The district includes Gilgit (the capital city), the Bagrot Valley, Juglot, Danyore, Sultanabad, Naltar Peak, and the Nomal Valley.

The highest peak in the district is Distaghil Sar 7,885 metres (25,869 ft), which is the seventh-highest peak in Pakistan and 19th highest in the world.

In terms of facilities and infrastructure, the district was ranked 67 out of 148.

In the 1941 census, the Gilgit District (then a tehsil) had a population of 22,495, distributed in 46 villages divided further into 12 subdivisions.

[4] According to scholar Martin Sökefeld, the Sunni missionaries came from the south, Shia from the east and Ismaili from the north.