In the south, the county has a border of more than 80 km (50 mi) with Pakistan and India administered areas of Kashmir.

[2] In 1975, future Chinese Communist Party Deputy Committee Secretary of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Zhu Hailun was sent to Kargilik County in the Down to the Countryside Movement.

[2][9][10] Kargilik County's economy is based on agriculture and animal husbandry.

Agricultural products include wheat, corn and cotton, as well as pomegranates, yellow pears, walnuts, and dried apricots.

[3] As of 2015, 490,417 of the 519,962 residents of the county were Uyghur, 23,408 were Han Chinese and 6,137 were from other ethnic groups.