Liupanshui is located in the west of Guizhou province. The name Liupanshui combines the first character from the names of each of the city's three constituent counties: Liuzhi, Pan and Shuicheng.

As a prefecture-level city with an area of 9,926 square kilometers, Liupanshui had a total population of over 2.83 million in 2006, making it the second largest in the province, though only 251,900 inhabitants were urban residents. The city is known locally as?the "Cool City" or "Cool Capital" due to its low average summer temperature.