Puerto Vallarta is a Mexican resort city situated on the Pacific Ocean's Bahía de Banderas. The 2005 census reported Puerto Vallarta's population as 177,830 making it the fifth-largest city in the Mexican state of Jalisco. The City of Puerto Vallarta is the government seat of the Municipality of Puerto Vallarta which comprises the city as well as population centers outside of the city extending from Boca de Tomatlán to the Nayarit border (the Ameca River). The municipality's population in the 2005 census was 220,368.

The city is located at . The municipality has an area of 502.19 square miles (1,300.67 km²). To the North it borders the SW part of the state of Nayarit. To the East it borders the municipality of Mascota and San Sebastián, and to the South it borders the municipalities of Talpa de Allende and Cabo Corriente.

Puerto Vallarta is named after Ignacio Vallarta, a former governor of the state of Jalisco. "Puerto Vallarta" is often shortened to "Vallarta." and English (language) speakers call the city P.V. for short. In internet shorthand the city is often referred to as PVR, after the code for its international airport. English speakers sometimes misspell or mispronounce the city's name as "Porto Vallarta".