Adilabad District (Telugu: ఆదిలాబాదు జిల్లా, Urdu: آدل آباد ضلع) is a district in Andhra Pradesh, India. The district headquarters is at Adilabad town. A famous Temple of the Goddess Saraswathi, the Hindu Goddess of Education, is located here in the town of Basara.Before 1975 80% of the land in this district was forest but now The forest land is below 40%.

The Adilabad district was named after the ruler of Bijapur Sultanate, Ali Adil Shah I.

The district was for long not a homogeneous unit and its component parts were ruled at different periods by dynasties namely, the Mauryas, Satavahanas, Vakatakas, Chalukyas of Badami, Rashtrakutas, Chalukyas of Kalyani, Mughals, Bhosle Rajes of Nagpur and Asaf Jahis, besides the Gond Rajas of Sirpur and Chanda.

Originally this was a sub-district named Sirpur-Tandur which was created in A.D. 1872 with Edlabad (Adilabad), Rajura and Sirpur as its constituent talukas. In 1905, an independent district with headquarters at Adilabad was formed.

The district is currently a part of the Red Corridor.

Adilabad (Telugu: ఆదిలాబాదు, Urdu: آدل آباد), is a town and a municipality in Adilabad district in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. It has a population of 108,233 (agglomeration 2,58,233) (2006 census). It is the headquarters of the district of the same name.

Adilabad derives its name from the erstwhile ruler of Bijapur, Mohammed Adil Shah.

Historically, Adilabad has been home to a variety of cultures. Owing to its position at the border of central and southern India, it has been ruled by North Indian dynasties like the Mauryas and the Mughals and South Indian dynasties like the Satavahanas and the Chalukyas. The current culture of the district incorporates significant elements of the neighboring Marathi culture into the native Telugu culture. However a multicultural society exists here with Bengali, Malayali and Gujarati people living in harmony.

Adilabad has an average elevation of 264 metres (866 feet). Adilabad district also consists of many landscapes like Kuntala waterfalls, Sahyadri mountains, rivers like the Godavari, Penaganga, Pranahitha, etc. The district is also famous for the temple town Basara, where the shrine of goddess Saraswati exists. People from the entire nation visit this place. Basara is located about 1 km away from the river Godavari.