Srikakulam district occupies an area of 5,837 square kilometres (2,254 sq mi),^[10] comparatively equivalent to Australia's Melville Island.^[11] It is within the geographic coordinates of 18°-20’ and 19°-10’ N and 83°-50’ and 84°-50’ E. The district is skirted to a distance by Kandivalasagedda, Vamsadhara and Bahuda at certain stretches of their courses while a line of heights of the great Eastern Ghats run from the northeast. Vizianagaram district flanks in the south and west while Odisha bounds it on the north and Bay of Bengal on the East. Srikakulam district can be divided into two main distinct natural divisions. A portion of Srikakulam district is plain terrain with intense agriculture and the other is rocky and hilly terrain covered with forests. Some of the Mahendragiri Hills covers Srikakulam district. Most of the forest area of the plain terrain has been damaged by intense agriculture. Kotthuru, Hiramandalam, Pathapatnam, Kalingadal reservoir and some other areas are still covered with dense forests. Srikakulam is 100 km (62 mi) north of Visakhapatnam. It has a population of 2,537,593 of which 10.98% is urban as of 2001. Srikakulam district has the longest coastline (about 193 km (120 mi)) in the state of Andhra Pradesh. It is bordered by Odisha on the north, Vizianagaram district on the west and south, Bay of Bengal on the east.

Major rivers flowing through the district are River Nagavali, River Vamsadhara, Mahendratanaya, Champavati, Bahuda, Kumbhikota Gedda, Suvarnamukhi, Vegavati, Gomukhi. The Nagavali and Vamsadhara are the major rivers in Srikakulam district. These two river basins together constitute about 5% of the area. The Mahendratanaya and Bahuda rivers are two minor river basins in the district. Others are Benjigedda, Peddagedda, Kandivalasa gedda. Major irrigation projects on these rivers — Vamsadhara Project, Narayanapuram Anicut, Thotapalli Regulator — and some medium projects at Pydigam Project, Onigadda provide a total ayacut of 69,373 acres (280.74 km²).