The chronicles mention Meory (now, Miory) in relation to the year 1514. One version attributes the name of this settlement to the name of its owners – the Dukes of Mirskyj. Another version tracks this name to an outbreak of some lethal disease that caused many deaths in the area.

The distance between Miory and Vitebsk is 190 km and there are 245 km between Miory and Minsk.

The District was formed in 1940; at present 2 localities are considered towns: Miory and Disna, in 1972 Miory became a town.

The District is situated in the north-western part of Vitebsk region; its area is 1.8 thousand square kilometers with the population of about 28 thousand people residing in 438 localities.

District's government consists of 9 villages’ and 1 town’s Councils of Deputies.

Primary branch of the District’s economy is agriculture with specializations in dairy and meat cattle breeding, grain, fodder, flax and potatoes crops growing. There 17 agricultural enterprises and 18 farms in the District.

In accordance with the state program of Rural Revival and Development, 12 villages will get the status of an agro-town by 2010; last year, this status was given to the village of Tourkovo.

There are 7 industrial enterprises in the district including processing, transport, and construction companies.

One fourth of the District’s territory is covered with forests. A 22 hectare oak wood in Yazino has been made national nature reserve. The oaks growing there are 150 years old, some of them being 200-250 years old. There are more than 80 lakes, 16 rivers, the Zapadnaya Dvina with Disna being the largest. There are 22 marshes that take up 32 thousand hectares. 

2 areas of unique marshes, El’njya and Boloto-Mokh, have been announced national hydrologic nature reserves. El’njya is the Europe’s largest nature reserve, its area is 20 thousand hectares. Here natural resources are rich in hydrolytic materials, lake silt, and peat, which is one of the Belarus’ largest peat reserves. The marshes retained the remains of the ice age tundra forest with miniature birch and cloudberries. This is the only place in Europe at this latitude.

Among the tourist sites, the District can boast of a former mansion of the Lopatyny family in the village of Leonpole, where a baroque palace, a park, and a wooden church have survived to the present days.

The town of Disna, one of the oldest towns in Miory district, is also rich in historical and archeological sites and monuments.

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