It has a total area of 3,914 square kilometers (1,511 sq mi) and a population of 510,000 people.

Yuanzhou District is the economic, political, and transportation center of Guyuan.

It includes the old town of Guyuan or Guyuanzhou, which administered a prefecture in imperial times and a county before its urbanization.

Guyuan is the oldest city in Ningxia, being established in 114 BC as Gaoping, capital of Anding Commandery.

Because of the importance of its transportation in history, Guyuan was a war gate where Chinese soldiers trained and prepared to fight with northwestern minorities.