The area of the district is 2,170 square kilometers (840 sq mi).

[citation needed] Its administrative center is the rural locality (a selo) of Rutul.

[2] Within the framework of administrative divisions, Rutulsky District is one of the forty-one in the Republic of Dagestan.

[1] The district is divided into eleven selsoviets which comprise forty rural localities.

[4] Its eleven selsoviets are incorporated as seventeen rural settlements within the municipal district.