As of the 2020 census, its population was 2,524,097 inhabitants, of which 422,383 lived in the built-up (or metro) area made of Anding urban district.

Dingxi City is located in central Gansu province, 98 km (61 mi) east of Lanzhou, giving it the nickname the "eastern gateway".

[5] Dingxi has a monsoon- influenced cool semi-arid climate (Köppen BSk) characterised like most of eastern Gansu by warm to very warm, humid summers and freezing, virtually snowless winters.

Although most of Gansu is arid, in other regions of the province a large portion of farmland is irrigated, whereas in Dingxi this was not the case.

[11] Agriculture and natural resource based industries are the key to Dingxi's economy.