The regional headquarters are located in the city of Gulu, which is also the administrative capital of Northern Uganda.

The district is composed of Aswa County and the Gulu Municipal Council.

The economic activity of 90 per cent of the population in the district is subsistence agriculture.

Over 90 percent of the population has returned to their villages after more than two decades of living in what were known as "Internally Displaced People Camps".

In the 2014 national census and household survey, the population of Gulu District was enumerated at 275,613.