The district dates back to the days of the Belgian Congo.

At its greatest extent it roughly corresponded to the northern part of the current Lualaba Province and to the present Haut-Lomami Province.

The original four provinces of the Belgian Congo had considerable autonomy, but in 1933 they were reorganized into six provinces, named after their capitals, and the central government assumed more control.

[4] The area was 163,300 square kilometres (63,100 sq mi) out of a total of 496,700 square kilometres (191,800 sq mi) for Katanga province as a whole.

In November 1961 the northern portion was reconquered by the national government and made the province of Nord-Katanga.