It originally comprised all of that part of Bengkulu Province situated to the southeast of the city of Bengkulu, but on 25 February 2003 this area was split into three parts, with the most southeastern districts split off to form a new Kaur Regency and the most northwestern districts (closer to Bengkulu city) split off to form a new Seluma Regency.

The reduced South Bengkulu Regency now covers 1,219.91 km2, and had a population of 142,940 at the 2010 Census[2] and 166,249 at the 2020 Census;[3] the official estimate as at mid 2023 was 171,463 - comprising 87,297 males and 84,166 females.

[1] The regency's administrative centre is the coastal town of Manna.

[1] The table also includes the location of the district administrative centres, the number of administrative villages in each district (totaling 142 rural desa and 16 urban kelurahan), and its post code.

(c) comprising 7 kelurahan (Belakang Gedung, Gunung Mesir, Ketapang Besar, Padang Sialang, Pasar Bawah, Pasar Mulia and Tanjung Mulia) and 2 desa.