Tweed Shire covers 1303 square kilometres and adjoins the New South Wales shires of Byron, Lismore and Kyogle, with the New South Wales and Queensland border to its north where it divides the twin towns of Tweed Heads and Coolangatta.

With 37 kilometres of natural coastline, wetlands and estuarine forests, lush pastoral and farm land, the entire basin of the Tweed River, and mountainous regions containing three world-heritage listed national parks, Tweed boasts a unique and diverse environment.

Centrepiece of the Shire is Mount Warning, where the sun first hits the Australian continent. The surrounding McPherson, Tweed, Burringbar and Nightcap ranges form the caldera of the fertile Tweed Valley.

Prior to European settlement, the area was blanketed in sub-tropical forest and was home to the Bundjalung people. Many of the Shires towns and villages derive their names from the language of those Aborigines.

The area was settled by timber-getters around 1844; the first school opened in 1871; and by the 1890s, the river port of Tumbulgum was the centre of population. The focus moved to Murwillumbah when the first Local Government municipality was declared in 1902. The Tweed Shire, which amalgamated the Municipality of Murwillumbah and Shire of Tweed, was declared in 1947.

Today some 74,000 people live in Tweed, scattered through 17 villages, two towns, and the major urban areas of Tweed Heads and South Tweed. The last twenty years have seen enormous growth, with the population increasing, on average, approx. 1.9% per year between the 1996 census and the 2001 census, largely due to southern retirees drawn by the temperate climate and relaxed lifestyle.

The retail, hospitality, agricultural and tourism industries are major employers, while construction, fishing, and light industry are other significant contributors to the local economy.