The county seat is the new Rutog Town, located some 1,140 km (710 mi) or 700 miles west-northwest of the Tibetan capital, Lhasa.

[11] Rutog County is located in northwestern Tibet, Ngari northwest with a number of territorial borders.

[12] Overall Rutog County has a rough subarctic climate with long, very cold, sometimes snowy winters and short, cool, humid summers (Dfc) owing its extreme altitude.

[13] Rutog was part of the Maryul kingdom (modern Ladakh), when it was established in the 10th century.

It was again consolidated as part of Ladakh during the reign of Sengge Namgyal, but was later conquered by Lhasa through the Tibet-Ladakh-Mughal War.

Rutog and Ladakh continued to have extensive trading relations at all times, with occasional disputes over borders.

In Rutog County, the main growing crop is barley and yaks, sheep, goats, horses and other livestock are important to the economy.

Rutog County has many wild animals and plants, including the black-necked crane, goose, wild yak, Tibetan antelope, Mongolian gazelle, black sheep, kiang, and bear.