The Hii River flows through the eastern part of the city, and it empties into Lake Shinji.

The city has a variety of topography, including the sea, mountains, rivers, lakes, plains, canyons, and hot springs.

In 2009, a team of archaeologists announced that they likely discovered—at the Sunabara Site in Taki-chō, Izumo—the oldest stone tools ever found in Japan.

The Imaichi Dainenji Kofun is believed to have been constructed in the 6th century with highly sophisticated construction methods for the time and with an overall length of 100 meters is the largest in the Izumo region[9] During the Sengoku period, Izumo was the stronghold of the Amago clan, until their defeat by the Mōri clan.

Following the Meiji restoration, the town of Imaichi was established with the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889.

[citation needed] Izumo has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city council of 30 members.

In terms of national politics, the city is part of the Shimane 2nd district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.