It is situated on an oval hilltop, 170 meters (560 ft) above sea level, in the northern Akkar Plain, below the Jabal Ansariyah mountains.

The hill slopes steeply on its north and south to the tributaries of the Nahr al-Abrash river.

[3] The Arima fortress buttressed the defense of Tartus, one of the two main towns of the Crusader County of Tripoli, and the Homs Gap.

Bertrand probably seized Arima as it sat between Tartus and Tripoli, the seat of the County.

Raymond called on the Muslim ruler Nur al-Din Zengi to intervene on his behalf.