The mountains are an important source of limestone and oil (extracted since World War II) and are also popular as a scenic area for local and regional tourism.

[1] Formerly, the range was known as the Lada, after the river pirate boats (ладья) who used to hide out in its wooded valleys, a name which is still in popular local usage today.

The western part of Zhiguli is separated from the main plateau by the broad inlet of the Usa river.

The Zhiguli are considered the only tectonically active mountains in European Russia, first having formed around 7 million years ago.

The summits and other exposed areas of the Zhiguli are composed of limestone and dolomite sediments laid down 230–350 million years ago in the Permian and Carboniferous periods.