It is the southernmost of the arrondissements of the department. The main cities in the arrondissement, with more than 10,000 inhabitants in 2019, are Béziers (78,308 inhabitants) and Agde (29,600 inhabitants).[4]
The arrondissement of Béziers was created in 1800.[5] At the January 2017 reorganisation of the arrondissements of Hérault, it gained seven communes from the arrondissement of Lodève, and it lost five communes to the arrondissement of Lodève and one commune to the arrondissement of Montpellier.[6]
As a result of the reorganisation of the cantons of France which came into effect in 2015, the borders of the cantons are no longer related to the borders of the arrondissements. The cantons of the arrondissement of Béziers were, as of January 2015:[7]