Pakruojis, the administrative centre, is first mentioned in historical records in 1531. It appears on early maps from 1613 and 1749. Smaller towns in the district include Linkuva, Zeimelis, Kolvainiai, Lygumai, Pasvitinys, Rozalimas and Staciunai, and there are eight local town municipalities.

The main industry in the district is the production of construction materials, based on the upper layer deposits of dolomite in the area.

Sites of cultural importance include the Linkuva Church (1754) and Carmelite Monastery, the Pakruojis Manor Grounds (19th c), the Kolvainiai Church paintings (17-19th c.), the Staciunai Church paintings (19th c.) and the Zeimeilis Didzioji (Big) and Mazoji (Small) Taverns, which date from the 18th century. At the beginning of this century there used to be 100 wind-mills in the district; now there are only 40, of which 22 are under state protection. There are some cultural remains dating from the 9th-15th centuries when the Ziemgaliai, a Baltic tribe, inhabited the district.

Thirty-one monuments have been set up or preserved in memory of famous people and important historical events. They include a memorial room and sculpture dedicated to S. Usinskas, an artist and stained-glass specialist, in Pakruojis; the house of the composer J. Pakalnis in the village of Veselkiskiai; a memorial to the sculptor J. Danauskas in the altar of the Rozalimas Church; the gravestone, in the Pasvitinys cemetery of A. Vainauskas, the first partisan killed in the struggle for Lithuanian independence and the monument to T. Brotusas, the first Lithuanian physicist and chemist, in the village of Geduciai. Altogether, 408 cultural and historical monuments are listed.

Educational institutions in the district include 7 high schools, 13 secondary schools, 10 elementary schools, 3 kindergarten schools, 8 nursery schools and a College of Agriculture. There is also a music school in Pakruojis. The oldest schools are found in Zeimelis (1500), Rozalimas (1798), Linkuva (1821) and Pakruojis (1851).

A monument by K. Kupriunas.