In Chinese, the Kham region—which includes areas like Qamdo in the Tibet Autonomous Region and this prefecture—is abbreviated as "Kang". The Chinese name for the prefectural capital, Kangding (Tibetan: Darzêdo, dar rtse mdo), carries the meaning of "pacifying the Kham region".

The people of Kham are referred to as "Khampa" (khams pa) in Tibetan, a term which is also transliterated into Chinese as Kangba (Pinyin: Kāngbā). Consequently, the area is also called the Kangba region or Kang Area. It borders the Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture and Ya'an City in Sichuan Province to the east; the Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture and the Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan Province to the south. To the west, it runs along the Jinsha River (the Drichu River), adjacent to Qamdo Prefecture of the Tibet Autonomous Region, and to the north, it borders the Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture and the Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Qinghai Province.

Within the prefecture, several extremely high mountain ranges, such as the Shaluli Mountains and the Daxue Mountains, traverse the land from north to south, forming part of the Hengduan Mountains. The Yalong River (nyag-chu) flows through its central region.