Maharashtra is the third largest state (in area) in India after Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, situated in the north centre of Indian peninsula. It covers an area of 307,713 sq. km and is bordered by the states of Madhya Pradesh to the north, Chhattisgarh to the east, Andhra Pradesh to the southeast, Karnataka to the south and Goa to the southwest. The state of Gujarat lies to the northwest, with the Union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli sandwiched between the borders. The Arabian Sea makes up Maharashtra's west coast.

Maharashtra consists of two major relief divisions. The plateau is a part of the Deccan tableland and the Konkan coastal strip abutting on the Arabian Sea. The state of Maharashtra forms a huge irregular triangle with its base on the west coast of India, overlooking the Arabian Sea. The coastal strip, about 720 km long and not more than 80 km wide, is the Konkan dotted with paddy fields and coconut gardens. The Sahyadris or the Western Ghats running almost parallel to the sea coast flank the Konkan on its east. To the east of the Sahyadris stretches a vast plateau forming the apex of the triangle. The major parts of Maharashtra is underlined by rocks of volcanic origin the lavas. These lava beds are a distinctive feature of landscape in Maharashtra and many of them present as black and massive girdles a spectacular display on the scarp face of the Sahyadri.

Geographically, historically and according to political sentiments Maharashtra has five main regions: Vidarbha or Berar (Nagpur and Amravati divisions), Marathwada (Aurangabad Division), Kandesh and Northern Maharashtra (Nashik Division), Desh or Western Maharashtra (Pune division), and Konkan (Konkan Division).

Maharashtra has a long standing dispute with Karnataka on the sovereignty of the Belgaum district in northwest Karnataka. When India's states were drawn on linguistic grounds, Belgaum was merged into Karnataka, despite having a large Marathi-speaking population. Recently, the Maharashtra government took the matter to the Supreme Court. The verdict is still pending. Nonetheless, Maharashtra considers Belgaum to be a part of the state and recognises its residents as its own. Historically having been ruled by the emperors of the ancient kingdom of Karnataka, the present Maharashtra also has a major Kannada-speaking population-group in its southern districts, as well as in the major cities of Mumbai and Pune.