The capital of the district is Faido but the largest town is Airolo on the southern flank of the Gotthard Pass.

Leventina is divided into four sub-districts, termed 'circles' (Italian: circoli), and a total area of 479.57 km2 (185.16 sq mi) with a population of 8,827 (as of 31 December 2020).

The valley became part of Switzerland on 5 March 1480, following the treaty of Lucerne with the Duchy of Milan.

[3] The Leventina District has an area, as of 1997[update], of 479.57 square kilometers (185.16 sq mi).

[7] The age distribution, as of 2009[update], in the Leventina District is: 701 children or 7.1% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 899 teenagers or 9.1% are between 10 and 19.

[9] The historical population is given in the following table:[10] In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the CVP which received 33.52% of the vote.

In the federal election, a total of 3,468 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 56.6%.

[11] In the 2007[update] Ticino Gran Consiglio election, there were a total of 6,292 registered voters in the Leventina District, of which 4,599 or 73.1% voted.

[12] From the 2000 census[update], 7,815 or 82.2% were Roman Catholic, while 211 or 2.2% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church.

In the lower secondary school system, students either attend a two-year middle school followed by a two-year pre-apprenticeship or they attend a four-year program to prepare for higher education.

The upper secondary school includes several options, but at the end of the upper secondary program, a student will be prepared to enter a trade or to continue on to a university or college.

The professional program lasts three years and prepares a student for a job in engineering, nursing, computer science, business, tourism and similar fields.