Tamale Metropolitan District is one of the sixteen districts in the Northern Region of Ghana. It was originally established in 1988 as Tamale Municipal District, a municipal district assembly that was created from the former West Dagomba District Council. In August 2004, it was elevated to metropolitan district assembly status. Later, on 24 June 2012, a small northern part of the district was split off to create Sagnarigu District ; the remaining part has been retained as Tamale Metropolitan District. The district is located in the northwest part of Northern Region and has Tamale as its capital city. The city is the central business hub of the region.