The district is located in the north of the state and forms part of Chambal division.

[3] Sheopur district is located in the north of Madhya Pradesh in the Chambal division.

Southeast of the Chambal is a plateau region which leads to a range of forested hills in the east of the district where lies Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary.

The town of Sheopur and its fort was said to have been founded by Indra Singh of the Gaur Rajputs, feudatories of Jaipur, in 1537.

The first historical mention of the region occurs thanks to Nimat Ullah, who recorded an expedition of SIkander Lodhi in support of Raj Dungar who later converted to Islam.

In 1808, it was conquered by Daulat Rao Scindia of Gwalior who gave it to his general Jean Baptiste Filose as a jagir.

[4] In 2006 the Ministry of Panchayati Raj named Sheopur one of the country's 250 most backward districts (out of a total of 640).

[6] According to the 2011 census Sheopur District has a population of 687,861,[2] roughly equal to the nation of Equatorial Guinea[9] or the US state of North Dakota.