[4] Soletsky District lies in the basin of the Shelon River, one of the principal tributaries of Lake Ilmen.

Major tributaries of the Shelon inside the district are the Mshaga and the Sitnya (both left), the Lemenka, and the Koloshka (both right).

[9] Soltsy was first mentioned in a chronicle in 1390 and in the following years played an important role as an intermediate station on the trade route connecting Novgorod and Pskov.

In 1471, the army of Ivan III won an important battle over Novgorod on the Shelon River, next to Soltsy.

This battle facilitated the submergence of Novgorod by the Grand Duchy of Moscow, and Soltsy eventually fell under its control as well.

Soletsky District, with the administrative center in Soltsy,[10] was established within Novgorod Okrug of Leningrad Oblast effective October 1, 1927.

[citation needed] On July 23, 1930, the okrugs were abolished, and the districts were directly subordinated to the oblast.

[10] On July 5, 1944, Soletsky District was transferred to newly established Novgorod Oblast,[10] where it remained ever since.

[16] Effective October 1, 1927,[2] Volotovsky District with the administrative center in the settlement of Volot was also established as a part of Novgorod Okrug of Leningrad Oblast.

[13] On February 15, 1935, Shimsky District with the administrative center in the selo of Shimsk was also established, as a part of Novgorod Okrug of Leningrad Oblast.

[9] The railway connecting St. Petersburg and Nevel via Dno crosses the district from north to south, running close to Soltsy.

Soltsy is connected by roads to Veliky Novgorod via Shimsk, to Staraya Russa via Volot, and to Dno.