Disclosed are a geo-fencing based location detection method and electronic device, and the method includes: obtaining present geographic coordinates of a terminal, when an update of location of the terminal is detected; and checking whether or not the obtained geographic coordinates are within a rectangular coverage area denoted by any leaf node in a pre-built tree data structure, and if they are, obtaining an actual coverage area of a polygonal geo-fence within the rectangular coverage area; checking whether or not the geographic coordinates are in the actual coverage area of the polygonal geo-fence, and outputting a checking result.