It is bordered by six departments; Creuse lies to the east, Corrèze to the south, Dordogne to the southwest, Charente to the west, Vienne to the northwest and Indre to the north.

[4] At the west end of the department is the Rochechouart impact structure, an impact crater caused by a meteorite that crashed into the Earth's surface over 200 million years ago; because of subsequent erosion, little sign of the crater is in evidence today apart from the geologic effects on the surrounding rock.

[3] A few Paleolithic and Mesolithic remains have been found in the department, Neolithic inhabitants are attested to by standing stones and by burial chambers, like the dolmen Chez Boucher in La Croix-sur-Gartempe, and others at Berneuil and Breuilaufa.

During the reign of Augustus, the city of Augustoritum was founded (later to become Limoges) at a strategic ford across the Vienne.

The domination of the Visigoths was short-lived and Clovis I seized control of Limousin after the battle of Vouillé in 507.

The region was much involved in the Hundred Years' War and at the Treaty of Brétigny in 1360, France granted England a large area of territory comprising much of Limousin.

Limoges city rebelled and gave its allegiance to the French crown, and as a result was sacked in 1370.

Further troubled years followed but when peace was restored, the department benefited economically; tanneries sprang up by the Vienne, paper was produced, printing developed and the area became known for fine enamelwork.

In 1761, Anne Robert Jacques Turgot was appointed intendent (tax collector) of Limoges.