Much of the governorate lies between 1,600–3,200 m (5,200–10,500 ft) above sea level, with topography that varies from high mountains to deep valleys, upland plains and plateaus.

Although no reliable rain gauge exists within the governorate, it is estimated that annual rainfall would range between 400 and 500 millimetres (16 and 20 in) concentrated exclusively in the summer months, especially in July and August but also in March and April.

These districts are further divided into sub-districts, and then further subdivided into villages: Modern scientific studies have confirmed human activity at Dhamar since the Neolithic period, starting around 6000 BC and continuing through the Bronze Age.

The site of the Hammat al-Qa' – 10 km (6.2 miles) to the east of Ma’bar city – is one of the most prominent and significant Bronze Age locations in the Arabian Peninsula.

During the 2nd century BC, Raydanites established themselves at Zafar, about 50 km (31 miles) south of Dhamar, and they rallied the Himyarite tribes in their fight with Sabaean forces.

By the 2nd century AD, Naqil Yislah – 50 km (31 miles) to the north of Dhamar city – was the dividing line between the Sabaeans and the Raydanites under the leadership of the king Yasir Yahsadaq.

The Raydanites succeeded, under the leadership of the king Yasir Yahnam and his son Shamar Yahrash, in ending the struggle for their favour, besting their adversaries, and extending their influence and power to the Sabaean capital Ma'rib and the districts attached to it.

Yemen was now united, and in this new era, Dhamar witnessed prosperity, manifested in the reconstruction of cities and cultic centers, in the construction of palaces, temples and fortification walls, and in the creation of water facilities such as dams, tunnels, and diversion barriers.

The bronze statues of Dhamar Ali Yahbar and his son Tha'ran Yahna'am discovered at Nakhlat Al-Hamra' are physical illustrations of the high cultural attainments of Yemen under these Himyarite kings.

With the advent of Islam in the 7th century CE, tribes of Dhamar were the first in Yemen to embrace the faith at that time, and groups of its people traveled north to assure the survival of its new community, and to carry it to new lands.

This resistance was eventually crowned by expulsion of the Ottomans from Yemen, at the hands of the Qasimi family, who took as their capital the town of Duran, northwest of Dhamar city.

[citation needed] The craft of extracting and shaping onyx as gemstones is a skill thousands of years old that continues today.

These two areas are famous for providing the best kinds of onyx, which is highly prized and achieves wide circulation in local markets and also in those of neighboring countries.

The governorate also contains other stones and minerals with industrial uses, such as limestone, gypsum, zeolite, biomese, saltpeter, feldspar, quartz, askuria and silicate sands.