Karonga District is located in the Northern Region of the Republic of Malawi. It is bordered by Chitipa District in the West, Rumphi District in the South, and Tanzania in the North and East. The district headquarter (known as Karonga boma) is found about 50 km south of the Tanzanian border, 226km north of Mzuzu City and 585 km north of the capital city of Malawi, Lilongwe. The total land area of the district is 3,355 square kilometres making up 3.5% of the total land area of Malawi (94276 sq. km).1Karonga is the 5th largest district in the northern region and is in 12th position in the nation (in terms of total land area).
The natives of Karonga district mainly fall into two distinct ethnic groups: the Ngonde and the Tumbuka. The major languages spoken are chiTumbuka and kyaNgonde.
