Muara Badak (Indonesian pronunciation: [muˈ(w)ara ˈbadaʔ]) is a district of Kutai Kartanegara Regency, East Kalimantan, Indonesia.

Natural gas reserve was discovered by Huffco in 1972, and as a result, the district gave its name to state-owned corporation Badak LNG, who is active at Bontang.

Some connected instead to the tree tempura badak (now extinct), or the phrase attributed to the sultan of Kutai when first visiting this region in 1806 or 1825, "Badak leh... bagus beneh tempat ini yo!".

[5] Seven years later on 11 June 1996, the northern parts of Muara Badak (consisting of 3 previously-mentioned villages, Sabuntal, and Kersik) were separated to form the new district of Marang Kayu.

[6] In recent years, local organizations such as Muara Badak Youth Movement (GPMB), have demanded to secede from Kutai Kartanegara, due to resource curse issues.