View source for List of oldest universities in continuous operation

{{Short description|none}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2018}}
{{broader|Ancient higher-learning institutions}}
[[File:Archiginnasio ora blu Bologna.jpg|thumb|The [[University of Bologna]] in [[Bologna]], Italy, founded in 1088, the world's oldest university in continuous operation.<ref name="de Ridder-Symoens">de Ridder-Symoens, Hilde: [https://books.google.com/books?id=5Z1VBEbF0HAC ''A History of the University in Europe: Volume 1, Universities in the Middle Ages''], Cambridge University Press, 1992, {{ISBN|0-521-36105-2}}, pp. 47–55</ref>]]
[[File:1 christ church hall 2012.jpg|thumb|A dining hall at the [[University of Oxford]] in [[Oxford]], England, the world's second-oldest university and oldest in the [[English-speaking world]].]]
[[File:Cam colls from johns.jpg|thumb|A partial view of the [[University of Cambridge]] in [[Cambridge]], England, the world's third-oldest university.]]
[[File:ChiostroPietroMartireNapoli.jpg|thumb|Established in 1224 by [[Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick II]] during his rule as [[King of Sicily]], the [[University of Naples Federico II]] in [[Naples]], Italy is the world's oldest state-funded university in continuous operation.<ref name="Storia d'Italia">{{Cite book |title=Storia d'Italia |date=7 August 1981 |publisher=UTET |isbn=88-02-03568-7 |volume=4 |location=Torino |page=122|language=it}}</ref><ref name="Delle Donne">{{cite book|first=Fulvio|last=Delle Donne|title=Storia dello Studium di Napoli in età sveva|publisher=Mario Adda Editore|year=2010|language=it|isbn=978-8880828419|pages=9–10}}</ref>]]
This is a '''list of the oldest existing universities in continuous operation''' in the world.

Inclusion in this list is determined by the date at which the educational institute first met the traditional definition of a [[university]] used by academic historians{{refn|"The statement that all universities are descended either directly or by migration from these three prototypes [Oxford, Paris, and Bologna] depends, of course, on one's definition of a university. And I must define a university very strictly here. A university is something more than a center of higher education and study. One must reserve the term "university" for—and I'm quoting Rashdall here—'a scholastic guild, whether of masters or students, engaged in higher education and study," which was later defined, after the emergence of universities, as "studium generale'."<ref name="Hyde 1991">{{cite book | last = Hyde | first = J. K. | editor-last = Bender | editor-first = Thomas | chapter = Universities and Cities in Medieval Italy | title = The University and the City: From Medieval Origins to the Present | place = Oxford | publisher = Oxford University Press | year = 1991 | pages = 13–14 | isbn = 978-0-19-506775-0 }}</ref>|group=Note}}{{Specify |reason=the source does not claim this is the definition used by most or all academic historians |date=February 2021}} although it may have existed as a different kind of institution before that time.<ref name="Hyde 1991" /> This definition limits the term "university" to institutions with distinctive structural and legal features that developed in [[Europe]], and which make the university form different from other institutions of higher learning in the pre-modern world, even though these may sometimes now be referred to popularly as universities.

To be included in the list, the university must have been founded prior to 1500 in Europe or be the oldest university derived from the medieval European model in a country or region. It must also still be in operation, with institutional continuity retained throughout its history. So some early universities, including the [[University of Paris]], founded around the beginning of the 13th century<ref name=Verger/> but abolished by the [[French Revolution]] in 1793,<ref name="Jones, 2006">{{cite book | last = Jones | first = Colin | chapter = Queen of Cities | title = Paris : The Biography of a City  | place = Paris | publisher = Penguin Books | year = 2006 | pages = 60 | isbn = 978-0-14-303671-5}}</ref> are excluded. Some institutions reemerge, but with new foundations, such as the modern University of Paris, which came into existence in 1896 after the ''Louis Liard law'' disbanded [[Napoleon]]'s [[University of France]] system.

