diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/axes/_axes.pyi b/lib/matplotlib/axes/_axes.pyi
index c3eb28d2f095..c9889049a9d8 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/axes/_axes.pyi
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/axes/_axes.pyi
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ from collections.abc import Callable, Iterable, Sequence
 from typing import Any, Literal, overload
 import numpy as np
 from numpy.typing import ArrayLike
-from matplotlib.typing import ColorType, MarkerType, LineStyleType
+from matplotlib.typing import ColorType, MarkerType, LegendLocType, LineStyleType
 
 class Axes(_AxesBase):
     def get_title(self, loc: Literal["left", "center", "right"] = ...) -> str: ...
@@ -58,13 +58,16 @@ class Axes(_AxesBase):
     @overload
     def legend(self) -> Legend: ...
     @overload
-    def legend(self, handles: Iterable[Artist | tuple[Artist, ...]], labels: Iterable[str], **kwargs) -> Legend: ...
+    def legend(self, handles: Iterable[Artist | tuple[Artist, ...]], labels: Iterable[str],
+               *, loc: LegendLocType | None = ..., **kwargs) -> Legend: ...
     @overload
-    def legend(self, *, handles: Iterable[Artist | tuple[Artist, ...]], **kwargs) -> Legend: ...
+    def legend(self, *, handles: Iterable[Artist | tuple[Artist, ...]],
+               loc: LegendLocType | None = ..., **kwargs) -> Legend: ...
     @overload
-    def legend(self, labels: Iterable[str], **kwargs) -> Legend: ...
+    def legend(self, labels: Iterable[str],
+               *, loc: LegendLocType | None = ..., **kwargs) -> Legend: ...
     @overload
-    def legend(self, **kwargs) -> Legend: ...
+    def legend(self, *, loc: LegendLocType | None = ..., **kwargs) -> Legend: ...
 
     def inset_axes(
         self,
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/figure.pyi b/lib/matplotlib/figure.pyi
index e7c5175d8af9..5119de15c83b 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/figure.pyi
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/figure.pyi
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ from matplotlib.text import Text
 from matplotlib.transforms import Affine2D, Bbox, BboxBase, Transform
 from mpl_toolkits.mplot3d import Axes3D
 
-from .typing import ColorType, HashableList
+from .typing import ColorType, HashableList, LegendLocType
 
 _T = TypeVar("_T")
 
@@ -151,13 +151,16 @@ class FigureBase(Artist):
     @overload
     def legend(self) -> Legend: ...
     @overload
-    def legend(self, handles: Iterable[Artist], labels: Iterable[str], **kwargs) -> Legend: ...
+    def legend(self, handles: Iterable[Artist], labels: Iterable[str],
+               *, loc: LegendLocType | None = ..., **kwargs) -> Legend: ...
     @overload
-    def legend(self, *, handles: Iterable[Artist], **kwargs) -> Legend: ...
+    def legend(self, *, handles: Iterable[Artist],
+               loc: LegendLocType | None = ..., **kwargs) -> Legend: ...
     @overload
-    def legend(self, labels: Iterable[str], **kwargs) -> Legend: ...
+    def legend(self, labels: Iterable[str],
+               *, loc: LegendLocType | None = ..., **kwargs) -> Legend: ...
     @overload
-    def legend(self, **kwargs) -> Legend: ...
+    def legend(self, *, loc: LegendLocType | None = ..., **kwargs) -> Legend: ...
 
     def text(
         self,
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/legend.pyi b/lib/matplotlib/legend.pyi
index dde5882da69d..c03471fc54d1 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/legend.pyi
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/legend.pyi
@@ -14,12 +14,13 @@ from matplotlib.transforms import (
     BboxBase,
     Transform,
 )
+from matplotlib.typing import ColorType, LegendLocType
 
 
 import pathlib
 from collections.abc import Iterable
 from typing import Any, Literal, overload
-from .typing import ColorType
+
 
 class DraggableLegend(DraggableOffsetBox):
     legend: Legend
@@ -55,7 +56,7 @@ class Legend(Artist):
         handles: Iterable[Artist | tuple[Artist, ...]],
         labels: Iterable[str],
         *,
-        loc: str | tuple[float, float] | int | None = ...,
+        loc: LegendLocType | None = ...,
         numpoints: int | None = ...,
         markerscale: float | None = ...,
         markerfirst: bool = ...,
@@ -118,7 +119,7 @@ class Legend(Artist):
     def get_texts(self) -> list[Text]: ...
     def set_alignment(self, alignment: Literal["center", "left", "right"]) -> None: ...
     def get_alignment(self) -> Literal["center", "left", "right"]: ...
-    def set_loc(self, loc: str | tuple[float, float] | int | None = ...) -> None: ...
+    def set_loc(self, loc: LegendLocType | None = ...) -> None: ...
     def set_title(
         self, title: str, prop: FontProperties | str | pathlib.Path | None = ...
     ) -> None: ...
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/typing.py b/lib/matplotlib/typing.py
index df192df76b33..17f1bcf41720 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/typing.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/typing.py
@@ -107,3 +107,24 @@
 _HT = TypeVar("_HT", bound=Hashable)
 HashableList: TypeAlias = list[_HT | "HashableList[_HT]"]
 """A nested list of Hashable values."""
+
+
+LegendLocType: TypeAlias = (
+    Literal[
+        # for simplicity, we don't distinguish the between allowed positions for
+        # Axes legend and figure legend. It's still better to limit the allowed
+        # range to the union of both rather than to accept arbitrary strings
+        "upper right", "upper left", "lower left", "lower right",
+        "right", "center left", "center right", "lower center", "upper center",
+        "center",
+        # Axes only
+        "best",
+        # Figure only
+        "outside upper left", "outside upper center", "outside upper right",
+        "outside right upper", "outside right center", "outside right lower",
+        "outside lower right", "outside lower center", "outside lower left",
+        "outside left lower", "outside left center", "outside left upper",
+    ] |
+    tuple[float, float] |
+    int
+)