Part of the Metekel Zone, it is bordered by Dangur in the north and northwest, by Pawe special woreda in the northeast, by Amhara Region in the east, by Dibate in the south, and by Bulen in the southwest.
Originally Mandura and Dibate were subunits of Guangua woreda, which was part of the Metekel awraja; in the 1960s these two subunits were split off to form separate woredas in order to strengthen government control over the local Gumuz people.
Remaining parts of Guangua was transferred to Amhara when that region was organized in the 1992.
The majority of the inhabitants practiced traditional beliefs, with 47.76% of the population reporting they observed this belief, while 39.26% of the population said they practised Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, and 7.59% were Moslem.
[2] Based on figures from the Central Statistical Agency in 2005, this woreda has an estimated total population of 30,536, of whom 15,762 are men and 14,774 are women; 2,492 or 8.16% of the population are urban dwellers which is greater than the Zone average of 10.7%.