Hyderabad is located in central Andhra Pradesh and is spread over an area of 260 square km. The city lies in the Deccan Plateau and rises to an average height of 540 m above the sea level. The original city was founded on the banks of river Musi and has grown over centuries on the both banks of the river. The city lies at 17.366° N latitude and 78.476° E longitude.

Hyderabad is blessed with a unique landscape – spectacular rock formations which are about 2,500 million years old; amongst the oldest and hardest rocks in the world. Rocky and hilly regions around the city are under obliteration for urbanization. Granite ridges and hillocks weathered into picturesque balancing forms are a part of the Deccan Shield area. The city’s soil type is mainly red sandy with areas of black cotton soil. Hyderabad falls in the seismic zone-I and is seismically least exposed to earthquakes.