The Orange Walk District, with an area of 1790 square miles, is located north-northeast of the Belize District. This is the second largest district and lies between the Belize and Corozal districts to the east, Mexico to the north and Guatemala to the west.

The population, consisting mostly of Spanish-speaking Mestizo, English-speaking Creole and German-speaking Mennonite farmers, is concentrated in Orange Walk Town and the rest in the more than twenty villages across the district. Most of the district is involved in agriculture, the land is highly cultivated with sugar cane as well as sorghum, rice, corn and vegetables by the Mennonite farmers.

Orange Walk District was previously dominated by loggers for over a hundred years until the refugees of the Caste War arrived in the late 19th century. At the time of logging all the timber was floated down the New River into the Corozal Bay, then to Belize City and shipped abroad. Similar to the Corozal District, at the time of the arrival of the refugees, the logging industry was in decline and eventually gave rise to the sugar industry.

Sugar has been the most important crop in this district. The sugar cane is used for making Belizean rum at the Cuello processing plant as well as for making molasses and sugar. Citrus, papaya and beef cattle are also produced in this district.

Although the Orange Walk District has no coast and is considered the least visited district, it boasts the remains of two ports, Mundy and Cairns, that were the scene of battles between earlier inhabitants of the district and Belizean settlers.

The Orangewalk District is also known for pristine forests. The Rio Bravo Conservation Area covers a large portion of the District. The land is managed by the Programme for Belize, and is carefully manged for sustainable development. Tourism is on the rise in the Orangewalk District due to healthy populations of tropical wildlife and the rich archaeological sites just now coming to light.