The word "university" is derived from the [[Latin]] {{lang|la|universitas magistrorum et scholarium}}, which approximately means "community of teachers and scholars." The [[University of Bologna]] in [[Bologna]], Italy, where teaching began around 1088 and which was organised into a university in the late 12th century, is the world's oldest university in continuous operation,<ref name="de Ridder-Symoens"/> and the first university in the sense of a higher-learning and degree-awarding institute.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wyjnHZ1IIlgC&pg=PA18 |title=The Challenge of Bologna|author=Paul L. Gaston |year=2010 |page=18 |publisher=Stylus |isbn=978-1-57922-366-3 |access-date=25 December 2022}}</ref><ref name="Hunt Janin 2008">Hunt Janin: "The university in medieval life, 1179–1499", McFarland, 2008, {{ISBN|0-7864-3462-7}}, p. 55f.</ref><ref name="de Ridder-Symoens"/> The origin of many [[Medieval university|medieval universities]] can be traced back to the [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] [[cathedral school]]s or [[monastic school]]s, which appeared as early as the 6th century and were run for hundreds of years prior to their formal establishment as universities in the [[High Middle Ages|high medieval period]].<ref name="Riché 1978 126–7, 282–98">{{Cite book | last = Riché | first = Pierre | title = Education and Culture in the Barbarian West: From the Sixth through the Eighth Century | publisher = University of South Carolina Press | location = Columbia | year = 1978 | isbn = 978-0-87249-376-6 |pages=126–127, 282–298}}</ref>

[[Ancient higher-learning institutions]], such as those of [[ancient Greece]], [[History of science and technology in Africa|Africa]], [[History of Iran|ancient Persia]], [[ancient Rome]], [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantium]], [[ancient China]], [[History of India|ancient India]] and the [[Muslim world|Islamic world]], are not included in this list owing to their cultural, historical, structural and legal differences from the medieval European university from which the modern university evolved.{{refn|"No one today would dispute the fact that universities, in the sense in which the term is now generally understood, were a creation of the [[Middle Ages]], appearing for the first time between the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. It is no doubt true that other civilizations, prior to, or wholly alien to, the [[Middle Ages|medieval]] [[Western world|West]], such as the [[Roman Empire]], [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantium]], [[History of Islam|Islam]], or [[Ancient China|China]], were familiar with forms of higher education which a number of historians, for the sake of convenience, have sometimes described as universities. Yet a closer look makes it plain that the institutional reality was altogether different and, no matter what has been said on the subject, there is no real link such as would justify us in associating them with [[Medieval university|medieval universities]] in the West. Until there is definite proof to the contrary, these latter must be regarded as the sole source of the model which gradually spread through the whole of Europe and then to the whole world. We are therefore concerned with what is indisputably an original institution, which can only be defined in terms of a historical analysis of its emergence and its mode of operation in concrete circumstances."<ref>Verger, Jacques: "Patterns", in: Ridder-Symoens, Hilde de (ed.): ''A History of the University in Europe. Vol. I: Universities in the Middle Ages'', Cambridge University Press, 2003, {{ISBN|978-0-521-54113-8}}, pp.&nbsp;35–76 (35):</ref>|group=Note}}{{refn|"Thus the university, as a form of social organization, was peculiar to [[medieval Europe]]. Later, it was exported to all parts of the world, including the [[Muslim]] East; and it has remained with us down to the present day. But back in the Middle Ages, outside of Europe, there was nothing anything quite like it anywhere."<ref>Makdisi, George: "Madrasa and University in the Middle Ages", ''[[Studia Islamica]]'', No. 32 (1970), pp.&nbsp;255–264 (264):</ref>|group=Note}}<ref name="Rüegg">Rüegg, Walter: "Foreword. The University as a European Institution", in: ''A History of the University in Europe. Vol. 1: Universities in the Middle Ages'', Cambridge University Press, 1992, {{ISBN|0-521-36105-2}}, pp. XIX–XX.</ref> These include the [[University of al-Qarawiyyin]], [[University of Ez-Zitouna]] and [[Al-Azhar University]], which were founded as [[mosque]]s in 859,<ref name="al-Qarawiyyin">{{cite journal |last1=Tibawi |first1=A. L. |title=Reviewed Work: Jami' al-Qarawiyyin: al-Masjid wa'l-Jami'ah bi Madinat Fas (Mausu'ah li-Tarikhiha al-Mi'mari wa'l-Fikri). Al Qaraouiyyine: la Mosquée-Université de Fès (histoire architecturale et intellectuelle) by Abdul-Hadi at-Tazi |journal=Arab Studies Quarterly |date=Summer 1980 |volume=2 |issue=3 |pages=286–288 |jstor=41859050 |language=en}}</ref> 698 or 734,<ref name="Ez-Zitouna">{{Cite book |last=Deeb |first=Mary-Jane |author-link=Mary-Jane Deeb |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordencycloped04espo/page/374/mode/2up |title=The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1995 |editor-last=Esposito |editor-first=John L. |pages=374–375 |language=en |chapter=Zaytūnah}}</ref> and 972<ref name="Al-Azhar">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5FlVDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA16#v=onepage&q&f=false|title= Tradition and Islamic Learning|publisher= ISEAS Publishing/Cambridge University Press|pages=16–17|chapter=Chapter 2 - The Al-Azhar University: A Historical Sketch|author=Norshahril Saat}}</ref> respectively. These developed associated [[madrasa]]s; the dates when organised teaching began are uncertain, but by 1129 for al-Qarawiyyin<ref name="al-Qarawiyyin"/> in the 13th century for Ez-Zitouna,<ref name="Ez-Zitouna"/> and Al-Azhar.<ref name="Al-Azhar"/> They became universities in 1963, 1956 and 1961 respectively.{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}}

== Medieval origins ==
{{Main|Medieval university}}
The university as an [[institution]] was historically rooted in [[Middle Ages|medieval]] society, which it in turn influenced and shaped. Academic historian Walter Rüegg asserts that:<ref name="Rüegg"/>

{{blockquote|The university is a European institution; indeed, it is the European institution ''par excellence''. There are various reasons for this assertion. As a community of teachers and taught, accorded certain rights, such as [[Academic freedom|administrative autonomy]] and the determination and realisation of curricula (courses of study) and of the objectives of research as well as the award of publicly recognised degrees, it is a creation of [[Middle Ages|medieval Europe]], which was the Europe of [[Pope|papal]] Christianity [...].}}

== Modern spread ==
From the [[early modern period]] onwards, the university spread from the [[Western culture#The birth of the European West during the Middle Ages|medieval Latin West]] across the globe, eventually replacing [[Ancient higher-learning institutions|all other higher-learning institutions]] and becoming the preeminent institution for higher education everywhere. The process occurred in the following chronological order:<ref>Rüegg, Walter (ed.): ''Geschichte der Universität in Europa'', 3 vols., C.H. Beck, München 1993, {{ISBN|3-406-36956-1}}</ref>
* Southern and Western Europe (from the 11th or 12th century)
* Central and Northern Europe (from the 14th or 15th century)
* Americas (from the 16th century)
* Australia (from the 19th century)
* Asia and Africa (from the 19th or 20th century), with the exception of the [[Philippines]], where the [[University of Santo Tomas]] was established in the 17th century.

