It has five wards: Te Awamutu, Cambridge, Pirongia, Maungatautari and Kakepuku.

[4] The District was formed from Waipa County Council and its town boroughs in 1989.

The highest mountains are Mount Pirongia in the west and Maungatautari in the east.

The region's economy is based largely on dairy farming and cereal production.

The southeastern corner of the district includes the hydroelectric project at Karapiro.

The results were 86.5% European (Pākehā); 15.9% Māori; 2.3% Pasifika; 6.1% Asian; 0.7% Middle Eastern, Latin American and African New Zealanders (MELAA); and 2.5% other, which includes people giving their ethnicity as "New Zealander".

Of those at least 15 years old, 7,965 (17.0%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, 25,443 (54.2%) had a post-high school certificate or diploma, and 10,878 (23.2%) people exclusively held high school qualifications.