The town of Dokolo is its main municipal, administrative, and commercial centre.

The administrative headquarters of the district are located approximately 60 kilometres (37 mi), by road, southeast of Lira, the largest city in the sub-region.

[2] Dokolo District was established by the Ugandan parliament in 2005.

It is part of the larger Lango sub-region, home to an estimated 2.13 million Langi people according to the 2014 national census.

The district population grew at a calculated rate of 3.6 percent between 2002 and 2012.