== Founded as universities before 1500 ==
{{Main|List of medieval universities}}
[[File:Mediaeval universities.jpg|thumb|upright=1.6|A 1911 map of [[Medieval university|medieval universities]] in Europe]]
This list includes [[medieval universities]] that were founded before 1500 and which have retained institutional continuity since then (excluding not only those that ceased to exist, but also those that merged into or split away to an institution which is regarded as newly established). Several of these have been closed for brief periods: for example the [[University of Siena]] was closed 1805{{ndash}}1815 during [[Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic)|the Napoleonic wars]], and universities in the [[Czech Republic]] and [[Poland]] were closed during [[German-occupied Europe|Nazi occupation]], 1938–1945.

Universities are dated from when, according to scholars, they first met the definition of a university. In cases such as the universities of [[University of Bologna|Bologna]] and [[University of Oxford|Oxford]] which trace their history back to teaching in individual schools prior to their formation into a university, or which existed in another form prior to being a university, the date in the list below is thus later than the date given by the institutions for their foundation.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/oxford/low/people_and_places/history/newsid_8405000/8405640.stm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201107223547/http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/oxford/low/people_and_places/history/newsid_8405000/8405640.stm | archive-date=7 November 2020 | title=BBC - Oxford - the hanging of the clerks in 1209 | date=18 December 2009 }}</ref>
{{clear}}
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! width="10%" rowspan=2 | Year
! rowspan=2 | University
! colspan=2 | Location
! width="50%" rowspan=2 | Notes
|-
! Original !! Current
|- valign="top"
| 1180–1190<ref name="Verger Bologna">{{cite book|title=[[A History of the University in Europe]]|volume=1, Universities in the Middle Ages|page=48|chapter=Patterns|author=Jacques Verger|editor1=Hilde de Ridder-Symoens|editor2=Walter Rüegg|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|date=16 October 2003|isbn=9780521541138|quote=There is no indication, however, that up until around 1180, the Bolognese law schools were anything other than private schools opened and run by each master after his own fashion, gathering together the students that had entered into an agreement with him and paid him fees (collectae) in return for his teaching. The crucial change would seem to have taken place around the years 1180–90. ... The masters, who were themselves mainly Bolognese in origin, agreed from 1189 to swear an oath to the commune not to seek to transfer the ''studium'' elsewhere. The students, on the other hand, began to group themselves in nations, according to their places of origin (we hear of the Lombard nation as early as 1191), and these were soon federated into 'universities' with elected rectors at their head.
|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5Z1VBEbF0HAC&pg=PA48}}</ref><br>(teaching from {{circa|1088}})
| [[University of Bologna]]
| [[File:Corona ferrea monza (heraldry).svg|24px]] [[Kingdom of Italy (Holy Roman Empire)|Kingdom of Italy]],<br />{{flag|Holy Roman Empire}}
| {{flagicon|Italy}} [[Bologna]], Italy
| Law schools existed in Bologna from the second half of the 12th century, with 1088 often considered to be the date on which teaching outside of ecclesiastical schools began.<ref name="Verger Bologna"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.unibo.it/en/university/who-we-are/our-history/university-from-12th-to-20th-century|title=The University from the 12th to the 20th century|publisher=University of Bologna|access-date=14 February 2021|archive-date=5 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210405221329/https://www.unibo.it/en/university/who-we-are/our-history/university-from-12th-to-20th-century|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1158, petitions by Bolognese doctors of law led to Emperor [[Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor|Barbarossa]] granting the "Authentic ''Habita''", which granted various rights to students and masters but did not name Bologna or any other particular place of study.<ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/universitiesinpo0000unse/page/34/mode/2up|author=J.K. Hyde|pages=34–35|date=1972|publisher=Johns Hopkins Press|editor1=John W. Baldwin|editor2=Richard A. Goldthwaite|chapter=Commune, University, and Society in Early Medieval Bologna|title=Universities in politics; case studies from the late Middle Ages and early modern period|isbn=9780801813726}}</ref> However, it is unlikely that the university had become organised by the 1150s, and this may have been as late as the 1180s.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UcmTz4j-XIIC|page=6|title=The Universities of the Italian Renaissance|author=Paul F. Grendler|publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press|date=3 November 2004|isbn=9781421404233|quote=it is not likely that enough instruction and organization existed to merit the term university before the 1150s, and it might not have happened before the 1180s|access-date=25 March 2021|archive-date=25 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230425164501/https://books.google.com/books?id=UcmTz4j-XIIC|url-status=live}}</ref> The law schools appear to have remained independent, private entities until around 1180, but became organised over the following decade. In 1189 the masters made an agreement with the commune not to transfer the ''studium'' to another town, while the Lombard students were organised into a "[[Nation (university)|nation]]" by 1191.