This species ranges from Somalia, coastal Kenya, and northern Tanzania southwards to the Zambezi valley, and across south-central Africa to central Angola (Benguela) (Jolly 1993). There are hybrid zones with Papio anubis near Sultan Hamud, Kenya (2°02'S, 37°23'E), Amboseli National Park (Kenya) and Mkomazi Reserve in Tanzania. There is a broad clinal hybrid zone between Laikipia District, just to the north-east and east of Mt. Kenya, and the Lower Tana River, Kenya coast. Baboons in this >200-km wide region are intermediate and cannot be readily allocated to either P. anubis or P. cynocephalus (baboons become increasingly “yellow-like” in their phenotypes towards the Kenya Coast; T. Butynski and Y. de Jong pers. comm.). Sympatric with Cercopithecus pygerythrus, Erythrocebus patas and Cercopithecus mitis (T. Butynski and Y. de Jong pers. comm.).

There are three subspecies: P. c. cynocephalus occurs in the central and south-eastern parts of the range including Zambia east of the Luangwa, Malawi, northern Mozambique, and most of Tanzania; P. c. ibeanus is found in southern Somalia, and south-east and coastal Kenya; P. c. kindae is found on the upper Zambezi in south-western Zambia.