Meerut district is a district of Uttar Pradesh with its administrative headquarters located at Meerut city. The city got its name from Maya Rashtra, the capital of King Mayasura who was the father of Mandodari and father-in-law of Ravana. With due course of time the name of the district was changed for several times i.e. from Maya Rashtra to Mairashtra, then Mairaath and finally the current name Meerut. Apart from the above mentioned mythological story, the district has an interesting history too. In the 11th century AD, the region was under the control of Har Dat, the Dor Rajput Raja of Bulandshahr who constructed a fort in the place, which was well known for its strength and it was mentioned in the Ain-i-Akbari. After some time, he was defeated by Mahmud of Ghazni in 1018, then surrendered himself to Mahmud along with his entire army. Later in 1206 when Muhammad of Ghor's mamluk general called Qutb-ud-din Aybak went on to establish the Delhi Sultanate, in the mid of his journey he attacked the region of Meerut and occupied it in 1193. In this way the place was remained under the control of Muslim rulers for a long period of time. The place then went into the hands of Mughal rulers and witnessed an era of serenity. But the Mughal empire started to decline after the demise of Aurangzeb, then the region was captured by the some local chieftains likewise the Saiyids of Muzaffarnagar in the north, the Jats in the south-east, and the Gujars along the Ganges and in the south-west. Finally, for the first time in 1818 the district was established under British rule and at moment of its establishment constituted the then tehsils of Meerut, Ghaziabad, Mawana, Baghpat, Sardhana and Hapur. At present these all are emerged as separate districts.

Lala Deen Dayal also popularly known as Raja Deen Dayal, an eminent Indian photographer was born in the year 1844 at Sardhana in the district. He was appointed as the photographer to the Viceroy of India in 1885. Moreover, he was honoured by the prestigious Royal Warrant from Queen Victoria in 1897.

Geographically, the district lies at 28°98'N latitude, 77°71'E longitude and 225 m altitude. In the year 2021, there was a total 2.67% forest area of total geographical area. The district encompasses a geographical area of 2,559 sq. km. and in terms of geographical area it occupies the ranks of 47th in the state and 444th in India. It is bounded by Muzaffarnagar district on the north, Bulandshahar district and Ghaziabad district on the south and Baghpat district on the west. The climate of the district is characterized as humid subtropical climate. Most of the rainfall occurs during the monsoon season. The actual rainfall in the district was 904.1 mm in the year of 2021-22.

Administration wise, the district is divided into 3 tehsils namely Mawana, Meerut and Sardhana. There are 1 Lok Sabha seat and 7 Assembly constituencies in the district. Moreover, the district comprises 3 sub-districts, 18 towns and 663 villages. The administrative language in the district is Hindi.

According to 2011 census the district has a population of 34,43,689 including 18,25,743 are males and 16,17,946 are females. The district has a sex ratio of 886 females for every 1000 males. During the year 2001-2011 the population growth rate in the district was 14.89% out of which 14.00% were males and 15.92% were females. The population density in the district is 1,346 persons per sq. km. In the year 2020 the number of live births in the district was 1,07,222 including 54,919 were males and 52,303 were females. In the same year the number of deaths in the district was 14,701 out of which 7,237 were males and 7,464 were females. As per 2011 census the major religion in the district is Hindu with 63.40% of the total population. According to 2011 census the principal languages in the district are Hindi and Urdu with 86.55% and 12.43%.

Industrially Meerut is one of the significant towns of western Uttar Pradesh. The district is well off in both traditional and modern industries. Scissors industry and handloom works industry are the famous traditional industries of Meerut. Publishing companies are established in Meerut at a very early period of 19th century. Some other foremost industries in the district are tyres, textile, transformer, sugar, distillery, chemical, engineering, paper, sports goods manufacturer, musical instruments manufacturer, etc. Every year a huge chunk of revenue comes from these industries helps in its economy to a great extent. The economy of the district is as well based on agriculture to some extent. Some of its chief agricultural products are wheat, gram, barley, peas, arhar, masoor, corn, rice, pulses, etc. In the year 2020-21 the gross domestic product in the district was Rs. 51,21,186 lakh at Current Price and Rs. 33,55,974 lakh at Constant Prices during the year 2011-2012. The Net Domestic Product in the district during the period 2020-21 was Rs. 45,52,055 lakh at Current Price and Rs. 29,03,029 lakh at Constant Prices in the year 2011-2012. The Per Capita Income or NDDP, At Factor Cost in the district during the period 2020-21 was Rs. 1,19,665 at Current Price and Rs. 76,315 at Constant Prices in the year 2011-2012.

The district provides a great platform for higher education. There are some reputed educational institutions in the district such as Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel University of Agriculture and Technology, Chaudhary Charan Singh University, Swami Vivekanand Subharti University and Shobhit University, Radha Govind Engineering College, Bharat Institute of Technology, Meerut Institute of Engineering and Technology, Dewan V.S. Group of Institutions, Lala Lajpat Rai Medical College, Subhati Dental College, etc.

Ajit Singh, an illustrious Indian politician and served as a Minister of Agriculture  in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee's government from 2001 to 2003 was born on 12th February, 1939 at Bhadola village in the Meerut district. He is the founder and chief of the Rashtriya Lok Dal, a political party.

During the year 2021, there were 11,94,855 domestic tourists and 318 foreign tourists who visited these places of the district. Every year numerous travellers from different parts of the country come to enjoy its centres of attraction. Jama Masjid, built by Hasan Mahdi, Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi's Chief Minister in 1019 AD is older than the Qutb Minar. St. John's Church, one of the oldest churches in North India was set up by Chaplain the Reverend Henry Fisher in support of the East India. Jain temples located at Hastinapur are believed by Jains as one of the holiest places on earth and moreover it is the birthplace of three Jain Tirthankaras. Augarnath Temple or Kalipaltan Mandir is situated at the place where the soldiers of the war of 1857 planned their operations. Some other notable places of interest are Gandhi Bagh and Tank, Suraj Kund, Bale Miyan ki Dargah, Shahpeer Sahabki Dargah, Shahid Smarak, Martyr's Memorial, Parikshitgarh, etc.