The population of the district was 14,712 at the 2006 census. The main town and seat of the district council is Marton, which had a population of 4,680 at the 2006 census.
The Whangaehu River partly runs through the northern extremity of the district. Its upper reaches were the scene of the Tangiwai disaster in 1953, New Zealand's worst rail disaster, in which 151 people lost their lives.