The town is located on the southwestern spurs of the Valday Hills, on the right bank of River Zapadnaya Dvina, 321 km to the southwest of Tver.

It has a big railway station.

The town with the population of 8630 people (2014) takes the area of 13 sq km.

History of Zapadnaya Dvina

The settlement of Zapadnaya Dvina was founded along with the same-name railway station in 1900 and named after River Zapadnaya Dvina. It grew up into an industrial township by 1925 and became a town in 1937.

Till the mid 19th century the entire river was called Dvina, and only in the 1850s it was named Zapadnaya (i.e. Western) Dvina to differentiate it from the Northern Dvina river.

During the Great Patriotic War (1941-45) it was occupied by fascist troops on October 6, 1941. The town was released by troops of the Northwestern Front in the course of Toropets - Kholm campaign on January 21, 1942.