 More than 50% of the area of the district is covered by forest.The area was in the Middle Ages dependent on the Novgorod Republic, later it belonged to Derevskaya Pyatina, one of the five into which Novgorod Lands were divided.The village of Zhabny is believed to be founded in the 12th century and to be a native place of Nilus Stolobensky, the 15th century saint and the founder of the Nilov Monastery on Stolobny Island.