The municipality is located in the western part of Upper East Region and has Sandema as its capital town.

The majority of the inhabitants are of the Builsa tribe, the original early settlers of the area.

It also has a significant population of the Kantosi whom dominantly reside in Sandema.

The economic structure of the Builsa North District is dominated by an agrarian subsistence economy.

The capital and largest town in the Builsa North District is Sandema.