It is named after its largest settlement, Lancaster, and also includes the towns of Carnforth, Heysham and Morecambe and a wider rural hinterland.

[5] Much of the district's rural area is recognised for its natural beauty; it includes part of the Yorkshire Dales National Park and parts of the designated Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty of Arnside and Silverdale and the Forest of Bowland.

The neighbouring districts are Westmorland and Furness, North Yorkshire, Ribble Valley and Wyre.

[11] The city status which had been held by the old municipal borough of Lancaster since 1937 was also transferred to the new district on its creation.

[12][13] Since 1 August 2016 the district has included a small part of the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

Much of the district is covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.

The city council appoints one of its councillors to serve on the 25-person National Park Authority.

[38] The district comprises two parliamentary constituencies: Lancaster and Fleetwood, and Morecambe and Lunesdale.

At the 2011 UK census, 65.9% of Lancaster's population reported themselves as Christian, 1.3% Muslim, 0.4% Buddhist, 0.3% Hindu, 0.1% Jewish, and 0.1% Sikh.

[49] In 2001, of the 55,906 residents of the City of Lancaster in employment, the industry of employment was 16.7% retail and wholesale, 14.2% health and social work, 11.4% education, 11.2% manufacturing, 7.8% property and business services, 6.7% construction, 6.7% hotels and restaurants, 6.5% transport and communications, 5.7% public administration and defence, 2.5% finance, 2.4% energy and water supply, 2.2% agriculture, 0.4% mining, and 5.3% other.