<ref name="Verger Bologna"/><ref name="Brockliss Bologna Paris">{{cite book|quote=The first indications of the gestation of a scholars' guild comes from Bologna in 1189 when the commune forced the masters to swear not to transfer the ''studium'' to another town. Thereafter, evidence confirming that Bologna had become a ''universitas'' and announcing similar developments elsewhere proliferate. The collective identity of the many Paris schools received some sort of official recognition in 1194 when their scholars were implicitly given a grant of clerical immunity by Pope Celestine III, which were confirmed six years later by the king, Philip II. By 1208 a university had definitely begun to take shape. In that year the city's bishop, who claimed the right to license private teachers and interfere in their teaching, accepted that the masters could form an autonomous guild and police themselves, albeit under his ultimate control. In 1215 the pope blessed this arrangement by granting the fledgling university is first statutes.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iMDmCwAAQBAJ&pg=PR46|title=The University of Oxford: A History|author=L. W. B. Brockliss|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|date=2016|page=6|isbn=9780199243563|access-date=29 March 2021|archive-date=25 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230425164502/https://books.google.com/books?id=iMDmCwAAQBAJ&pg=PR46|url-status=live}}</ref>
|- valign="top"
| 1200–1214<ref name="Verger Oxford">{{cite book|quote=There were schools in operation in Oxford from at least as early as the middle of the twelfth century; an embryonic university organization was in existence from 1200, even before the first papal statutes (1214), which were complemented by royal charters, had established its first institutions|pages=52–53|title=[[A History of the University in Europe]]|volume=1, Universities in the Middle Ages|chapter=Patterns|author=Jacques Verger|editor1=Hilde de Ridder-Symoens|editor2=Walter Rüegg|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|date=16 October 2003|isbn=9780521541138|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5Z1VBEbF0HAC&pg=PA52}}</ref><br>(teaching from {{circa|1096}})
| [[University of Oxford]]
| {{flag|Kingdom of England}}
| {{flagicon|UK}} [[Oxford]], United Kingdom
| Teaching existed in Oxford from the late 11th century,<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iMDmCwAAQBAJ&pg=PR51|title=The University of Oxford: A History|author=L. W. B. Brockliss|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|date=2016|page=11|isbn=9780199243563|access-date=29 March 2021|archive-date=14 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220714161346/https://books.google.com/books?id=iMDmCwAAQBAJ&pg=PR51|url-status=live}}</ref> with the university giving the date of 1096 for the earliest classes.<ref name="OxHist">{{cite web |url=http://www.ox.ac.uk/about/organisation/history |title=Introduction and history |publisher=University of Oxford |quote=As the oldest university in the English speaking world, Oxford is a unique and historic institution. There is no clear date of foundation of Oxford University, but teaching existed at Oxford in some form in 1096 and developed rapidly from 1167, when Henry II banned English students from attending the University of Paris. |access-date=4 February 2017 |archive-date=20 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141020082611/http://www.ox.ac.uk/about/organisation/history |url-status=live }}</ref> However, it was not until the early 13th century that the schools in Oxford took on an organised character. In 1201 a papal letter described John Grimm as ''magister scolarum Oxonie''.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7zorDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA48|title=The Medieval English Universities: Oxford and Cambridge to C. 1500|author= Alan B. Cobban|page=48|publisher=Taylor & Francis|date= 5 July 2017|isbn=9781351885805}}</ref> In 1209 the masters suspended their teaching in Oxford and moved to other towns (including [[Cambridge]], leading to the foundation of the [[University of Cambridge|university there]]),<ref name="Oxford1209">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/oxford/low/people_and_places/history/newsid_8405000/8405640.stm|date=18 December 2009|title=The hanging of the clerks in 1209|work=[[BBC News]]|author=Simon Bailey|access-date=26 July 2019|archive-date=7 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201107223547/http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/oxford/low/people_and_places/history/newsid_8405000/8405640.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> returning after a [[Papal bull|bull]] issued on 20 June 1214 by the [[papal legate]], [[Niccolò de Romanis]], that granted a number of rights to the university and established the office of [[Chancellor (university)|chancellor]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iMDmCwAAQBAJ&pg=PR53|title=The University of Oxford: A History|author=L. W. B. Brockliss|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|date=2016|pages=13–16|isbn=9780199243563|access-date=29 March 2021|archive-date=25 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230425164503/https://books.google.com/books?id=iMDmCwAAQBAJ&pg=PR53|url-status=live}}</ref> Both Oxford and Cambridge were granted rights of discipline over students and of fixing rents in letters issued by King [[Henry III of England|Henry III]] in 1231.<ref name=Carpenter>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FLbdk_L9TYQC&pg=PA463|page=463|title=The Struggle for Mastery: Britain, 1066–1284|author=David A. Carpenter|publisher=Oxford University Press|date= 2003|isbn=9780195220001}}</ref> A royal charter, sometimes referred to as the Magna Carta of the university, was granted in 1244, awarding further rights to the university.<ref>{{cite book|page=274|title=The Endowments of the University and Colleges to circa 1348|author1=Trevor Henry Aston|author2 = Rosamond Faith |
