Cotabato City is an important city in Mindanao. It is the administrative center of two regions: the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and SOCCSKSARGEN. Cotabato City is officially part of the latter.
Cotabato is approximately 698.9 nautical miles from Manila, the country's capital, and is bounded by the municipalities of Sultan Kudarat to the north—with Rio Grande de Mindanao separating the two—Kabuntalan to the east, and Datu Odin Sinsuat to the south. The city faces Illana Bay, part of the Moro Gulf, to the west. Cotabato City has a total land area of 176.0 square kilometers.