Linfen City is located in the southern part of Shanxi Province, with the remaining branches of Taiyue to the east and the Luliang Mountains to the west.

In 2006, the American Blacksmith Institute listed Linfen as one of the ten most polluted cities in the world.

[6] Prior to 1978, Linfen was famous for its spring water, greenery and rich agriculture and therefore nicknamed "The Modern Fruit and Flower Town".

Since then it has been developing into a main industrial center for coal mining, which has significantly damaged the city's environment, air quality, farming, health and its previous status as a green village.

[8] Chinese archeologists have claimed that legendary ruler Yao's capital was located in Linfen,[9] a confirmation of local legend responsible for the name of the city's Yaodu District.

[10] The Xiongnu emperor of Former Zhao Liu Cong made Pingyang his residence in the fourth century.

[13][citation needed] Linfen is located in the southwestern part of Shanxi, on the lower reaches of the Fen River, bounded by Changzhi and Jincheng to the east, the Yellow River to the west (which also forms the border with Shaanxi), Jinzhong and Lüliang to the north, and Yuncheng to the south.

The annual precipitation stands at 455.1 millimetres (17.9 in), with close to 70% of this total falling from June to September.

Mining, cooking, smelting and other heavy industries which developed around the city have led to catastrophic environmental damage.

[21] From its low point, in 2004, with only fifteen days out of the year with an acceptable level of air pollution, the environmental situation has improved.

[22] After a series of negative reports on the extreme level of pollution in the city, efforts were made to clean up Linfen.

[22] Since 2006, the government has taken a series of measures to modify industrial structure and economic development mode.

Over the last few years the Ministry of Environmental Protection has been closely monitoring Linfen's environment conditions.

While the China Youth Daily reported in 2014 that Linfen was experiencing the great change from the "most polluted city" to "model city of environmental protection",[23] other sources suggest that little progress has been made in combating pollution.

Hukou Waterfall is located 150 km (93 mi) west of Linfen city in Jinshan Gorge.

[29] There are 28 ethnic minorities in Linfen with a population exceeding 10,000 people: the Hui, the Manchu, the Tujia, Mongols, the Miao, the Zhuang, Koreans, the Yi, the Buyi, the Bai, Uyghurs, the Mulao, the She, Tibetans, the Li, the Dong, the Yao, Tajiks, the Gelao, the Daur, the Lahu, the Wa, the Hani, the Tu, the Xibo, the Lisu, the Qiang, and the Jingpo.

[32] Linfen has rich mineral resources including coal, iron ore, copper, and lead.

Coal mining and dressing, coking, metallurgy, non-ferrous metal smelting, and chemicals are the principle industries.