It occupies a steep ridge jutting out from the west coast.
The town is situated on a promontory jutting north-west into the Bay of Biscay and on the coast which extends on each side of it.
is built on a rocky peninsula jutting out to the east, near the mouth of the Rio Grande and at the foot of Mt Ancon (560 ft.).
The fortress - Demir Kule or Iron Castle, which, like the principal seraglio, was built on a promontory jutting into the lake - is now in ruins.
above lake-level, jutting into the small bay of Ugowe, at the north-east end of Kavirondo Gulf, is the point where the railway terminates.