The district is located on both banks of the Northern Dvina and its main right tributary, the Vychegda. The Northern Dvina and the Vychegda divide the district into three comparably sized areas. A major part of the district belongs to the basins of the Northern Dvina and the Vychegda, including such major tributaries of the Northern Dvina as the Ustya and the Uftyuga. The rivers in the southeastern corner of the district drain into the Lala, a tributary of the Luza, in the basin of the Yug. Almost the whole territory of the district is covered by coniferous forests.
History
The area in general was originally populated by the Finno-Ugric peoples and then colonized by the Novgorod Republic. Solvychegodsk was founded in the 14th century. After the fall of Novgorod, the area became a part of the Grand Duchy of Moscow. In the course of the administrative reform carried out in 1708 by Peter the Great, the area was included into Archangelgorod Governorate, and Solvychegodsk was designated as one of the cities. In 1780, the governorate was abolished and transformed into Vologda Viceroyalty. The latter was abolished in 1796, and the part of it which included Solvychegodsk was made into Vologda Governorate. In 1918, the area was transferred to the newly established Northern Dvina Governorate, and in 1924 the uyezds were abolished in favor of the new divisions, the districts. Kotlassky District was formed on June 25, 1924 and included areas of former Solvychegodsky and Velikoustyugsky Uyezds. In 1928, it was merged with Solvychegodsky District and in 1931, a part of Krasnoborsky District was appended to Kotlassky District. In the following years, the district remained in the same borders, but the first-level administrative division of Russia kept changing. In 1929, Northern Dvina Governorate was merged into Northern Krai, which in 1936 was transformed into Northern Oblast. In 1937, Northern Oblast was split into Arkhangelsk Oblast and Vologda Oblast. Kotlassky District remained in Arkhangelsk Oblast ever since.
As a municipal division, the district is incorporated as Kotlassky Municipal District. The town of oblast significance of Kotlas is incorporated separately from the district as Kotlas Urban Okrug. The municipal district is divided into three urban settlements and one rural settlement :
In 2010, timber industry accounted for 90.3% of the total industrial output of the district.
Agriculture
In 2010, there were ninety-six farms in the district, producing meat, milk, cereals, and potatoes.
Transportation
Kotlas is an important railway hub, where the railway to Kirov branches off southeast from the main railway, connecting Konosha and Vorkuta. The Northern Dvina and the Vychegda Rivers are navigable; there is regular passenger navigation on the Vychegda. Roads connect Kotlas with Veliky Ustyug to the south, Syktyvkar to the east, and Krasnoborsk to the north. There are also local roads. There is regular passenger bus traffic originating from Kotlas. Privodino has an oil-pumping station in the Baltic Pipeline System.
Culture and recreation
The district contains nine objects of cultural heritage protected at the federal level, and additionally fifty-two monuments of history and architecture of local importance. Most of these are brickstone churches built prior to 1917. The federal list of cultural heritage includes the following Solvychegodsk ensembles:
The biggest museum in the district, Solvychegodsk Museum of Art and History, is housed in the former Annunciation Cathedral in Solvychegodsk. There is also a small private museum devoted to the fictional author Kozma Prutkov, who, according to the official biography, was born in Solvychegodsk. In the village of Medvedki there is the museum devoted to the Soviet naval officer Nikolay Kuznetsov, who was born in Medvedki and eventually reached the ranks of the Commander-in-Chief of the Naval Forces.
