The town is situated at the foot of Stone hill, in the valley between the Vértes and Gerecse hills, in a territory of 94 km², which is 14 km in length. It has 75,000 inhabitants. Due to its location it is an important junction. The Vienna-Budapest (M1) motorway and the Vienna-Budapest railway line run through the town.

Due to its favourable location it was inhabited as early as the palaeolithic age. This is shown by a collection of findings in cave Szelim. In the area where the brooklet Által and the brook Galla meet, a settlement from the period of the Hungarian conquest was found, which proves the legend saying that Árpád's troops defeated the army of Svatopluk, the Moravian prince in the region of Bánhida. Coal mining started in the region at the end of the 19th century, which gave a new, industrial character to the area. As a result, the mine of Tatabánya was established.

The town was formed on 10 October 1947 by uniting Alsógalla, Felsőgalla, Bánhida and Tatabánya. The new town became the seat of county Komárom in 1950, and it was given the rank of a county town in 1991. Tatabánya was mainly a mining and industrial town until the change of the political regime. The village of Galla was mentioned in records as early as 1251. In Bánhida traces of a settlement from the period of the Hungarian conquest were found, where, according to a legend, Árpád defeated the troops led by Svatopluk, Moravian prince.

On Stone hill offering a beautiful view a statue of a Turul bird was erected in memory of the victory at Bánhida. Cave Szelim, which is famous for the findings from the prehistoric period, opens from the rock walls. The mining town lying in the valley of the brook Galla is an economic and tourism centre. It is one of the most dynamically developing towns of Hungary.