Changsha is situated in the lower reaches of the Xiangjiang River in northeast Hunan. Its exact location is at 110o53´-114o15´degrees east longitude and 27o51´-28o40´degrees north latitude. To its south are Zhuzhou and Xiangtan, to its west is Yiyang and to its north is Yueyang. Changsha borders on Jiangxi Province to the east. Changsha occupies a land of 11,818 sq. km, accounting for 10.12 percent of Hunan. Its city proper occupies an area of 554sq. km.
Changsha has various topographical features, with its highest place in the Qixing Hill of Dawei Mountain standing at 1,607.9 meters above sea level and the lowermost, the Wangxian County, 23 meters above sea level. A large section of northeast Changsha is actually an extending part of the Mufu-Luoxiao mountain ranges, and its north west part is linked with the Xuefeng Mountain. The south and central sections are hilly areas and the north is a plateau. The mountainous areas account for 29.52 percent of Changsha's total area, hilly areas 41.02 percent, plateaus 25.30 percent and lakes and rivers 4.16 percent.