The city area is mostly flat, but west of the Tomio River the Yata Hills make the land more undulating.

Nara Prefecture Yamatokōriyama has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) characterized by warm summers and cool winters with light to no snowfall.

After the Meiji restoration, the town of Kōriyama and villages of Tsutsui, Yata, Honda, Hirahata, Jido, Heiwa, and Katagiri were established with the creation of the modern municipalities system on 1 April 1889.

Yamatokōriyama has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city council of 20 members.

In terms of national politics, the city is part of the Nara 2nd district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

The "Showa Kogyo Danchi,"[3] industrial zone, located in the southern part of the city is the largest in Nara Prefecture and employs a large number of workers.