The mountainous province is bordering Cambodia to the south and Vietnam to the east. Due to the difficult travel situations it is believed that many of the wildlife could still survive in the forested rugged hills.

The population is thin and most people are of Lave Nge and Talieng ethnic groups. They do farming; growing coffee, tea and vegetable along with some mountain rice. The hill people share close tradition with the tribes in the Ratanakiri province in Cambodia. The capital Attapeu is in the valley surrounded by the mountains.

Ho Chi Minh trail passes Sekong and Attapeu provinces and thus were bombed heavily by the USA during the last Indochina war. This also made the population even thinner. For the hardy tourists who like to go out of the beaten tracks, the province offers specticular waterfalls, limestone cliffs, birds. However always travel together with local people who know the areas well.