The Uttar Bastar Kanker District is situated between latitudes 20.6 and 20.24 and longitudes 80.48 and 81.48 in the southern part of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. The district covers 6432 square kilometers in total size. 748,941 people live there.

Kanker town, the district headquarters, is located on National Highway 30 approximately midway between Raipur, the state capital of Chhattisgarh, and Jagdalpur, the headquarters of the neighboring Bastar district.