Minor parts of the district in the east and in the north belong to the basins of some of the tributaries of the Northern Dvina, such as the Yumizh and the Ludonga, and drain to the northeast.

[11] From 1924 to 1959, Cherevkovsky District existed, with the administrative center in the selo of Cherevkovo, initially in Northern Dvina Governorate.

As an administrative division, the district is divided into seventeen selsoviets and one urban-type settlement with jurisdictional territory (Oktyabrsky).

Ustyansky District is marketed as a regional center of beekeeping, and Oktyabrsky holds a yearly honey festival Medovy Spas.

[12] Paved roads connect Oktyabrsky with Velsk in the west and with Totma and Veliky Ustyug via Tarnogsky Gorodok in the south.

A section of the railroad connecting Konosha and Kotlas, which eventually continues to Vorkuta, lies in the district.

The district previously had one object classified as cultural and historical heritage by Russian Federal law.

[13] This is the wooden Church of the Nativity of the Theotokos (18th century) in the selo of Bestuzhevo, which was neglected and eventually burned down in 1994.

[16] Notable people born in the district include the participants of World War II Roza Shanina and Aleksandr Yedemsky.