Namayingo, where the district headquarters are located, is approximately 95 kilometres (59 mi), by road, southeast of Jinja, the largest city in the Busoga sub-region.

[1] This location lies approximately 38 kilometres (24 mi), by road, south of Bugiri, the nearest large town.

The district was established by an Act of Parliament and began functioning on 1 July 2010.

Prior to 2000, the two main activities in the district were (a) subsistence agriculture on the mainland and (b) commercial fishing on the lakeshores and on the islands in Lake Victoria.

This has attracted many new residents to the area, performing such activities as: miners, washers, grinders, middlemen, buyers as well as salesmen of the hardware used in the artisanal gold mining industry, such as pick axes, shovels, pails, basins, ropes and ladders.