The main river is the Pleiße, a tributary of the White Elster, crossing the district from south to north.

The hilly Osterland constituting the northernmost foothills of the Ore Mountains slopes gently away to the plains of eastern Saxony-Anhalt.

The region on the Pleiße River was part of a huge forest, where the Thuringii formed the Thuringian Kingdom.

In 1952 there was an administrative reform splitting the districts into two smaller units, called "Altenburg" and "Schmölln".

Source: from 1994 Thüringer Landesamt für Statistik – values from 31st December[3] The 46 seats in the district council are distributed between the parties as follows since the Regional Elections in Thüringia 26th May 2024: The coat of arms displays: