The city is located in the Volga Upland region and stands on the shore of the Cheboksary Reservoir.

[7] The satellite city of Novocheboksarsk is located about 6 kilometers (3+1⁄2 mi) east of Cheboksary.

Cheboksary was first mentioned in written sources in 1469,[4] but according to archaeological excavations, the area had been populated much earlier.

However, in maps by European travelers it was marked as Cibocar (Pizzigano, 1367), Veda-Suar (Fra Mauro, 1459).

At the end of the 17th century, Cheboksary was regarded as a major commercial city of the Volga region, and in 1781 it was granted town status[4] within Kazan Governorate.

[1] Within the framework of administrative divisions, it is, together with two urban-type settlements (Novye Lapsary and Sosnovka) and two rural localities, incorporated as the city of republic significance of Cheboksary—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts.

[11] For administrative purposes, Cheboksary is divided into three city districts: Kalininskiy, Leninskiy, and Moskovskiy.

Cheboksary also has boardwalks and beaches along the Volga River, where people swim in the summer.

To the west, the Volga River connects Cheboksary with Nizhny Novgorod, Yaroslavl, Moscow, and the northern regions of Russia.

By using river-sea vessels, it is possible to take cargo from Chuvash riverports all the way to Saint Petersburg, Novorossiysk (on the Black Sea), Astrakhan, and ports situated on the Danube river.

Cheboksary is located about a four-hour drive from Strigino International Airport near Nizhny Novgorod, which offers more flight connections.