It is located in a wide valley of glacial origin, in the first widening that Noguera Pallaresa finds when leaving behind the closed Vall d'Isil. The town is located in a flat area between the Noguera Pallaresa and the Rio de Son, at the foot of the south-western foothills of the Faro. Esterri d'Àneu has the smallest municipality in the Pallars Sobirà region and, on the other hand, the second most populated, after the head of the region, Sort.
Despite not being a very large population (it does not reach 1,000 inhabitants), it is truly the capital of the Vall d'Àneu, both for services (medical, educational, commercial, etc.) and for being the natural meeting point for the whole of towns in the four municipalities of the valley: Alt Àneu, Espot, Esterri d'Àneu and Guingueta d'Àneu. It should be noted, for example, that in all of Pallars Sobirà there are only two public secondary education centers: Sort and Esterri d'Àneu.
It preserves a cross at the top of Carrer Major which, according to tradition, dates from 1633, made by the French. There is also the Pont d'Esterri d'Àneu, Romanesque, with two eyes, above the Noguera Pallaresa.
According to Joan Coromines, Esterri is one of the many Pyrenean toponyms of Basque origin. Two Basque roots come together, eto (fence, full) and erri (place, place): the place of the fence. The second part of the toponym refers to the valley where it is located: Vall d'Àneu. The toponym "Àneu" also comes from the pre-Roman anabi, meaning blueberry.