The land occupied by Charlottetown, as with the rest of Prince Edward Island, was home to seasonal and year-round communities of the Mi'kmaq Nation.
Charlottetown is situated on its namesake harbour, which is formed by the confluence of three rivers in the central part of the island's south shore. The harbour itself opens onto the Northumberland Strait. The city is roughly V-shaped (pointed to the south) and constrained by the North (Yorke) and the Hillsborough (East) Rivers to the west and east.