It is bordered to the north by the Njombe Region, to the east by Songea Rural District and Songea Urban District, to the south by Mozambique and to the west by Lake Nyasa.

The district is partly home to the Liparamba Game Reserve.

Notable people are Oscar Kambona, former minister of foreign affairs.

According to the 2002 Tanzania National Census, the population of the Mbinga District was 404,799.

The Mbinga District is administratively divided into 37 wards:[2] Kilindi