The 59-square-kilometre (23 sq mi) island lies north of the Storfjorden, northeast of the Sulafjorden, and south of the Borgundfjorden.

The island is mountainous, with almost all residents living in the northern and eastern shores.

[1] The island of Sula was historically divided between the old Borgund Municipality and Hareid Municipality, with the sparsely-populated southwestern part of the island belonging to Hareid.

On 1 July 1958, the part of Hareid Municipality on Sula was administratively transferred to Borgund Municipality, uniting the whole island under one local government.

On 1 January 1977, the island of Sula [1] and some small surrounding islands were separated from Ålesund Municipality to form the new Sula Municipality.