The Limousin région is essentially made up of two historical French provinces:

• Limousin: the Corrèze département in its entirety, the central and southeastern part of Haute-Vienne. The province of Limousin is entirely contained inside the Limousin région.
• Marche: most part of Creuse département and northeastern part of Haute-Vienne. The province of Marche is almost entirely contained inside the Limousin région, with only a small part of Marche being now in the Centre région.

The Limousin région is almost entirely an upland area. The lowest land is in the north-west of the région (approximately 250 m above sea level) and the highest land is roughly in the south-east (approximately 1000 m above sea level). However, the greater part of the région is above 350 m.

There are numerous important rivers in the Limousin such as the Dordogne, Vienne, Creuse and Cher. The région is well-known for the high-quality of its water and for offering first rate fishing.