Sheksna is an urban locality and the administrative center of Sheksninsky District of Vologda Oblast, Russia, located along the left bank of the Sheksna River, 83 kilometers (52 mi) from Vologda. Municipally, it is incorporated as Sheksninskoye Urban Settlement, one of the two urban settlements in the district. Population: 20,953 (2010 Russian census); 21,615 (2002 Census); 15,928 (1989 Soviet census).

Sheksninsky District is an administrative and municipal district (raion), one of the twenty-six in Vologda Oblast, Russia. It is located in the center of the oblast and borders with Kirillovsky District in the north, Vologodsky District in the east, Poshekhonsky District of Yaroslavl Oblast in the south, and with Cherepovetsky District in the west. The area of the district is 2,500 square kilometers (970 sq mi). Its administrative center is the urban locality of Sheksna. The district's population was 33,375 (2010 Russian census); 36,007 ; 34,679 (1989 Soviet census). The population of Sheksna accounts for 62.8% of the district's total population.