The town of Toropets is in the area of the old principality of Smolensk, due south of Novgorod, almost midway between Pskov and Smolensk, influenced by both, but somewhat to the east of a straight line joining these two towns. It is near the headwaters of the Western Dvina which flows along the eastern and southern border of the Toropets uezd. A block of wooded hills extending from Kholm form the division between the basins of the Western Dvina and the Lovat' to the west. The region has a moraine landscape with numerous lakes most of them strung out and linked by streams; many settlements were situated by lakes. Of 159 lakes in the uezd, 139 are less than two miles long. There are, however, two large lakes, Zhizhets and Dvin'e, and around these is an extensive marshy area; in summer this dries out to a large extent, though not completely. The Sparrow Hills, about 140 to 200 feet high, run in a south-westerly direction through the uezd, north of the town; they are often steep and clayey. In the north there is little water and only a few small lakes, but in the south, between the upper Kun'ya, a tributary of the Lovat', and the Western Dvina there is a plateau with a number of lakes. To the east, towards the Western Dvina the land descends in a series of steps with many lakes, marshes and wet valleys.