It was formed from the eastern districts then within Jayapura Regency with effect from 12 November 2002.

It borders Green River Rural LLG and Amanab Rural LLG of Sandaun Province (in Papua New Guinea) to the east, Highland Papua Province to the south and Jayapura Regency to the west, while to the north it is separated from the coast by Muara Tami and Abepura Districts of the city of Jayapura.

[3] The table also includes the location of the district administrative centres, the number of administrative villages (all classed as rural kampung) in each district, and its post code.

Note that geographically the first five districts listed below comprise the southern half of the regency (with only 6,625 inhabitants in 2020), while the remaining six districts comprise the northern half (with 54,998 inhabitants).

Notes: (a) Web, Towe, Yaffi, Waris, and Arso Timur districts have land borders with Papua New Guinea.