The local authority is Derry City and Strabane District Council.

Outside of Derry City the district is largely rural, containing a large swathe of the Sperrin Mountains which start at the market town of Strabane in County Tyrone.

The first election for the new district was originally due to take place in May 2009, but in April 2008, Northern Ireland Secretary Shaun Woodward announced that the scheduled 2009 district council elections were to be postponed until 2011.

[14] The first elections took place on 22 May 2014 and the council acted as a shadow authority until 1 April 2015.

Its area was also formerly served by Eglinton railway station (closed in 1973), along the Belfast-Derry line.