Dailekh District is located in Bheri Zone of the Mid-western Development Region of Nepal. It borders with Jajarkot district to the East, Achham district of Seti Zone to the West, Kalikot of Karnali Zone to the North and Surkhet of Bheri Zone to the South. The district has 2 municipalities, 49 VDCs, 11 Ilakas and 2 constituency areas. The total area of the district is 1,502 km2. The district lies mostly in the Mid-Hills and partly in theTerai. The lowest elevation point is 544 meter and the highest elevation point is 4,168 meter from mean sea level. Because of the elevation differences, the district has three different types of climate: tropical up to 1,000 m (16% of area), subtropical from 1,000-2,000 m (69%) and temperate above 2,000 m (15%). The annual rainfall is about 1,500 mm and temperatures vary from 4 ºC to 34 ºC. Subsistence agriculture, mainly small-scale livestock, is the main source of occupation and livelihood of the majority of the population, with 79% of the population active in this sector. Due to low level of agricultural production, the majority of the households face acute food shortages for a large part of the year.
According to the National Census 2011 projection, the total population of the district is 261,770 comprising 126,990 female (48%) and 134,780 male (52%) residing in 48,915 households. Dailekh district has an average population density of around 174 people per square km. The average family size is 5.35. Life expectancy of the people is 58 years. The average literacy rate is about 48% (32% female and 65% male are literate). Dailekh district has a multi ethnic composition with Chhetri, Kami, Thakuri, Brahman, Magar, Damai, Sarki, Newar, and Sanyashi (Giri and Puri). The most common language is Nepali (98.98%) followed by Magar (0.46%) and others (0.56 %). Although accessibility to Dailekh is limited, this is improving rapidly. The district has access to the Karnali Highway (Surkhet-Jumla) which is currently being upgraded to bituminous standard by DOR. The DOR is also currently upgrading a 67 km feeder road between the district headquarters and Surkhet to bituminous standard. Mid-Hill highway is under construction. It will run almost parallel to the Karnali Highway and link to the district headquarters.