Ladakh district was a former district of the Indian-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir. On 1 July 1979, it was bifurcated into Leh district and Kargil district. The two districts together constituted the Ladakh division of Jammu and Kashmir. Following the reorganisation of the state on 31 October 2019, Ladakh was separated from Jammu and Kashmir and became the Union Territory of Ladakh. On 27 April 2026, five new districts were formed in the Union Territory of Ladakh, namely Zanskar, Drass, Sham, Nubra, and Changthang. The five, along with the existing Leh and Kargil bring the total number of districts to seven. Kargil is the largest district with 80 villages.
Earlier, it consisted of Leh and Kargil tehsils of the Ladakh Wazarat of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir which came under Indian control after the First Kashmir War.