Sevan is a town and urban municipal community, as well as one of the most popular resorts in Armenia, located in the Gegharkunik Province on the northwestern shores of Lake Sevan. The town is built at a height of more than 1,925 metres (6,316 feet) above sea level, 65 km (40 mi) northeast of the capital Yerevan, and 35 km (22 mi) north of the provincial centre Gavar.

Sevan is surrounded by the Sevan National Park, a natural protected area extending from the northeastern parts of the town to the southwest, while Lake Sevan forms the natural border of the city to the east.

As of the 2011 census, the population of the town was 19,229, and as per the 2016 official estimate, the population of Sevan is 19,200.

Sevan National Park was founded in 1978 to protect the Lake Sevan and the surrounding regions, under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Nature Protection, managed as a research centre, monitoring the ecosystems and undertakes various conservation measures. Licensed fishing around the lake is also regulated.

The national reserve occupies major territories around the Lake Sevan, extended from the northeastern parts of the town to the southwest. The area comprises 1,501 square kilometres (580 sq mi), of which 24,900 hectares (61,529 acres) are lakeside lands. It is surrounded with the slopes of mountain chains of Areguni, Geghama, Vardenis, Pambak and Sevan. Some 1600 plant and 330 animal species are found here. The park is divided into 3 zones: national reserve, recreation zone and economic use zone.

The basin of Lake Sevan is a crossroad for mesophile and Armenian-Iranian xerophile flora belts.

However, scientific researches about the mammals of the Sevan basin are quite poor. Wolf, jackal, fox, marten and cat, are usually found in the national reserve.

The Sevan Botanical Garden covering an area of 5 hectares, is located at a height of 2000 meters above sea level and is home to more than 650 local, North American Asian and European species. It is operating since 1944 as a satellite of the Yerevan Botanical Garden under the supervision of the Armenian National Academy of Sciences.