The area of the district is 8,100 square kilometers (3,100 sq mi).

[2] Its administrative center is the urban locality (an urban-type settlement) of Tisul.

[3] The district is in the northeast of Kemerovo Oblast, and the Kuznetsk Basin, and covers the northern end of the Kuznetsk Alatau mountain range.

Much of the terrain is mid-height mountains, with the southern portion of the district being part of a federally protected area, the Kuznetsk Alatau Nature Reserve.

Vegetation is mostly dark taiga (coniferous forest).The district is about 250 km east of the regional city of Kemerovo.