It is the third-smallest city in Liaoning with a total area of 5,502 square kilometres (2,124 sq mi), and the ninth most populous with a population of 2,328,582 as of the 2020 census, of whom 1,228,198 lived in the built-up (or metro) area made of three urban districts (Zhanqian, Xishi and Laobian) and one county-level city (Dashiqiao).

In fact, the actual town of Newchwang was about thirty miles upstream of Liao He, within today's county-level city of Haicheng.

Yingkou prefecture is subdivided into 4 districts and 2 cities: Yingkou is mostly located in the northwestern part of the Liaodong Peninsula, and on the left bank of the mouth of Daliao River, which was historically the main distributary of the lower Liao River and the principal exit of fluvial transports from inland Liaoning into the Bohai Sea.

Though the climate is somewhat tempered by the city's location on the Bohai Gulf, winters are long, windy, cold but dry, and summers are hot and humid.

Precipitation is somewhat enhanced by the coastal location, with a majority of the annual rainfall occurring in July and August alone.