It borders the departments of Ariège to the northwest and Aude to the north, the Mediterranean Sea to the east and the Spanish province of Girona in Catalonia to the south and the country of Andorra to the west.

The intellectual and republican politician François Arago, who, during the early months of the short-lived Second Republic in 1848, was briefly de facto Head of state, came from Estagel in the east of the department.

It consists of three river valleys in the Pyrenees mountain range –from north to south, those of the Agly, Têt and Tech – and the eastern Plain of Roussillon into which they converge.

It is one of the rare French departments (with the Alpes-Maritimes, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Aude and Corsica) which allow their inhabitants and tourists to enjoy both the mountains and the sea.

Llívia is a town of Cerdanya, province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain, that forms a Spanish exclave surrounded by French territory.

Other important towns are Rivesaltes, Bompas, Pia, Thuir, Céret, Elne, Le Soler, Prades and Toulouges, each with between 6,500 and 10,000 inhabitants.

Minority languages in the region are Catalan and Occitan, which between them are estimated to be spoken by 34% of the population and understood by an additional 21%.

The Departmental Council of Pyrénées-Orientales is more and more involved with the European Union to create, together with the Generalitat of Catalonia and Andorra, a Eurodistrict.

Pyrénées-Orientales elected the following members of the National Assembly during the 2022 legislative election: The cuisine of Pyrénées-Orientales draws naturally from the historical Catalan presence in the area,[12] so dishes like paella,[13] caragols a la llauna and calçots are prevalent in the restaurants, especially at important dates such as the various saints' feast days and cultural festivals.

The mountainous area to the south has dishes using ingredients that grow naturally there, products such as olives and goat's cheese.