It belongs to the Region of Southern Denmark, covers an area of 134.46 km2, and has a total population of 52,485 (2024).

The Mayor is Steen Wrist, representing the Social Democrats political party.

Neighboring municipalities are Vejle to the north, Kolding to the west, and Middelfart to the east, albeit separated from the municipality by the waters of the Lillebælt, the strait, that separates the Jutland mainland from the island of Funen in this area, where the two lie very close to each other, often less than 1.5 km apart.

The municipality is part of Triangle Region and of the East Jutland metropolitan area, which had a total population of 1.378 million in 2016.

The city is one of Denmark's largest traffic hubs, and is home to the army's Signals Regiment (Telegrafregimentet), which is located at Ryes Barracks (Ryes Kaserne) and Bülows Barracks (Bülows Kaserne).