As a prefecture level city, Longyan situated in the southwestern of Fujian Province. Longyan neighboring Sanming City in the north, Quanzhou in the east, Zhangzhou in the southeast, Guangdong Province in the south, and Jiangxi Province in the west. This makes Longyan as a key gateway for Fujian trade with Guangdong and Jiangxi Province. Longyan region also known as West Fujian (Minxi).

Longyan, a major ancestral home of the Hakka, is recognized as one of the hometown of Hakka people residing around the world. The residents in Longyan's five counties are basically composed of Hakka people reaching more than 2.2 million, accounting for over 80% of the city's total population. Changting County is called the "Capital of Hakka" and Ting River the "Mother River of Hakka".

The municipal executive, legislature and judiciary are in Xinluo District, together with the CPC and Public Security bureau. Longyan oversees one County-level city, Zhangping. Longyan also rich in natural resources, important mineral deposits and forest zones.

In 2007, Longyan economy maintained its rapid growth, realizing a GDP of 55.603 billion RMB, an increase of 16 percent, the highest rate since year 1995. The gross production ranked 5th among the 9 cities in Fujian, one seat ahead than the 6th in the former year. The added output value for the first industry was 10.759 billion RMB, an increase of 5.9%, 27.162 billion RMB and an increase of 21.6% for the secondary industry, and 17.681 billion RMB for the tertiary industry, up 14%. The per capita GDP reached 20,182 RMB, up 15.6% on a year-on-year basis.