Mandaue is one of nine cities (along with forty-four (44) municipalities) that comprise the province of Cebu in the Central Visayas. The city is politically subdivided into (27) barangays, and is a part of the 6th Congressional District of Cebu.

Mandaue is one of the three highly urbanized cities in the province that form the core of the Metropolitan Cebu area, which is centered in the provincial capital in Cebu City, and extends to Lapu-Lapu City in the island of Mactan, via two Mactan-Mandaue bridges.