Map - Kargil district (Kargil)

Kargil district is one of two districts comprising Ladakh, India, with its headquarers at Kargil city. The district is bounded by the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir in the west, the Pakistani territory of Gilgit–Baltistan in the north, Ladakh's Leh district to the east, and the state of Himachal Pradesh in the south. Encompassing three historical regions known as Purig, Dras and Zanskar, the district lies to the northeast of the Great Himalayas and encompasses the majority of the Zanskar Range. Its population inhabits the river valleys of the Dras, Suru, Wakha Rong, and Zanskar.

The district was created in 1979, when Ladakh was part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, separating it from the Leh district. In 2003, Kargil was granted a Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC). In 2019, Ladakh became a union territory, with Kargil and Leh being its joint capitals.

Shia Muslims comprise the majority of the population of the distict, with Buddhists forming a significant minority, mainly inhabiting the Zanskar tehsil.

The Kargil district lies between the crest of the Great Himalaya Range and the Indus River of Ladakh. It consists of two river valleys: the Suru River and its tributaries in the north, and the Zanskar River and its tributaries in the south. The Penzi La pass separates the two. The Suru flows north into Baltistan then joins the Indus River near Marol. The Zanskar River flows east and debouches into the Indus River in Ladakh near a location called "Sangam".

The Suru River has two significant tributaries: Wakha Rong, which flows northwest from Namika La to join the Suru River near Kargil, and the Dras River, which originates near the Zoji La pass and joins the Suru River a short distance north of Kargil. Wakha Rong, also called the "Purik river", contains the main travel route between Kargil and Leh, and lent its name to the Kargil region itself as "Purig". The Dras River valley has historically been a subdivision called Drass.

Zanskar was a traditional Buddhist kingdom formed in the 10th century, which became subject to the Ladakhi kings.

In 2011, the Kargil tehsil, which included the Drass and Wakha Rong valleys, contained 61% of the population of the district. The Sankoo tehsil, representing the upper Suru valley, contained 10% of the population and the Zanskar tehsil contained 29% of the population.