The city lies in the center of the ''Santiago Basin'', a large bowl-shaped valley consisting of broad and fertile lands surrounded by mountains. The city has a varying elevation, gradually increasing from  in the western areas to more than  in the eastern areas. Santiago's international airport, in the west, lies at an altitude of . Plaza Baquedano, near the center, lies at . Estadio San Carlos de Apoquindo, at the eastern edge of the city, has an elevation of .