The central part of the district is relatively lower in elevation and comprises tidal deltaic deposits.

Major rivers of Khulna District are the Rupsa (a continuation of the Bhairab and Atrai), Arpangachhia, Shibsa, Pasur, and the Koyra.

Also settlements dating to 800-900 CE have been found in Rezakpur village in Khulna's Paikgachha Upazila.

In the 16th century, Maharaja Pratapaditya ruled present Khulna, Bagerhat and Satkhira districts before being defeated by the Mughals Muslim rulers.

Khulna District had a literacy rate (age 7 and over) of 80.66%, compared to the national average of 74.80%, and a sex ratio of 992 females per 1,000 males.

[7] Khulna was a Hindu-majority part of Bangladesh before Partition, mainly lower-caste, but during the massive riots in the 1950s and 1960s most of the Hindus there fled to India.