kardang was the capital of Lahaul, and Dhankar the capital of Spiti. The district was formed in 1960
The language, culture, and populations of Lahaul and Spiti are closely related. Generally the Lahaulis are of Tibetan and Indo-Aryan descent, while the Spiti Bhotia are more similar to the Tibetans, owing to their proximity to Tibet. The district has a H.P. state legislative law in place to curb antique loot ,by suspecting travellers given past incidences. In pre-independence era,the ethnic tribal belt was into the British lahaul and the chamba lahaul,which was merged with punjab post 1947. This is second largest district in indian union.
