The Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey constituency was one of three Westminster constituencies covering the Highland council area, the other two being Ross, Skye and Lochaber and Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross. Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey covers a south-eastern portion of the council area, with Ross, Skye and Lochaber to its north and west, and Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross further north.
When created in 2005, the Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey constituency covered 31 out of the 80 wards of the council area: 22 wards (all except Beauly and Strathglass) of the Inverness area committee, all four wards of the Nairn area committee and all five wards of the Badenoch and Strathspey area committee. Following ward boundary changes in 2007, the constituency covers all 5 Inverness wards, Culloden & Ardersier, Nairn and Badenoch & Strathspey. It contains part of Ard & Loch Ness and a few corners of Caol & Mallaig, Fort William & Ardnamurchan and Wester Ross, Strathpeffer & Lochalsh.
The City of Inverness, for which letters patent were granted in 2001, may be supposed to lie within the Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey constituency, but this city lacks clearly defined boundaries. The Highland Council management area of Inverness, as defined 1996 to 2007, included the former burgh of Inverness, as abolished in 1975, and the urban area centred on the burgh, and these do lie within the constituency. The management area included also a large rural area. As of 2007, the council has a city management area consisting of seven of the nine wards of its Inverness, Nairn and Badenoch and Strathspey corporate management area. The boundaries of this city management are similar to those of the older management area.