Ngorongoro District is one of the five districts of the Arusha Region of Tanzania. It is bordered to the north by Kenya, to the east by Monduli District, to the south by the Karatu District and to the west by the Mara Region. According to the 2002 Tanzania National Census, the population of the Ngorongoro Region was 129,776. By 2012, the population of the district was 174,278.

Within the district are the Ngorongoro Crater and active volcano Ol Doinyo Lengai. The district plays host to parts of the wildebeest migration. While not part of the park, as such, much of the district is within the same Serengeti-Mara Ecosystem, which is defined by the limits of the annual wildlife migration.

The entire southern half of the district is designated as the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA) which is governed by the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA). The conservation area is the only one of its kind in Tanzania with all other of the country’s protected areas designated as game reserves and national parks.

The NCAA uniquely allows human habitation within the protected area, but places restrictions on land-use in the NCA, including cultivation and livestock grazing. Whilst watering of cattle is permitted, human habitation and livestock grazing are forbidden in the Ngorongoro Crater which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.