The regency was historically part of the Paser Kingdom, which was a dependency of the Banjar Sultanate.

In 2019, parts of the regency were designated to be included in the location of the new Indonesian national capital.

[9] The region was inhabited by several tribes such as Lolo, Adang, and Kali who each founded small tribal kingdoms.

[11] This meant that the current region of Penajam North Paser once belonged to two separate provinces.

[16] Six years later, on 10 April 2002, the northeastern parts of Pasir were finally split into a new regency, known as Penajam North Paser by act no.

(c) comprising 19 kelurahan (Buluminung, Gersik, Gunung Seteleng, Jenebora, Kampung Baru, Lawe-Lawe, Nenang, Nipah-Nipah, Pantai Lango, Pejala, Penajam, Petung, Riko, Saloloang, Sepan, Sesumpu, Sotek, Sungai Parit and Tanjung Tengah) and 4 desa.

The Penajam North Paser Regency is a second-level administrative division equivalent to a city.

Heads of districts are appointed directly by the regent on the recommendation of the regency secretary.

[23][24][25] The regency's gross regional product mostly consists of mining, agriculture, and manufacturing sectors.

The mining sector contributed to 25.83% of the regency's gross regional product, followed by agriculture with 21.96%, manufacturing with 16.46%, and construction with 11.84%.

[26] The main commodity in the regency is palm oil, which in 2021 has a total plantation area of 47,960 hectares.

[28] The regency does not have a higher education institutions as of 2021, but there are plans to construct a university in town of Penajam.

[29] The regency has one hospital, 10 polyclinics, 54 puskesmas, 41 pharmacies, in addition to 10 medical clinics and 273 healthcare posts.

More than half of the road were considered in good condition as of 2021 by Ministry of Public Works and Housing.

[34] There are bus routes served by Perum DAMRI to Balikpapan, Samarinda, and town of Tanah Grogot.

[40] There are total 132 base transceiver station in the regency as of 2021 to support communication in the region, most of which are operated by private companies.