Located not far from the sea, Unity City is the capital of the United Territory and likely the most populous city on the planet Nox. It sits on the northern shore of the Ruvilian Sea, at the mouth of the Motlava River. The old town, a remnant of the Kingdom era, the monotonous, prefabricated apartment buildings resembling matchboxes, the elegant commercial districts along neatly maintained tree-lined boulevards, the industrial wonders of steel trusses and concrete and the modernist sculptures and architecture showcasing Earth's power and art, all these elements combine to form this city, forged in a sense of urgency.

The ancient name of the present-day site of Unity City was Salai, said to mean "palace" in Samoyedic. After the rise of the Ruvilian Kingdom, the old Salai was conquered and burned. It wasn't until 100 years before the arrival of Earthlings, due to the development of the nitrate industry and the Motlava River waterway trade, that a new Salai, surrounded by bastions, was rebuilt.

At the time, the Motlava River followed a very peculiar course: it initially rushed towards the Ruvilian Sea at a near-vertical angle, then made a sharp left turn less than 6 kilometers from the coast, meandering parallel to the shore for 30 kilometers before finally flowing into the sea. After the foundation stone of Unity City was laid in 1975, the Earthlings constructed a water conservancy project to straighten the Motlava River and direct it into the sea. This way, the river's silt is discharged directly into the ocean, preventing channel siltation, while the original riverbed can continue to function as a canal and for irrigation.