Mecklenburg–West Pomerania extends along the Baltic Sea coastal plain, from the Bay of Lübeck in the west, past the Darss Peninsula, to the Szczecinski Lagoon (Stettiner Haff) in the east. Its hinterland stretches southward to the lower Elbe River in the west and beyond the sources of the Havel River and nearly to the Oder River in the east. Most of Mecklenburg–West Pomerania drains into the Baltic. The region's landscape was largely shaped by glacial forces, which deposited materials that produced the beautiful hill country and low-lying lands that are now filled with wetlands, lakes, and meandering streams. Nearly two-thirds of the state is covered by farmland and about another one-fifth by forest.

Mecklenburg–West Pomerania is one of Germany's least populated and least densely populated states. The population is composed largely of ethnic Germans, contains no significant indigenous ethnic minority, and has a very small immigrant population. Mecklenburg–West Pomerania's population has been declining since 1987, owing to both low birth rates and net out-migration. The state's most significant urban centres— Rostock, Schwerin, and Neubrandenburg—are relatively small in comparison with cities in other German states.

Agriculture, once a relatively important economic activity in Mecklenburg–West Pomerania, is now most significant for its role in shaping the landscape. Agricultural output makes up only a small percentage of the state's economic output and employment, though rural areas of Mecklenburg–West Pomerania depend more on agriculture as a way of life than most other parts of Germany. Because of its history of collectivized farming while it was part of East Germany (1945–90), Mecklenburg–West Pomerania has farm units that are large by German and western European standards. The chief crops are rye, wheat, barley, sugar beets, potatoes, and hay. Corn (maize) and peas are also grown, and the state is among Germany's leading producers of rapeseed. The region's pastures support herds of sheep, horses, and cattle, which supply milk for the production of butter and cheese. Fishing is carried out in the inland lakes and the Baltic Sea.

As in all other parts of eastern Germany, the Mecklenburg–West Pomeranian economy was radically transformed following German unification in 1990. Employment fell precipitously, and despite high levels of out-migration, unemployment rates soared and remained very high into the early years of the 21st century. The state is relatively poor by German standards and is disadvantaged by several factors, including the lack of an important manufacturing base and significant industrial resources, the lack of large cities with significant concentrations of service activities, a dearth of good rail and highway connections with other regions, and a relatively poor market location within both Germany and Europe. The small manufacturing sector is diversified, with its most notable concentration in the largest towns, including Rostock. Ships are built in Rostock and its outport Warnemünde, as well as in Stralsund, Wismar, and Wolgast. These cities are also ports, as are Mukran and Sassnitz on the island of Rügen.

The capital, Schwerin, and Rostock, Stralsund, Neubrandenburg, and Greifswald serve as regional centres for the provision of local services. At the beginning of the 21st century, one of the best-performing sectors of the Mecklenburg–West Pomeranian economy was its fairly large and rapidly growing tourist industry, which primarily serves Germans. Tourists travel to Mecklenburg–West Pomerania to visit the shorelines and beaches in particular, but the lake country and numerous historic towns are also sought out. Especially notable are the old Hanseatic towns of Rostock and Stralsund, the latter of which has a particularly good ensemble of historic buildings. Indeed, most of the state's cities and towns contain striking brick buildings, often churches, in the distinctive North German Gothic architectural style.

While Mecklenburg–West Pomerania has good transportation connections for waterborne transportation via its ports, land connections are poorer. Until recently only one major rail line and major autobahn served the state, each from the south and each improved in the postunification era. A new, environmentally controversial east-west autobahn was completed in 2005. Land-based connections with Poland remain less well developed, though an autobahn between Berlin and Poland's northwestern port of Szczecin traverses the southeasternmost corner of the state.

The modern state of Mecklenburg–West Pomerania is coterminous with the historic region of Mecklenburg and the western parts of Pomerania. Germanic tribes had settled in the region by the year 500, though these people were displaced by Slavs before Germans resettled the area as part of a more general movement of Germans toward the east. In Mecklenburg a dynasty was established in 1160 following a successful Saxon effort to Christianize and Germanize the region's population. The region's dukes became princes of the Holy Roman Empire in 1348, following which the region was dominated for centuries by duchies with shifting territorial configurations. In Pomerania Germanization proceeded as well, although Polish dukes ruled until 1637, after which much of Pomerania came under the rule of Brandenburg and Prussia. Many cities in Mecklenburg and Pomerania flourished during the Middle Ages in association with trade within the Hanseatic League. From about 1700 until 1934 Mecklenburg was ruled as two duchies, Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz, until a state of Mecklenburg was formed of the two under the Nazi regime. The Swedes held Wismar and territory around it from 1648 to 1803, as well as parts of western Pomerania from 1648 until 1815, before the territories became part of Prussia. Most of Pomerania went to Poland after World War II, but Western Pomerania, along with Mecklenburg, became part of Soviet-occupied Germany and then part of Soviet-dominated East Germany. The contemporary state was re-created just before the unification of East and West Germany in 1990 from the East German Bezirke (districts) of Rostock, Schwerin, and Neubrandenburg.