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Konawe Regency is one of the regencies in the province of Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia. The capital of the regency is Unaaha. The regency was once known as the district of Kendari. The regency had a population of 241,428 at the 2010 Census, but was subsequently reduced by the separation of the offshore island districts (comprising Wawonii Island) as the new Konawe Islands Regency in 2013. It now covers 6,118,72 km2 and had a population of 257,011 at the 2020 Census; the official estimate as at mid 2025 was 270,829 (comprising 139,830 males and 130,999 females). Prior to its division in 2003, 2007 and 2013 (see below), Konawe was known as the rice granary of the province of Southeast Sulawesi because half of the province's rice production comes from the Konawe regencies.

Kepadatan penduduk Kabupaten Konawe mengalami peningkatan dari 22,0 jiwa per kilometer persegi tahun 2004 menjadi 22,6 jiwa pada tahun 2005. Penyebarannya yang tidak merata masih merupakan ciri yang paling menonjol dari penduduk Kabupaten Konawe. Hal ini ditandai dengan besarnya perbedaan kepadatan antara kecamatan satu dengan yang lainnya. Kecamatan Unaaha, Sampara, Wonggeduku, Soropia dan Wawotobi merupakan wilayah dengan tingkat kepadatan jauh di atas rata-rata, masing-masing 5,6 jiwa, 1,9 jiwa, 1,1 jiwa dan 3,0 jiwa per kilometer persegi. Sementara kecamatan Asera, Langgikima, Wiwirano, Routa dan Latoma memilki tingkat kepadatan masing-masing di bawah 0,1 jiwa per kilometer persegi.

Konawe Regency was established pursuant to Law No 29 of 1959 (dated 4 July 1959) on the formation of second-level regions in Southeast Sulawesi with the name of Kendari Regency, with the capital being the city of Kendari.

When the Municipality of Kendari was first established under Law No 6 of 1995 (which separated Kendari City from Kendari Regency on 3 August 1995), the residual Kendari Regency consisted of 19 districts (kecamatan) with 334 villages. Over time, administrative changes led to the changes in the numbers of districts and villages. In 2002 Kendari Regency consisted of 23 districts with 631 villages. Based on Government Regulation No. 26 of 2004, on 28 September 2004, the residual regency changed its name to Konawe Regency. On 25 February 2003, the south part of the regency was split off to create a separate South Konawe Regency (Konawe Selatan) covering eleven districts, and subsequently on 2 January 2007 seven of the northern districts were likewise split off to form a new North Konawe Regency (Konawe Utara). Finally, on 15 May 2013, the seven districts comprising Wawonii Island were split off to form a new Konawe Islands Regency (Konawe Kapulauan).

Konawe Regency has a tropical rainforest climate (Af) with moderate rainfall from August to November and heavy rainfall from December to July. The following climate data is for Unaaha, the seat of the regency.