It is situated largely on the island of Sumatra, but also includes the offshore Banyak Islands, the largest of which is Tuangku (Great Banyak), with the principal town of Alaban.

It is now bounded to the north by South Aceh Regency and the city of Subulussalam, to the east by North Sumatra Province, and to the south and west by the Indian Ocean.

[1] At the time of the 2010 Census, the regency was divided administratively into ten districts (kecamatan).

[1] The table also includes the locations of the district administrative centres, the number of villages (all classed as kampong) and the number of offshore islands in each district, and its post code.

Note: (a) The 2010 population of Pulau Banyak Barat District is included in the 2010 figure for Pulau Banyak District, from which it was split out.