work=The History of the University of Oxford: The early Oxford schools|editor=Trevor Henry Aston|publisher=Clarendon Press|date=1984|isbn=9780199510115|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AkJO3TAxMtwC&pg=PA274}}</ref> The university received a papal bull ''Querentes in agro'' in 1254, with a first version issued on 27 September and a second version on 6 October. The first version followed the common form of privileges granted to [[Monastery|monastic houses]], confirming the liberties and immunities granted to the university and placing the members of the university under papal protection, but the second version (which was the version recorded in the papal register) explicitly recognised and approved the existence of the university as a scholarly community and confirmed its "liberties, ancient customs and approved statutes".<ref>{{cite book|pages=103–104|title=The University in State and Church|author=C H Lawrence|work=The History of the University of Oxford: The early Oxford schools|editor=Trevor Henry Aston|publisher=Clarendon Press|date=1984|isbn=9780199510115|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AkJO3TAxMtwC&pg=PA103|access-date=25 March 2021|archive-date=25 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230425140546/https://books.google.com/books?id=AkJO3TAxMtwC&pg=PA103|url-status=live}}</ref>
|- valign="top"
| 1209–1225<ref name=Verger>{{cite book|pages=62–65, 68|work=[[A History of the University in Europe]]|volume=1, Universities in the Middle Ages|title=Patterns|author=Jacques Verger|editor1=Hilde de Ridder-Symoens|editor2=Walter Rüegg|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|date=16 October 2003|isbn=9780521541138|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5Z1VBEbF0HAC&pg=PA62|access-date=29 March 2021|archive-date=10 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210410110356/https://books.google.com/books?id=5Z1VBEbF0HAC&pg=PA62|url-status=live}}</ref>
| [[University of Cambridge]]
| {{flag|Kingdom of England}}
| {{flagicon|UK}} [[Cambridge]], United Kingdom
| Founded by scholars leaving [[Oxford]] after a dispute caused by the execution of three scholars in 1209.<ref name="Oxford1209"/> The university was organised under a chancellor by 1225.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iMDmCwAAQBAJ&pg=PR58|title=The University of Oxford: A History|author=L. W. B. Brockliss|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|date= 2016|page=18|isbn=9780199243563}}</ref> The university takes 1209 as its official founding year.<ref name=Cambridge800>{{cite web|title=800th anniversary|url=http://www.cam.ac.uk/univ/800/|publisher=University of Cambridge|access-date=7 January 2012|archive-date=9 February 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130209061559/http://www.cam.ac.uk/univ/800/|url-status=live}}</ref> Along with Oxford, Cambridge was granted rights of discipline over its students and of fixing rents in letters issued by King [[Henry III of England|Henry III]] in 1231.<ref name=Carpenter/> It received papal recognition as an academic corporation via an [[indult]] granted by [[Pope Gregory IX]] in 1233 and  was named as a ''[[studium generale]]'' in the [[papal bull]] ''Inter singula'' in 1318. The traditional view was that this raised it to a ''studium generale'' but more recent scholarship (which is now generally, although not universally, accepted) sees the bull as confirming, rather than conferring, this status.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7zorDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA59|title=The Medieval English Universities: Oxford and Cambridge to C. 1500|author=Alan B. Cobban|pages=58, 59|publisher=Taylor & Francis|date=5 July 2017|isbn=9781351885805|access-date=25 March 2021|archive-date=25 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230425140548/https://books.google.com/books?id=7zorDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA59|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1OMGDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA162|pages=162–163|work=Law as Profession and Practice in Medieval Europe: Essays in Honor of James A. Brundage|editor1=Kenneth Pennington|editor2=Melodie Harris Eichbauer|publisher=Routledge|date=15 April 2016|title=When did Cambridge become a ''studium generale''|author=Patrick Zutshi|isbn=9781317107682|access-date=25 March 2021|archive-date=25 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230425164502/https://books.google.com/books?id=1OMGDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA162|url-status=live}}</ref> 
|- valign="top"
| 1218–1219<ref name=Verger/>
| [[University of Salamanca]]
| [[File:Leon banner.svg|border|26px|Pennant of the Kingdom of León]] [[Kingdom of León]]
| {{flagicon|Spain}} [[Salamanca]], Spain
| The oldest university in the Hispanic world. The university was founded by [[Alfonso IX]] of León in 1218 and recognised by a  papal bull from [[Pope Alexander IV]] in 1255.<ref name="usal">{{cite web|url=http://m.usal.es/webusal/en/node/941?bcp=conocenos|language=es|title=Reseña Histórica de la USAL|publisher=University of Salamanca|access-date=30 January 2017|archive-date=11 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170911114909/http://m.usal.es/webusal/en/node/941?bcp=conocenos|url-status=live}}</ref>
|- valign="top"
| 1222<ref name=Verger/>
| [[University of Padua]]
| [[File:Flag of Bologna.svg|border|26px]] [[Padua#Emergence of the Commune|Medieval commune of Padua]]
| {{flagicon|Italy}} [[Padua]], Italy
| Founded by scholars and professors after leaving [[Bologna]]. Awarded the first degree in the world to be conferred on a woman, [[Elena Cornaro Piscopia]], in 1678.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.unipd.it/en/history|title=History|publisher=University of Padua|access-date=19 February 2021|archive-date=9 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210209220151/https://www.unipd.it/en/history|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=cathen>{{cite book|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15188a.htm|title=Universities|author=Pace, E.|date=1912|work=The Catholic Encyclopedia|publisher=New York: Robert Appleton Company|via=New Advent|access-date=1 February 2017|archive-date=8 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200608103342/https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15188a.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>
|- valign="top"
| 1224<ref name=Verger/>
| [[University of Naples Federico II]]
| [[File:King Manfred of Sicily Arms.svg|20px]] [[Kingdom of Sicily]]
| {{flagicon|Italy}} [[Naples]], Italy
