The "arrondissement" of Confolens is in northern Charente and is bordered to the northwest by the Deux-Sèvres department, to the north by the Vienne department, to the east and southeast by the Haute-Vienne department, to the south by the "arrondissement" of Angoulême, to the southwest by the "arrondissement" of Cognac, to the west by the Charente-Maritime department.