The district dates back to the days of the Belgian Congo.

The original four provinces of the Belgian Congo had considerable autonomy, but in 1933 they were reorganized into six provinces, named after their capitals, and the central government assumed more control.

[4] The area was 135,000 square kilometres (52,000 sq mi) out of a total of 496,700 square kilometres (191,800 sq mi) for Katanga province as a whole.

In November 1961 the northern portion was reconquered by the national government and made the province of Nord-Katanga (Tanganika).

[6] In 2015 the current Tanganyika Province was created from the Tanganika District, whose town of Kalemie was elevated to capital city of the new province.