Lop Nur was called "Lv Ze", "Puchanghai" and "Luonaoer" in ancient times, and Loulan City in the northwest of Lop Nur was the "throat" of the ancient Silk Road. According to historical records such as Biography of Dawan and Biography of Hanshu in the Western Regions, as early as the 2nd century AD, Loulan was a famous "walled country" in the western regions, with Dunhuang in the east, Yanqi and Yuli in the northwest and Ruoqiang and Qiemo in the southwest.

Lop Nur was once the place where the ancient Luobu people lived and multiplied. It was once an important passage of the "Silk Road" in the Han and Tang Dynasties, and there were also famous Loulan beauties.

After Lop Nur dried up in the 1970s, it was regarded as a "life forbidden zone" by the world.

At the end of the 20th century, the staff of Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences discovered a large potassium-rich brine mine in Lop Nur, with a reserve of 200 million tons.

In September 2000, Xinjiang Lop Nur Potash Co., Ltd., a national investment and development company, was established, and Lop Nur also became the largest potassium sulfate production base in the world. After the establishment of Luo Potassium Company, the local population has been increasing.

On June 23, 2002, the People's Government of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region approved the establishment of Lop Nur Town, which was formally established on April 4 of the same year.