It is located in the north of the krai above the Arctic Circle on the Taymyr Peninsula and borders with Laptev and Kara Seas in the north, the Sakha Republic in the east, Evenkiysky and Turukhansky Districts in the south, and with Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug in the west.

[2] Its administrative center is the town of Dudinka,[1] which accounts for 64.4% of the district's total population.

Greater Norilsk includes Norilsk, the remote area (Russian: отдалённый район) of Oganer, and the urban-type settlement of Snezhnogorsk and is equal to a district within the Krasnoyarsk Krai and is not part of the Taymyrsky Dolgano-Nenetsky District.

[2] Until January 1, 2007, it existed as Taymyr Autonomous Okrug, a federal subject of Russia.

Above 38.6% of the population identified themselves as indigenous Siberians (Dolgans, Nenets, Nganasans, Evenks, Enets, or others.)