Nanning City, abbreviated as "Yong," formerly known as Yongzhou and also known as the Green City, is a prefecture-level city and capital of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Located in the south-central part of the region, it faces Southeast Asia, backed by the Southwest, bordered by Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao to the east, and bordered by the Beibu Gulf to the south. Its terrain is a basin centered on the vast Yongjiang River valley, which opens eastward and is surrounded by mountains on the south, north, and west. It enjoys a subtropical monsoon climate with abundant rainfall and a total area of 22,100 square kilometers. As of August 2023, Nanning governs seven districts, four counties, and administers one county-level city. The city includes Xingning District, Jiangnan District, Qingxiu District, Xixiangtang District, Yongning District, Liangqing District, Wuming District, Binyang County, Shanglin County, Mashan County, Long'an County, and Hengzhou City. There are also three national-level development zones: the Nanning High-tech Industrial Development Zone, the Nanning Economic and Technological Development Zone, and the Guangxi-ASEAN Economic and Technological Development Zone, as well as five municipally administered functional zones. The Municipal People's Government is located at No. 1 Jiabin Road, Qingxiu District. By the end of 2024, Nanning's permanent population was 8.9719 million.
Nanning's topography is a basin centered on the vast Yongjiang River valley. This basin opens eastward and is surrounded by mountains on the south, north, and west: Gaofengling, a low mountain range to the north; Qipo, a high hill range to the south; and Fenghuang Mountain (the eastern mountain range of Xidaming Mountain) to the west. This forms a long river valley basin, stretching from Fenghuang Mountain in the west to Qingxiu Mountain in the east. The center of the basin is the confluence of rivers: Youjiang River from the northwest, Zuojiang River from the southwest, Liangfeng River from the south, and Xinwei River from the north, forming a centripetal drainage system. In the middle of the basin, at the confluence of the Zuojiang and Youjiang Rivers, hills on the north and south sides approach the riverbanks, forming a natural boundary that divides the long valley and basin into two smaller basins: the Yongjiang River valley basin centered on Nanning City; and the erosional-karst basin centered on Tanluo Town.
Nanning's landforms are categorized into five types: plains, low mountains, rocky mountains, hills, and terraces. Flatland is the largest landform in Nanning, covering 1,037.33 square kilometers, or 57.78% of the city's total area. These flatlands are located at the confluence of the lower reaches of the Zuojiang and Youjiang Rivers and along the banks of the Yongjiang River. Low mountains, covering a total area of 82.64 square kilometers, account for 4.6% of the city's total area. Fenghuang Mountain, located on the western edge of the city, is a dome-shaped mountain range, generally ranging from 300 to 600 meters above sea level and with a slope of 25 to 40 degrees. Gaofengling, located in the north of the city, is a series of folded low mountains, running from northeast to southwest, with a general elevation of 250 to 450 meters and a slope of 20 to 40 degrees. Stone mountains cover 46.7 square kilometers, accounting for 2.61% of the total area. They are primarily distributed in the northwest and around Tanluo Town. They are divided into two categories: peak-forest stone mountains and solitary peak stone mountains. Peak-forest stone mountains range from 300 to 400 meters above sea level, with valleys 120 to 160 meters above sea level; solitary peak stone mountains generally rise from 200 to 250 meters above sea level, with flat areas 80 to 100 meters above sea level. Hills cover a total area of 279.86 square kilometers, accounting for 15.59% of the city's total area. Terraces are mostly Tertiary erosional surfaces, slightly dissected and gently undulating. Below 120 meters above sea level, they are low, paleo-erosion surfaces, generally exhibiting gently sloping, flattened topography.