To its south lies Kannur District and to the north the Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka state. All along its east it is walled by the Western Ghats while along the west the Arabian Sea borders it. The district, covering an area of around 1992 km² and has two taluks, namely, Kasaragod and Hosdurg both being municipalities as well; seventy-five villages; thirty-nine panchayats. The district is further sub-divided into four administrative segments called development blocks, namely, Manjeshwar, Kasaragod, Kanhangad, and Nileshwar. Like other districts of Kerala, Kasaragod district too has a high literacy rate, around 85.17%. People from southern Kerala generally find it difficult to understand the Malayalam spoken here. Kasaragod district has Arabian sea to the west and Western ghats to the east.

In ancient times, Kasaragod was known by Arabs by the name Harkwillia. Many Arab travellers who visited Kerala between 9th and 14th century visited Kasaragod, which was an important trade centre then. Duarte Borbosa, the Portuguese traveler who visited Kumbla, near Kasaragod in 1514, recorded rice being exported for coir to Maldives. Dr. Francis Buccanan, who was the family doctor of Arthur Wellesley, visited Kasaragod in 1800. In his travelogue, he recorded information on places like Athiraparambu, Kavvai, Nileshwaram, Bekal, Chandragiri and Manjeshwaram.