| It is the world's oldest state-funded university in continuous operation,<ref name="Storia d'Italia"/><ref name="Delle Donne"/> and one of the first to be founded by a head of state, [[Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick II]], [[Holy Roman Emperor]] and king of [[Kingdom of Sicily|Sicily]]. Refounded in 1234, 1239 and 1465, and closed 1490–1507.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.international.unina.it/history/|title=History|publisher=University of Naples Frederico II|access-date=19 February 2021|archive-date=27 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227222904/http://www.international.unina.it/history/|url-status=live}}</ref>
|- valign="top"
| 1290<ref name=Verger/>
| [[University of Coimbra]]
| [[File:PortugueseFlag1248.svg|20px|Flag of Portugal (1248–1385)]] [[Portugal in the Middle Ages|Kingdom of Portugal]]<br />
| {{flagicon|Portugal}} [[Coimbra]], Portugal
| Originally established in [[Lisbon]] but relocated to Coimbra from 1308 to 1338 and again from 1354 to 1377,<ref name=Verger/> before finally moving permanently to Coimbra in 1537.<ref>{{cite journal|journal=Nature|date=1 January 1938|title=The Quatercentenary of the University of Coimbra|author=F. G. Donnan|volume=141|issue=3558|page=63|doi=10.1038/141063a0|bibcode=1938Natur.141...63D|s2cid=4122832|doi-access=free}}</ref> 
|- valign="top"
| 1293 <br>(Papal recognition 1346)<ref name=Verger/>
|[[University of Valladolid]]
| [[File:Banner of arms crown of Castille Habsbourg style.svg|border|26px|Pennant of the Crown of Castile]] [[Crown of Castile]]
|{{flagicon|Spain}} [[Valladolid]], Spain
| Founded in the late 13th century,<ref name=Verger/> probably by the city,<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9otEuneTZ74C&pg=PA559|page=559|title=La educación en la Hispania antigua y medieval|author=Bernabé Bartolomé Martínez|language=es|publisher=Ediciones Morata|date=1 January 1992|isbn=9788471123749}}</ref> with the first documented reference dating from 1293.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://relint.uva.es/inicio/internacional/espanol/estudiantes/guia-bienvenida/la-universidad-de-valladolid/|title=Foreign Students Guide|publisher=University of Valladolid|access-date=20 February 2021|archive-date=4 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210304091921/http://relint.uva.es/inicio/internacional/espanol/estudiantes/guia-bienvenida/la-universidad-de-valladolid/|url-status=live}}</ref>
|- valign="top"
| 1308<ref name=Verger/>
| [[University of Perugia]]
| [[File:Emblem of the Papacy SE.svg|22px|Coat of arms of the Papal States]] [[Papal States]]
| {{flagicon|Italy}} [[Perugia]], Italy
| The university traces its history back to 1276 and statutes were granted in 1306 prior to the [[Papal bull|bull]] of [[Pope Clement V]] of 8 September 1308.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.unipg.it/en/university/history|title=History|date=12 July 2011 |publisher=University of Perugia|access-date=20 February 2020|archive-date=26 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200426075721/https://www.unipg.it/en/university/history|url-status=live}}</ref>
|- valign="top"
| 1348<ref name=Verger/>
| [[Charles University]]
| [[File:Blason Boheme.svg|22px|Coat of arms of the Kingdom of Bohemia]] [[Kingdom of Bohemia]],<br />{{flag|Holy Roman Empire}}
| {{flagicon|Czech Republic}} [[Prague]], Czech Republic
| Faculties of theology, law and medicine closed during the [[Bohemian Reformation]], leaving only the faculty of liberal arts. Became Charles-Ferdinand University after the [[Thirty Years' War]], with all four faculties restored. Split into German and Czech parts in 1882; the Czech branch restored the name Charles University after independence in 1918 and closed briefly during [[German-occupied Europe|Nazi occupation]] (1939–1945) while the German branch closed permanently in 1945.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://cuni.cz/UKEN-106.html |title=History of Charles University |publisher=Charles University |access-date=20 February 2021 |archive-date=26 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126122709/https://cuni.cz/UKEN-106.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
|- valign="top"
| 1357<ref name=Verger/><br>(originally 1246–1252)<ref name=Verger/>
| [[University of Siena]]
| [[File:Siena-Stemma.png|18px|Coat of arms of Siena]] [[Republic of Siena]]
| {{flagicon|Italy}} [[Siena]], Italy
| Claims to have been founded in 1240 by the [[Mediæval commune|Commune]] of [[Siena]],<ref name=Siena>{{cite web|url=http://www.unisi.it/ateneo/storia-dellateneo|language=it|publisher=University of Siena|access-date=4 February 2017|title=Storia dell'Ateneo|archive-date=18 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118160527/http://www.unisi.it/ateneo/storia-dellateneo|url-status=live}}</ref> although Rashdall dates the proclamation of the Studium to 1246, when [[Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick II]] tried to place a ban on scholars travelling to Bologna, the date also given by Verger.<ref name=Verger/> Was granted some exemptions from taxes by Pope [[Innocent II]] in 1252, but closed shortly after when the scholars returned to Bologna. Attempted revivals in 1275 and (fed by further short-lived migrations of scholars from Bologna) in 1321 and 1338 were unsuccessful. Gained an Imperial Bull in 1357 "granting it ''de novo'' the 'privileges of a Studium Generale.{{' "}}, but was not firmly established until "[i]n 1408 a fresh grant of privileges was obtained from [[Pope Gregory XII]]".<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iW7E7LQiu8kC&pg=PA31|pages=31–34|author=[[Hastings Rashdall]]|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|date=2010|title=The Universities of Europe in the Middle Ages: Volume 2, Part 1|isbn=9781108018111}} Originally publisher 1895</ref> Closed temporarily in 1808–1815 when [[Napoleon]]ic forces occupied [[Tuscany]].<ref name=Siena />
|- valign="top"
| 1361<ref name=Verger/>
| [[University of Pavia]]
| [[File:Coat of arms of the House of Visconti (1277).svg|18px|House of Visconti]] [[Visconti of Milan|Domain of the House of Visconti]]
| {{flagicon|Italy}} [[Pavia]], Italy
| Transferred to [[Piacenza]] 1398–1412.<ref name=Verger/> Closed for short periods during the [[Italian Wars]], [[Napoleonic wars]], and [[Revolutions of 1848]].
