Universitas Nasional (UNAS) is located in the sourthern part of the city of Jakarta, a historical city known as Batavia, the 17th Century center for the Dutch East Indies trade activities. As the capital city of Indonesia, Jakarta is a province with a special status governs by a governor. Like all cities in Indonesia, Jakarta is divided into five kotamadya or municipalities, each headed by a mayor, and one kabupaten or regency headed by a regent. The cities of Jakarta are central Jakarta (Jakarta Pusat),  the smallest city and home to most of Jakarta’s administrative and political center; West Jakarta (Jakarta Barat) which  has the highest concentration of small-scale industries in Jakarta; South Jakarta (Jakarta Selatan), the location of large upscale shopping centres and affluent residential areas and Jakarta’s ground water buffer; East Jakarta (Jakarta Timur) which is characterized by several industrial sectors,  swamps, and rice fields; and North Jakarta (Jakarta Utara), the only city in Jakarta that is bounded by the Java Sea and is the location of the Tanjung Priok Port and the big-scale and medium-scale industries. The only regency of Jakarta is the Thousand Islands (Kepulauan Seribu), formerly a sub district of North Jakarta, which has a collection of 105 small islands, with its high conservation value because of its unique and special ecosystems.

Jakarta is located on the northwest coast of Java, at the mouth of the Ciliwung River on Jakarta Bay. Officially, the area of the Jakarta Special District is 662 km2 of land area and 6,977 km2 of sea area. It has a hot and humid tropical wet and dry climate. Despite being located relatively close to the equator, the city has distinct wet and dry seasons. Wet seasons in Jakarta cover the majority of the year, running from November through June. The remaining four months forms the city’s dry season. Located in the western-part of Indonesia, Jakarta’s wet season rainfall peak is January with average monthly rainfall of 385 millimetres (15.2 in), and its dry season low point is September with a monthly average of 29 millimetres (1.1 in).

As the economic and political capital of Indonesia, Jakarta blends the Betawi culture with the other ethnic cultures and produces the Jakarta dialect or Betawi language and a mixture of arts. There are Gambang Kromong (a mixture of Betawi and Chinese music), Tanjidor (a mixture between Betawi and Portuguese music), and Maramis (a mixture between Betawi and Yaman music). Annual festivals such as Jalan Jaksa Festival, Kemang Festival, and Salihara Festival also show Betawi arts in collaboration with international artists. There has also the Chinese community who has been residing in Jakarta for many centuries. Officially, they make up 8% of the population.
Jakarta has several performing art centers, such as the Taman Ismail Marzuki or TIM art center in Cikini, Gedung Kesenian Jakarta  near Pasar Baru, Balai Sarbini in Plaza Semanggi area, Bentara Budaya Jakarta in Palmerah area, Pasar Seni  or Art Market in Ancol, traditional Indonesian art performances at the pavilions of some Provinces in Taman Mini Indonesia Indah or TMII, and the  Javanese Wayang Orang performance at the Wayang Orang Bharata theater near Senen bus terminal. Jakarta also hosts several prestigious art and culture festivals, and exhibitions, such as the annual Jakarta International Film Festival or JiFFest, Jakarta International Java Jazz Festival, Jakarta Fashion Week, Jakarta Fashion & Food Festival or JFFF, Indonesia Creative Products and Jakarta Arts and Crafts exhibition, Flora and Fauna exhibition, held annually in August at Lapangan Banteng park featuring flowers, plant nurseries, and pets, and the Jakarta Fair held annually from mid June to mid July to celebrate the anniversary of the city and is largely centered around a trade fair.  Besides being the location for the foreign embassies in Indonesia, Jakarta also has several foreign art and culture centers that mainly serve to promote culture and language through learning centers, libraries, and art galleries, such as the Netherlands’ Taal Centrum Erasmus Huis, the French Centre Culturel Français, the German Goethe Institut, the Italian language center, the Japan Foundation, and the Indian Jawaharlal Nehru Cultural Center.

It is in this dynamic city that Universitas Nasional (UNAS), the first private university in Jakarta and second  oldest university in Indonesia,  was established in 1949 along hundreds of other private and state universities.