Mexico's Constitution of Apatzingán was signed in the city in 1814, during the Mexican War of Independence in the Viceroyalty of New Spain against the Spanish Empire.

At least nine people died and several were injured when police fired against members and sympathizers of self-defense groups who had taken over the municipal palace.

The city of Apatzingán is the sixth-largest in Michoacán (behind Morelia, Uruapan, Zamora, Lázaro Cárdenas, and Zitacuaro), with a 2015 census population of 128,250 persons.

The major Sierra Madre del Sur mountain range and the municipality of Coalcomán de Vázquez Pallares are to the west.

Despite having an annual precipitation of 752 millimetres (29.6 in), Apatzingán has a semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification BSh) due to its hot temperatures and high evaporation rates.