|- valign="top"
| 1364<ref name="Verger" />
| [[Jagiellonian University]]
| [[File:Alex K Kingdom of Poland3.svg|22px]] [[Kingdom of Poland]]
| {{flagicon|Poland}} [[Kraków]], Poland
| Founded by King [[Casimir III of Poland|Casimir the Great]] as a ''studium generale'' in 1364. After the death of Casimir the Great in 1370, the development of the university stalled, with lectures being held in various places across the city, including several churches and the [[Wawel Castle|Wawel]] cathedral school and eventually coming to a pause. The faculty of theology was re-opened in 1397 by Queen [[Jadwiga of Poland|Jadwiga]] who later left a large endowment to the university upon her death in 1399. The university was formally re-established on 26 July 1400 by King [[Jogaila|Władysław Jagiełło]]. After Kraków was incorporated into the [[Austrian Empire]], the university was merged with Lwów University from 1805 to 1809. The university was forcibly shut down during the German [[Occupation of Poland (1939–1945)]]. The staff was deported to German-[[Nazi concentration camps]], and many of its collections were deliberately destroyed by the occupying German authorities. Underground lectures continued for around 800 students during this period and the university formally reopened in 1945.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.uj.edu.pl/en_US/about-university/history|title=History|publisher=Jagiellonian University|access-date=14 March 2021|archive-date=18 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210318001223/https://en.uj.edu.pl/en_US/about-university/history|url-status=live}}</ref>
|- valign="top"
| 1365<ref name=Verger/>
| [[University of Vienna]]
| [[File:Flag of Austria (1-1).svg|24px]] [[Duchy of Austria]], <br> {{flag|Holy Roman Empire}}
| {{flagicon|Austria}} [[Vienna]], Austria
| Founded by [[Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria]], granted papal assent in 1384 by [[Pope Urban VI]]. The oldest university in the contemporary [[Geographical distribution of German speakers|German-speaking world]]; it remains a question of definition whether Charles University in Prague was also German-speaking when founded. Due to its strong association with the [[Catholic Church]], the university suffered setbacks during the [[Reformation]], but never ceased operation.

|- valign="top"
| 1385<ref name=Verger/>
| [[Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg]]
| [[File:Banner of the Palatinate.svg|24px]] [[Electoral Palatinate]], <br> {{flag|Holy Roman Empire}}
| {{flagicon|Germany}} [[Heidelberg]], Germany
| Oldest [[List of universities in Germany|university in Germany]]. Pope Urban VI granted permission for the founding of a university in October 1385 to [[Rupert I, Elector Palatine]]; teaching began in June 1386. Gradually declined during the 17th and 18th centuries until re-established as a state-owned institution by [[Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Baden|Karl Friedrich, Grand Duke of Baden]] in 1803.
|- valign="top"
| {{circa|1400}}<ref name=Verger/><br>(originally 1343 to {{circa|1360}})<ref name=Verger/>
| [[University of Pisa]]
| [[File:Shield of the Republic of Pisa.svg|22px|Coat of arms of the Republic of Pisa]] [[Republic of Pisa]]
| {{flagicon|Italy}} [[Pisa]], Italy
| Established 1343 but closed around 1360; refounded at the start of the 15th century.<ref name=Verger/> Formally founded on 3 September 1343 by a [[Papal bull|bull]] of [[Pope Clement VI]], although according to the university "a number of scholars claim its origin dates back to the 11th century". Transferred to [[Pistoia]], [[Prato]] and [[Florence]] between 1494 and 1543.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.unipi.it/index.php/history|title=The University of Pisa and its history|date=23 May 2013 |publisher=University of Pisa|access-date=20 February 2021|archive-date=5 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505042127/https://www.unipi.it/index.php/history|url-status=live}}</ref>
|- valign="top"
| 1404<ref name=Verger/>
| [[University of Turin]]
| {{flag|Duchy of Savoy}}
| {{flagicon|Italy}} [[Turin]], Italy
| 
|- valign="top"
| 1409<ref name=Verger/>
| [[University of Leipzig]]
| {{flag|Holy Roman Empire}}
| {{flagicon|Germany}} [[Leipzig]], Germany
| 
|- valign="top"
| 1410<ref name=Verger/>–1413<ref name="St Andrews">{{cite web | url = https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/about/history/brief/ | title = A brief history of the University | publisher = University of St Andrews | access-date = 20 February 2021 | archive-date = 20 October 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201020085228/https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/about/history/brief/ | url-status = live }}</ref>
| [[University of St Andrews|University of St. Andrews]]
| {{flag|Kingdom of Scotland}}
| {{flagicon|UK}} [[St Andrews|St. Andrews]], United Kingdom
| A school of higher studies was founded in 1410 and was chartered by Bishop [[Henry Wardlaw]] in 1411. Full university status conferred by a [[papal bull]] of [[Antipope Benedict XIII]] on 28 August 1413.<ref name="St Andrews"/>

