The arrondissement of Pau was created in 1800.[4] At the January 2017 reorganisation of the arrondissements of Pyrénées-Atlantiques, it gained 11 communes from the arrondissement of Oloron-Sainte-Marie, and it lost 11 communes to the arrondissement of Oloron-Sainte-Marie.[5]
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 Pau were, as of January 2015:[6]