Miaoli County is shaped like a diamond. It is located at the mid-north of Taiwan . Its northern and northeastern border is Hsinchu County. Its southern and southeastern parts connect with Taichung County, but in between, separated by Da-an River and the Snow Mountain Ranges. Its western coast is Taiwan Strait. Its eastern end is Dabajian Mountain of Meiyuan Village, Tai-an Township. Its western end is the Fangli coast of Yueli Township. Its southern end is the southern part of Neiwan Village in Zhoulan Township. Its northern end is the northern side of Qiding in Zhunan Township. The central position of the whole county is located at Fenglin Village of Shitan Township. The width of the whole county from east to west is about 64 kilometers, and the length from north to south is about 50 kilometers. The total area of the whole Miaoli County is 1,820.3 square kilometers. From the northern side of Qiding in Zhunan Township, the coastline runs southward to the southern coastline of the Fangli coast. The length of coastline is about 50 kilometers.
With plenty of mountains within its territory, Miaoli is known as “mountain city.” Originally, it was part of an alluvial plain by the western side of the Snow Mountain Ranges in Taiwan. But continuous river corrosion had gradually transformed it into landforms of hills and plateaus, with several rivers running in between and forming a diverse scenery of mountain rivers.
Topographically, Miaoli is divided into plains, hills, plateaus and mountain ranges. Apart from plateaus, its other landforms are arranged in good order from west to east. 
