The history of Yangzhou’s founding can be traced back to 486 BC. 2015 marks the 2,500th anniversary of its founding. In ancient times, it was sometimes called Yangzhou (note: the word Yang in the Han stele all comes from “wood”, and from “hand” to descendants) The changes have been verified by Wang Niansun in detail). According to Du You's "Tongdian", there were thirty-nine prefectures and one hundred and ninety-six counties in the ancient Yangzhou area, which were equivalent to "provinces". Although this "Yangzhou" includes Yangzhou (today's Yangzhou) as a city after the Sui Dynasty, it cannot be confused with the prosperous Yangzhou city after the Sui Dynasty.

Today's Yangzhou area was called "Han Yue" during the Spring and Autumn Period (later the Han State was established, which was one of the Fang States of the Zhou Dynasty and was later destroyed by Wu and the capital of Wu was established).

Yangzhou City is located in the central part of Jiangsu Province, on the north bank of the Yangtze River and at the southern end of the Jianghuai Plain. The current area under its jurisdiction is between 32°15' and 33°25' north latitude and 119°01' and 119°54' east longitude. It borders Yancheng City and Taizhou City in the east; it borders the Yangtze River in the south and faces Zhenjiang City across the river; it is connected to Nanjing City in the southwest; it borders Chuzhou City, Anhui Province in the west; and it borders Huai'an City in the northwest. Yangzhou City is located at the intersection of the Yangtze River and the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, at 32 degrees 24 minutes north latitude and 119 degrees 26 minutes east longitude. The city's maximum distance from east to west is 85 kilometers, and the maximum distance from north to south is 125 kilometers. The total area is 6591.21 square kilometers, of which the urban area is 2305.68 square kilometers (including 140 square kilometers of built-up area) and the county (city) area is 4285.53 square kilometers. (The built-up area is 97.8 square kilometers). The land area is 4908.00 square kilometers, accounting for 74.46%; the water area is 1683.21 square kilometers, accounting for 25.54%.

The terrain in Yangzhou City is higher in the west and lower in the east, with the hilly and mountainous areas in Yizheng City being the highest, gradually sloping in a fan shape from west to east, and the lowest area at the junction of Gaoyou City, Baoying County and Xinghua City in Taizhou, which is a shallow lake. area. The highest peak within the territory is Datong Mountain in Yizheng City, with an altitude of 149.5 meters; the lowest point is located at the junction of Gaoyou City, Baoying County and Xinghua City in Taizhou, with an average altitude of 2 meters. The northern part of Yangzhou City and the northern part of Yizheng City are hills, the east of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal and the north of the Tongyang Canal are the Lixiahe area, and the areas along the river and lake are plains. There are Datong Mountain, Xiaotong Mountain, Na Mountain, etc. within the territory, and the main lakes include Baima Lake, Baoying Lake, Gaoyou Lake, Shaobo Lake, etc. There are 80.5 kilometers of Yangtze River coastline in the territory, with one city and three districts including Yizheng, Jiangdu, Hanjiang, and Guangling along the coast; the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal runs through the hinterland, connecting Baima Lake, Baoying Lake, Gaoyou Lake, and Shaobo Lake from north to south, and merges into the Yangtze River. The total length is 143.3 kilometers. In addition to the Yangtze River and the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, the main rivers include the east-west Baoshe River, Datong River, Beichengzi River, Tongyang Canal, and Xintongyang Canal.