Today, the imbalance and lack of equilibrium in the settlement system is considered one of the most significant challenges to regional development in Iran. This issue is influenced by various environmental and planning-related factors. Accordingly, the present study aims to analyze the spatial structure of rural population distribution in Kurdistan Province during the period from 2006 to 2016. The objective is to better understand the spatial trends of population distribution and density, as well as the factors influencing them, in order to support more effective and informed regional planning. The findings of this study indicate that the rural population in Kurdistan Province is not distributed evenly or normally across the geographic space. Moreover, there is a lack of correspondence between the distribution of rural settlements and the distribution of the rural population across the province. According to the results of the hotspot analysis, in 2006, the clusters of rural population in Kurdistan Province were primarily concentrated in the southern and southwestern parts of the province. Additionally, a significant population hotspot was identified in the vicinity of Sanandaj city. In the subsequent years of 2011 and 2016, there were no major shifts observed in the spatial distribution of hot and cold spots of rural population, as population clusters remained concentrated around Sanandaj and its neighboring towns and counties. Furthermore, the results of the Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR), based on the R² value, indicate that the independent variable of fault lines had a relatively low impact on the dependent variable of spatial population distribution. In other words, the spatial distribution of fault lines minimally explained the variations in rural population distribution. The analysis of the influence of distance from the city of Sanandaj on population density also revealed that as the distance from Sanandaj increases, population dispersion tends to rise.