Sundargarh district was constituted on the 1st January, 1948 out of the two ex-States of Gangpur and Bonai, which merged with Orissa on that day. True to its name, this "beautiful"district of Sundargarh with about 43% of its total area under forest cover and numerous colourful tribes dotting its landscape and with abundant mining potential is bounded by Ranchi District of Jharkhand on the North, Raigarh district of Chhatisgarh on the west and North-West, Jharsuguda, Sambalpur and Angul District of Orissa on the South and South-East and Singhbhum District of Jharkhand and Keonjhar District of Orissa on the east.

Geographically the district is not a compact unit and consists to widely dissimilar tracts of expansive and fairly open country dotted with tree-clad isolated peaks, vast inaccessible forests, extensive river valleys and mountainous terrain. Broadly speaking, it is an undulating tableland of different elevations broken up by rugged hill ranges and cut up by torrential hill streams and the rivers IB and Brahmani. The general slope of the district is from North to South. Because of this undulating, hilly and sloping nature of landscape, the area is subject to rapid runoff leading not only to soil erosion but also to scarcity of water for both agriculture and drinking purpose.

The nearest rail head to the district headquarters is at Jharsuguda at a distance of 35 kms. The rail link to Kiriburu passes about 26.2 km. within the district. There is also a rail link between Nuagaon and Purunapani, a distance of about 10 kms. Rourkela is the busiest railway station in both passenger and good traffic.