They are bounded by the Wiehen Hills to the north and the Teutoburg Forest to the south.

[1] Regionally, especially in tourism, they are often referred to locally as the Osnabrücker Bergland, however this is usually not a precisely defined physical landscape, but refers to an area roughly comprising the municipal boundaries of Osnabrück and a narrow radius around the city.

By contrast the natural region major unit known as the Osnabrücker Hügelland extends from north-west of Ibbenbüren to the Melle Hills north of Melle, behind which is their south-eastern continuation, the Ravensberg Hills.

The unpopulated areas of the region, which covers 748.5 km2,[1] are a central part of the TERRA.vita Nature and Geopark.

The Osnabrück Uplands are divided from north (west to east) to south (west to east) as follows:[2] Among the most important high points in the Osnabruck Uplands are the following – sorted by height in metres (m) above sea level (NHN):