nginx is a reverse proxy and needs to connect to a server that contains django. This guide is for using [https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/howto/deployment/fastcgi/ fastcgi], but you could instead use
[http://bartek.im/blog/2009/04/06/setting-up-nginx-django.html apache+mod_wsgi],
[http://senko.net/en/django-nginx-gunicorn/ gunicorn],
[https://www.google.com/search?q=nginx+uwsgi+django uwsgi], or
[http://www.rkblog.rk.edu.pl/w/p/django-nginx/#3 SCGI+Cherokee]

----
This assumes you are using ubuntu 10.04 or later.

You'll need nginx and flup installed.
{{{
sudo aptitude install nginx python-flup
}}}

In your django project, start up fastcgi. See the [https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/howto/deployment/fastcgi/ fastcgi docs] for more info.
{{{
python ./manage.py runfcgi host=127.0.0.1 port=8080
}}}


Next, we need to create a configuration file in `/etc/nginx/sites-available/sample_project.conf` and symlink it to `/etc/nginx/sites-enabled/sample_project.conf`:
{{{
sudo touch /etc/nginx/sites-available/sample_project.conf
sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/sample_project.conf /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/sample_project.conf
}}}

Here is what a minimal conf file would look like:
{{{
server {
    listen 80;
    server_name myhostname.com;
    access_log /var/log/nginx/sample_project.access.log;
    error_log /var/log/nginx/sample_project.error.log;

    # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/howto/static-files/#serving-static-files-in-production
    location /static/ { # STATIC_URL
        alias /home/www/myhostname.com/static/; # STATIC_ROOT
        expires 30d;
    }

    location /media/ { # MEDIA_URL
        alias /home/www/myhostname/static/; # MEDIA_ROOT
        expires 30d;
    }

    location / {
        include fastcgi_params;
        fastcgi_pass 127.0.0.1:8080;
    }
}
}}}

Now, reload nginx.
{{{
sudo /etc/init.d/nginx reload
}}}

You may use a unix socket instead of a port number like so: `fastcgi_pass unix:/home/www/myhostname/fastcgi.sock`

You'll probably want to keep your fastcgi process running using [http://blog.bashton.com/2011/using-django-fastcgi-with-upstart/ upstart], [https://code.djangoproject.com/wiki/InitdScriptForLinux init.d], or [http://just-another.net/byteflowdjango-supervisord-nginx-win supervisor]

See also:
- [http://serverfault.com/a/370573/84192 serverfault question on django+nginx]
- [http://wiki.nginx.org/DjangoFastCGI nginx wiki page on django+FastCGI]