It is located in the southern part of the City of Brussels, near the border with the municipality of Ixelles, where it runs parallel to the Bois de la Cambre/Ter Kamerenbos.

The avenue was laid out in 1922, according to the wishes of King Leopold II, through the site of the Brussels International Exposition of 1910.

[4] In spite of Brussels' city planning free-for-all between the end of the Second World War and the late 1960s, the appearance of the Avenue Franklin Roosevelt has mostly remained unchanged over time; the vast majority of its buildings is indeed very well preserved, and some of them are now classified as historic monuments.

The Solbosch campus of the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), a French-speaking university, with about 20,000 students, is also situated on the Avenue Franklin Roosevelt.

The Avenue Franklin Roosevelt houses many embassies, including from the City of Brussels towards Watermael-Boitsfort: