The uMkhanyakude District Municipality is the northernmost of the 11 districts of the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. Its seat is Mkuze. It is a very rural district, the largest town being Mtubatuba in the south, with Hluhluwe, Mkuze, Jozini, Kwangwanase and Ingwavuma further to the north. The majority of its 573,353 inhabitants spoke isiZulu as of 2001. The district code is DC27. The municipality is named after the yellow-barked fever tree, literally meaning "seen from afar" in isiZulu. It contains many areas of outstanding natural beauty such as the St Lucia greater wetland park, Sodwana Bay and Kosi Bay. Game parks include Hluhluwe–iMfolozi, Ndumu and Tembe Elephant Park. It is one of the two most deprived districts in South Africa according to the District Health Barometer, in terms of unemployment rates, access to piped water and electricity, female-headed households with high numbers of children and low education levels.

Geography

Neighbours

uMkhanyakude is surrounded by:

Local municipalities

The district contains the following local municipalities:

Demographics

The following statistics are from the 2001 census.

Gender

Ethnic group

Age

Politics

Election results

Election results for Umkhanyakude in the South African general election, 2004.