It is bordered by the provinces of Riau to the north, West Sumatra to the west, Bengkulu to the southwest, South Sumatra to the south, and shares a maritime border with the Riau Islands to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the east.

Jambi succeeded Palembang, its southern economic and military rival, as the major player in trade in the Malacca straits.

In 1858 the Dutch, concerned over the risk of competition for control from other foreign powers, invaded Jambi with a force from their capital Batavia.

The Dutch installed a puppet ruler, Nazarudin, in the lower region, which included the capital city.

For the next forty years Taha maintained the upriver kingdom, and slowly reextended his influence over the lower regions through political agreements and marriage connections.

Thus Jambi province is now divided into nine regencies (kabupaten) and two cities (kota), listed below with their areas and their populations at the 2010[8] and 2020[2] censuses, together with the official estimates as at mid 2023.

The province forms one of Indonesia's 84 national electoral districts to elect members to the People's Representative Council.

It is one of the Sumatran Tiger's last strongholds on the island, and within its borders sits the highest active volcano in Southeast Asia - Mount Kerinci.