Kanpur is situated on the banks of river Ganga and has a population of 2.72 million as per the 1991 census with 1,483,000 males and 1,289,000 females. Kanpur has an area of about 1040 km² and is 126 meters above sea level. Languages spoken in and around Kanpur include Hindi, English, Urdu and some Bengali and Punjabi. All major religions are practiced in Kanpur.
With the coordinates 26.4670° North and 80.3500° East, Kanpur is 80 km from Lucknow, the capital city of Uttar Pradesh. It is surrounded by two main rivers of India, Ganges in the north-east and Yamuna in the south. The districts surrounding Kanpur are Hamirpur in the south, Unnao in the north-east, Farrukkhabad in the north and Etawah in the west.

Temperatures in cold weather drop to freezing sometimes reaching a minimum of -3°C with maximum at almost 12 to 14 °C if foggy and overcast,otherwise the average january temperature is around 14°C. Kanpur experiences severe fog in December and January, resulting in massive traffic and travel delays. In summer (April-June) maximum temperatures spiral up to 47`5 °C and are accompanied by dust storm-cum-heat-waves. Lowest -3 °C ,2004, 1968.