The Tobelo-speaking heartland is in the six administrative districts (Indonesian: kecamatan) of Tobelo, located on the western shore of Kao Bay and forming the central part of Halmahera Utara Regency.

Other Tobelo speaking areas are the five districts of Wasile (the northwestern half of East Halmahera Regency; where they are actually speakers of the Tugutil language which is very related to Tobelo) on the south and east coast of Kao Bay, and the northern half of Morotai Island.

The district capital, also known as Tobelo, serves as a regional commercial and administrative center and is the largest settlement on Halmahera.

The Tugutil varieties may include additional dialectal variants, but this has not been satisfactorily documented (Voorhoeve 1988).

Perhaps it is not a coincidence that the Tobelo are the most widespread ethnic group in Maluku, with sizable emigrant population throughout the province.