Historically, Bagalkot was the part of Bijapur. Bagadige is the ancient name of Bagalkot. It is believed that the area was gifted by Ravana to his musicians. It is quoted as Bagadage in Chalukyan inscriptions. In the ancient periods, it is the home land of great chalukya dynasty. Bagalkote was established as his administrative headquarter by the Chalukyan king named Pulakeshin I. Aihole is the place that described as the laboratory for architecture rather a university of Indian architecture. After independence, Bagalkot was separated from the Bijapur district in the year 1997.

The district has several other personalities from various other fields such as Ranna was the greatest poets of the Kannada language. He was born in 949 C.E. Ranna is called one of the the gems ancient Kannada literature. Another personality is Vinayak N. Kulkarni. He was born on 11th September, 1954. He is a former Indian cricket umpire and has played two ODI games between 1999 and 2000.

Geographically, the district has a total area of 6552 sq km. and occupies ranks 12th in the State and 149th in India on basis of the territorial size. As per data recorded in the year 2021, the forest covers 3.93% of the total geographical area of the district. Of its large area, 787.55 sq km. is demarcated as a waste land, which cannot be used for any kind of agricultural or industrial activity. It lies at 16°19'N latitude, 75°70'E longitude and 533 m altitude. It has warm and dry climate due to the lowest rainfall. The actual rainfall in the district was 617.3 mm in the year of 2021-22. The district is bounded by Belgaum district to the West, Bijapur district and Gulbarga district to the North and North-East, Raichur district to the East and Koppal district, Gadag district and Dharwad district to the South-East, South and South-West. The district of Bagalkot is situated entirely on the North Karnataka Plateau, which is a part of the larger Deccan Plateau. Krishna, Ghataprabha and Malaprabha are the significant rivers that passes through the district. Black soil and red soil are commonly found here.

Administrative wise, the district is divided into 6 sub-districts. Moreover, it has 15 towns and 613 villages. The district of Bagalkot came into existence on 15th August, 1997 in the state of Karnataka with an allotted district code of 556. Bagalkot is its district headquarters which is located at a distance of 471 km. from the state capital. The administrative language in the district is Kannada.

Demographically, according to 2011 census the district has total number of 3,55,377 households with a total population of 18,89,752 including 9,50,111 are males and 9,39,641 are females. The population growth rate during the period 2001 to 2011 was 14.4% with 13.89% were males and 14.92% were females. The population density in the district is 288 persons per sq km. The sex ratio is pegged at 989 females per 1000 males while the child ratio stands at 935 females per 1000 males. As per 2011 census the percentage of major religions practiced by the people of this region is Hindu and Muslim with 86.48% and 11.64%. According to year 2011, the principal language in the district is Kannada, Urdu and Hindi with 86.07%, 9.30% and 2.12. In the year 2020 the number of live births in the district was 38,295 out of which 19,735 were males and 18,560 were females. In the same year the number of deaths in the district was 17,003 out of which 10,298 were males and 6,705 were females.

Economically, agriculture is the p rime source of income of the people of the district. The Gross Domestic Product in the district during the period 2019-20 was Rs. 39,62,658 lakh at current price and Rs. 27,80,240 lakh at constant prices in the year 2011-2012. The Net Domestic Product in the district during the period 2019-20 was Rs. 35,38,919 lakh at current price and 24,43,926 lakh at constant prices in the year 2011-2012. The Per Capita Income or NDDP, at factor cost during the period 2019-20 was Rs. 1,73,080 at current price and Rs. 1,19,526 at constant prices in the year 2011-2012. The production of cotton is very high due to the black soil. Water supply for irrigation is provided by Kendur reservoir and Muchkundi reservoir. Cotton and silk cloth weaving and yarn dying are also done here by a sizable proportion of the population. The chief agricultural products in the district are groundnut, cotton, maize, wheat, sugarcane, tobacco and minerals. Green-stone, quartzite, sandstone and limestone rocks are commonly found minerals here.

Education wise, according to 2011 census, the literacy rate in the district is 68.82% with 79.23% are males and 58.4% are females. The total literate population of the district is 11,13,412 including 6,41,388 are males and 4,72,024 are females. The district has a number of famous educational institutions such as Basaveshwara Vidya Vardhaka Sangha and Sakri Sangha. S. Nijalingappa Medical College, HSK (Hanagal Shree Kumareshwar) Hospital and Research Centre are affiliated by Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences. Most of the colleges are administered by Rani Channamma University, Belgaum, Visvesvaraya Technological University, Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Ramanagara. In the year 1963, an engineering college namely Basaveshvara Engineering College (BEC) was established. Navanagar has headquarter of the University of Horticultural Sciences (UHS). The district also has many primary, higher and secondary schools.

The district has various famous political personalities. Jagadish Shivappa Shettar was born on 17th December, 1955. He started his political career as a member of ‘Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad’ and later, he joined Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He was also an active member of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. In 2008-09, he was the Speaker of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly. He was the 21st Chief Minister of Karnataka, from 2012 to 2013. Another politician is Parvatagouda Gaddigoudar. He was born in the year 1951 in Bagalkot. He is a politician from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He was the Member of the Legislative Council of Karnataka in 1988, Member of the 14th Lok Sabha, Member of the 15th Lok Sabha and Member of the Parliamentary Committee on External Affairs.

The district has several historical and religious places to visit. These attractive and famous places are Aihole, Badami, Pattadakkal, Durga Temple, Meguti Temple, Kontigudi Group of Temples, Open Air Museum, Bhuthanatha Temple, Banashankri Temple, Mahakuteshwara Temple, Sangameshwara and Chandrashekhara. During the year 2016, there were 26,224 tourists from foreign and 33,67,313 domestic tourists who visited the district.