The territory of the district was liberated by Soviet troops in the summer of 1944 during the Svir-Petrozavodsk operation.

The basis of the district's economy is the forestry industry, timber processing and agriculture (crop production, meat and dairy farming, animal husbandry).

The district is connected by regular bus routes with Petrozavodsk, St. Petersburg, Sortavala.

Artamonov Ivan Ilyich (1914-1985) — Hero of the Soviet Union, a native of the village of Stepannavolok.

Vladimir Egorovich Brandoev (1931-1990) was a Karelian poet and translator, a native of Berezhnaya village.

Mikhail Konstantinovich Kononov (1923-2005) was an economic and party leader, a native of the city of Olonets.

Ivan Petrovich Kuzmin (1928-2002) — Honored School teacher of the RSFSR, a native of the village of Matchezero.