Jabrayil is located in the southeast of the Lesser Caucasus Mountains, in the Geyan plain, and in the Karabakh range. The region is bordered by the Islamic Republic of Iran along the Araz River in the south, and most of its territory is mountainous.
From 1993 to 2020, it was controlled by the Armenian forces of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. In October 2020, as a result of hostilities, the city was returned to the control of Azerbaijan.