The District of Franklin was a regional administrative district of Canada's Northwest Territories.

English navigators Martin Frobisher and Henry Hudson were the first Europeans known to have visited the area (although Viking sailors, coming from Greenland, may have made occasional landings and hunting treks on Baffin Island in the 11th and 12th centuries).

The area was transferred from British colonial authority to the Dominion of Canada in 1894 and named after Sir John Franklin in the following year; however, the northernmost islands were claimed by Norway until the year 1930.

The area of the former District of Franklin was divided between the remaining portion of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

In the process, Victoria Island was divided with approximately two-thirds of its area falling in Nunavut, and several other islands were also divided between the two territories.