It is located 10 kilometers (6 mi) west of the city of Rijeka, north of the town of Opatija, and it borders Slovenia.

Matulji is first mentioned in written historical sources in the middle of the 17th century, and it is preceded by the surname Matulja, which was originally recorded as Matuglia.

[6] The municipality is of great transportation importance because of the major railway and highway networks connecting Rijeka with Ljubljana and Trieste to the west, Zagreb and Split to the east and Pula to the south through the Učka tunnel.

Sixty five percent of the annual Croatian border traffic takes place through four international border crossings - Pasjak (with Starod in Ilirska Bistrica municipality on the Slovenian side), Rupa (with Jelšane), Mune (with Starod), and Lipa (with Novokračine) - within the Matulji municipality.

[7] The A7 motorway starts in the northern part of the municipality, on the border crossing with Slovenia and connects with the A8 expressway at the south, next to Rijeka and Opatija.