The Sivasagar district has acquired its distinct identity due to the co-existence of different races, tribes, languages and cultures.

Before the British period, the center of administration of Assam was around Sivasagar were the famous Ahoms ruled for nearly six hundred years.

The Ahom kings took keen interest in building different temples, dedicated to various deities and which were usually flanked by large tanks which until today stand out as memorials to their glory in the district.

The famous Joysagar Tank was excavated within 45 days by Rudra Singha (1696-1714) in memory of his mother Joymoti Konwari.

This treaty of Yandaboo brought an end to the roughly six hundred year long Ahom rule in Assam.

Sivasagar district occupies an area of 2,668 square kilometres (1,030 sq mi),[4] comparatively equivalent to Estonia's Saaremaa Island.

[5] The Sivasagar district is bordered by the Naga Hills and Arunachal Pradesh in the south and south-east respectively and the Brahmaputra river in the north.

The district is mostly flat alluvial plain with hillocks on south-eastern and southern areas near the Nagaland border.

At the time of the 2011 census, 90.24% of the population spoke Assamese, 2.78% Mishing, 1.96% Hindi, 1.58% Bengali and 1.38% Sadri as their first language.

[8] In 1999, Sivasagar district became home to the Pani Dihing Wildlife Sanctuary, which has an area of 34 km2 (13.1 sq mi).

Various rare and endangered mammals like tiger, elephant, sun bear, sambar, hoolock gibbon are found in the reserve forests.

The Vaishnav community observes the birth and death anniversaries of the prominent Vaishnava saints of the state.

The Sivaratri Mela of Siva Dol in Sivasagar town has been observed since the days of Ahom rule.