The province has three different geographic areas. The lowland region along the Indian Ocean coast is extremely narrow in the south, widening in the northern part of the province. The central region is the Natal Midlands and is an undulating hilly plateau rising towards the west. Two mountainous areas, the Drakensberg Mountains in the west and the Lebombo Mountains in the north. The Drakensberg is a solid wall of basalt rising over 3,000 m (9,800 ft) skyward near the Lesotho border, whilst the Lebombo Mountains are ancient granite mountains forming low parallel ranges running southward from Swaziland. The Tugela River flows west to east across the center of the province and is the region's largest river.

The coastal regions typically have subtropical thickets and deeper ravines and steep slopes hosts some true Afromontane Forest. The midlands have moist grasslands and isolated pockets of Afromontane Forest. The north has a primarily moist savanna habitat, whilst the Drakensberg region hosts mostly alpine grassland.

The former Eastern Cape enclave of the town of Umzimkulu and its hinterland have been incorporated into KwaZulu-Natal following the 12th amendment of the Constitution of South Africa. The amendment also made other changes to the southern border of the province.

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Vasco da Gama of Portugal saw the coast of Natal on Christmas Day 1497. Christmas in Portuguese is 'Natal', which gave rise to the original name for the region. Its territory was once part of a short-lived Boer republic between 1839 and its annexation by Britain in 1843.

When the homeland of KwaZulu, which means "Place of the Zulu" was re-incorporated into the Natal province after the end of Apartheid in 1994, the province of Natal which had existed between 1910 and 1994 was renamed KwaZulu-Natal. The province is home to the Zulu monarchy, and the majority population and language of the province is Zulu. It is also the only province in South Africa which includes the name of its dominant ethnic group in its name.

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The supporters, the lion and the wildebeest, are symbols of the regions that were joined to create KwaZulu-Natal, KwaZulu and Natal Province respectively. The zig-zag stripe is representative of the Drakensberg mountains. The star represents the coastline being given the name "Natalia" by Vasco da Gama on Christmas day, 1497, as well as the Zulu myth that the Zulu people are "people of heaven" or "star people". The strelitzia flower on the shield is a symbol of the province's beauty. The assegai and knobkierrie behind the shield represent peace and protection. The crown base is a headring worn by Zulu elders, representing wisdom and maturity. The crown itself is a round grass hut built in the Zulu style. The motto is "Masisukume Sakhe", isiZulu for "Let Us Stand Up and Build".

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The KwaZulu-Natal's provincial government sits in the legislative buildings in Pietermaritzburg. The site where the legislative buildings are situated was occupied by St Mary's Church, which was built in the 1860s. A new church was built at the corner of Burger Street and Commercial Road, and opened in 1884. The old building was demolished in 1887 to provide space for the legislative complex. The foundation stone of the new legislative building was laid on 21 June 1887, to commemorate Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee. The building was completed two years later. On 25 April 1889, the Governor of Natal, Sir Arthur Havelock, opened the first Legislative Council session in the new building.

When governance was granted to Natal in 1893, the new Legislative Assembly took over the chamber that was used by the Legislative Council since 1889. Further extensions to the parliamentary building were made. The building was unoccupied until 1902 when it was used without being officially opened, due to the fact that the country was engulfed in the Anglo-Boer war. The war also affected the Legislative Assembly, which had to move the venue of its sittings when the chamber was used as a military hospital.

The Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council buildings, both national monuments, formed a colonial Parliament of two houses: a Council of 11 nominated members and an Assembly of 37 elected members. The Natal Parliament was disbanded in 1910 when the Union of South Africa was formed, and the Assembly became the meeting place of the Natal Provincial Council. The Council was disbanded in 1986.

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Durban is a rapidly growing urban area and is by most measures the busiest port in Africa. A good rail network links the city to other areas of Southern Africa. Sugar refining is Durban's main industry. Sheep, cattle, dairy, citrus fruits, corn, sorghum, cotton, bananas, and pineapples are also raised. There is an embryonic KwaZulu-Natal wine industry. Other industries (located mainly in and around Durban) include textile, clothing, chemicals, rubber, fertilizer, paper, vehicle assembly and food-processing plants, tanneries, and oil refineries. There are large aluminum-smelting plants at Richards Bay, on the north coast.

To the north, Newcastle is the province's industrial powerhouse, with Mittal Steel South Africa (previously ISPAT/ISCOR) and the Karbochem synthetic rubber plant dominating the Newcastle industrial portfolio. In 2002, Newcastle became the largest producer of chrome chemicals in Africa with the completion of a chrome chemical plant, a joint venture project between Karbochem and German manufacturing giant Bayer. Other large operations include a diamond cutting works, various heavy engineering concerns, the Natal Portland Cement (NPC) slagment cement factory, and the Ingagane Power Station—recomissioned as Africa's first gas-fired power station by Independent Power Southern Africa (IPSA)—which feeds the Karbochem Plant with electricity. The textile industry is a major employer in the Newcastle area, with over a hundred textile factories belonging to Taiwanese and Chinese industrialists. Maize, livestock and dairy farmers operate on the outskirts of the city. Coal is also mined in the Newcastle area. The province as a whole produces considerable amounts of coal (especially coke) and timber.

About 86% of the population is black. During apartheid, a large percentage were forced to live in Bantu homelands (Bantustans), which had a subsistence economy based on cattle raising and corn growing.

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One of the most urgent crises facing the province is the unparalleled prevalence of the HIV virus among its citizens. South Africa as a whole has more HIV-positive citizens than any other nation, and among South Africa's provinces, KwaZulu-Natal has the highest rate of HIV infection — 39 percent, according to UNAIDS in 2009.

Without proper nutrition, health care and medicine that is available in developed countries, large numbers of people suffer and die from AIDS-related complications. In some heavily infected areas, the epidemic has left behind many orphans cared for by elderly grandparents. HIV/AIDS also severely retards economic growth by destroying human capital.

As of the 2001 census, 22.9% of KwaZulu-Natal's population 20 years or older had received no education; only 4.8% had received some form of higher education.

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