Darchula District is one of the nine districts of Sudurpashchim Province. The area, with Khalanga as its capital, covers an area of 2,322 km2 (897 sq mi) and has a population (2011) of 133,274. Darchula lies in the west-north corner of the country.

Sudurpashchim Province is one of the seven provinces established by the new constitution of Nepal which was adopted on 20 September 2015. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China to the north, Karnali Province and Lumbini Province to the east, and India's states of Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh to the west and south, respectively. The province covers an area of 19,539 km2, or about 13.22% of the country's total area.