India’s Karnataka state includes the administrative district of Mandya. The districts of Mysore and Chamarajangar border the district on the south; Hassan district borders it on the west; Tumkur district borders it on the north; and Ramanagara district borders it on the east. In 1939, the Mysore district was divided into the districts of Mandya and Mysore.

The district’s principal town is Mandya. There were 1,808,680 people living in the district as of 2011; 16.03% of them were urban.