The district of Gurdaspur is located in the Majha area of Punjab, India. The district office is in Gurdaspur. It shares international boundaries with the districts of Amritsar, Pathankot, Kapurthala, and Hoshiarpur in Pakistan’s Punjab region, namely the Narowal District. The district is traversed by the Beas and Ravi, two major rivers. It is believed that the Mughal emperor Akbar was enthroned at a park close to Kalanaur, a district town with significant historical significance.[ The district is located in the Himalayan foothills.

After Ludhiana and Amritsar, it is the third most populated district in Punjab (out of 22) as of 2011The main city in the area is Batala, home to 31% of the total population.