It straddles the traditional border between the two regions, the Waitaki River, and its seat is Oamaru.

[5] A major reason for this split was the governance of the Waitaki River, which forms a political boundary between Canterbury and Otago.

With major hydro schemes on this river, it was decided to place the entire catchment in one administrative region, thus forming the split.[when?]

Some people who fall into the Canterbury Region of Waitaki District still regard themselves as part of Otago, and attempts have been made in the past to change the boundary.

The results were 85.0% European (Pākehā); 9.5% Māori; 5.5% Pasifika; 6.9% Asian; 0.7% Middle Eastern, Latin American and African New Zealanders (MELAA); and 3.1% other, which includes people giving their ethnicity as "New Zealander".

[7] A relatively sparsely settled area, the District has a large number of farms.

However, in recent times (late 2000s), numerous proposals for new farming operations have locals fearing that the agriculture will be transformed from often family-held farms to large agribusiness operations, causing local ecological damage and siphoning off capital overseas.