The original district roughly corresponds to the current provinces of Équateur and Tshuapa.

[5] In 1933 the provinces were reorganized into six, named after their capitals, and the central government assumed more control.

Léon Engulu served as the only president (later, governor) of Cuvette-Centrale from September 1962 to 25 April 1966.

[11] On 25 April 1966 Cuvette Centrale, Moyen-Congo and Ubangi were reunited as Équateur province.

[11] The territories in the pre-2015 Équateur District were Basankusu, Bikoro, Bolomba, Bomongo, Ingende, Lukolela and Makanza.