Savannakhet is the most populous province in Laos. It is a very active place for communication and commerce between Thailand and Vietnam. The road no. 9 lays east-west from the provincial capital to the Vietnamese border town of Lao Bao. The border is open for both locals, and foreign tourists with visa.

Most parts of the province is low land with some agriculture plots in the north and east of Savannakhet city. Goods flow across three countries on the only available highway no. 9. People and cars can cross the Mekong river between Savannakhet and Thailand's town of Mukdahan.

Most people living in the province are Lao Lum, Thai Dam, Phu Thai, some of the Mon-Khmer groups. The villages in the province are the attractions to the outside people.

Phu Xang Hae NBCA covers a hilly region in the middle of the province, where there are evergreen forest and some wildlife still surviving. Perhaps one of the most popular tourist attractions is the Ho Chi Minh trail used by the north Vietnamese during the last Indochina war to transport men and goods to the south Vietnam.