Palermo is the capital city of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is located in the northwest of the island of Sicily (Southern Italy), and it overlooks the Gulf of Palermo in the Tyrrhenian Sea. Its total area is 158.9 km2 (61.4 sq mi).

Palermo is divided into eight governmental communities that are further divided into thirty-five neighborhoods, in Italian “quartiere”.