The asteroid belt is located in the region of space between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. It is a torus-shaped (ring-like) area centered on the Sun, roughly spanning from about 2.2 to 3.2 astronomical units (AU) from the Sun, which translates to approximately 330 million to 480 million kilometers away

. This belt separates the inner terrestrial planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars) from the outer gas giant planets (Jupiter and beyond)

. The asteroid belt contains millions of asteroids, ranging in size from tiny rocks to dwarf planets like Ceres, the largest object in the belt

. Despite popular depictions, the belt is mostly empty space, with asteroids spread far apart on average by about 600,000 kilometers

. The gravitational influence of Jupiter prevented these objects from coalescing into a planet, leaving them as remnants from the early solar system

. In summary, the asteroid belt is a vast, mostly sparse collection of rocky bodies orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter, approximately 2.2 to 3.2 AU from the Sun