The university was founded in 1410 when a group of [[Augustinians|Augustinian]] clergy, driven from the [[University of Paris]] by the [[Western Schism|Avignon schism]] and from the universities of [[University of Oxford|Oxford]] and [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge]] by the [[Anglo-Scottish Wars]], formed a society of higher learning in St Andrews, which offered courses of lectures in divinity, logic, philosophy, and law.  St Andrews was the obvious choice — "for centuries, it was the heart of the Scottish church and political activities"<ref>{{cite book |last1=Reid |first1=Norman |title=Ever to Excel |date=2011 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |location=Edinburgh |isbn=9781845860592}}</ref> and "the seat of the greatest bishopric in Scotland and location of a monastery noted as a centre for learning".<ref>{{cite web |title=A brief history of the University |url=https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/about/history/brief/ |website=University of St Andrews |access-date=10 October 2021 |archive-date=20 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201020085228/https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/about/history/brief/ |url-status=live }}</ref>  A [[charter]] of privilege was bestowed upon the society of masters and scholars by the [[Archbishop of St Andrews|Bishop of St Andrews]], [[Henry Wardlaw]],<ref name="Wardlaw, Henry, d.1440, Bishop of St Andrews">{{Cite DNB|last=Sprott |first=George Washington |wstitle=Wardlaw, Henry|volume=59|pages=352-353}}</ref> on 28 February 1412.<ref name="Meadieval university">{{Cite web|title=Meadieval university|url=http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/media/court-office/documents/medieval_university.pdf|access-date=3 January 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130722053757/http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/media/court-office/documents/medieval_university.pdf|archive-date=22 July 2013}}</ref> Wardlaw then successfully petitioned the [[Antipope Benedict XIII|Avignon Pope Benedict XIII]] to grant the school university status by issuing a series of [[papal bull]]s, which followed on 28 August 1413.<ref name="Scotland1837">{{Cite book|author=Great Britain. Commission for Visiting the Universities and Colleges of Scotland|title=University of St. Andrews|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iCwPAQAAMAAJ&pg=Pag173|year=1837|publisher=W. Clowes and Sons|pages=173–}}</ref> King [[James I of Scotland]] confirmed the [[charter]] of the university in 1432. Subsequent kings supported the university, with King [[James V of Scotland]] "confirming privileges of the university" in 1532.<ref name="St Andrews history of the university">{{Cite web|title=A brief history of the University|publisher=University of St Andrews|url=http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/about/history/brief/|access-date=9 January 2016|archive-date=24 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160124224626/http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/about/history/brief/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last1=Lyon|first1=C.J.|title=History of St. Andrews, episcopal, monastic, academic, and civil&nbsp;..., Volume 2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oe49AAAAcAAJ&q=james+V++st+andrews+university+1532&pg=PA234|publisher=Tait |year = 1843| pages =230–34|access-date=9 January 2016|quote=King James I of Scotland confirmed the charter of the university in 1432...There are four ...confirmations by James V; in the year 1532...}}</ref>
|- valign="top"
| 1419<ref name=Verger/>
| [[University of Rostock]]
| {{flag|Holy Roman Empire}}
| {{flagicon|Germany}} [[Rostock]], Germany
| Continuous operation during the [[Protestant Reformation|Reformation]] is disputed. Some sources state that "the Catholic university of Rostock closed altogether and the closure was long enough to make the refounded body feel a new institution"<ref>{{cite book|author=Owen Chadwick|title=The Early Reformation on the Continent|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|date=2003|page=257|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cebhjuoZTu4C&pg=PA257|isbn=9780191520501|access-date=3 September 2017|archive-date=14 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210214000746/https://books.google.com/books?id=cebhjuoZTu4C&pg=PA257|url-status=live}}</ref> and that the university fell into complete decay after the beginning of the Reformation in (1523) when the university revenues were lost and matriculations ceased".<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.catholic.org/encyclopedia/view.php?id=10194|title=University of Rostock|encyclopedia=Catholic Encyclopedia|publisher=Robert Appleton Company New York, NY|via=Catholic Online|year=1907–1912|access-date=4 February 2017|archive-date=5 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170205102051/http://www.catholic.org/encyclopedia/view.php?id=10194|url-status=live}}</ref> However, [[Johann Oldendorp]] is reported by several sources as having held a professorship at the university from 1526 to 1534, although this is not proven beyond doubt,<ref>{{cite web|url = http://cpr.uni-rostock.de/resolve/id/cpr_person_00003634|title = Catalogus Professorum Rostochiensum|access-date = 14 March 2021|publisher = University of Rostock|archive-date = 23 November 2020|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201123192438/http://cpr.uni-rostock.de/resolve/id/cpr_person_00003634|url-status = live}}</ref> and other historians refer to "the remaining university lecturers" as supporting plans to restore the university revenues in 1532 (which was eventually accomplished via the Rostock Formula concordiae in 1563).<ref>{{cite book|title=Die Universität Rostock 1418–1563: eine Hochschule im Spannungsfeld zwischen Stadt, Landesherren und wendischen Hansestädten|author=Marko A. Pluns|publisher=[[Böhlau Verlag]]|date=2007|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nRZ0X7y3tYEC&pg=PA194|page=194|isbn=9783412200398|access-date=29 March 2021|archive-date=25 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230425140600/https://books.google.com/books?id=nRZ0X7y3tYEC&pg=PA194|url-status=live}}</ref> There are records of a number of professors being appointed in 1551, including [[Joannes Aurifaber Vratislaviensis|Johannes Aurifaber]], [[David Chytraeus]], and {{ill|Johann Draconites|de}}.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3WTnCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA113|page=113|title=Reformation Readings of the Apocalypse: Geneva, Zurich, and Wittenberg|author=Irena Dorota Backus|publisher= [[Oxford University Press]]|date= 2000|isbn=9780195138856}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://matrikel.uni-rostock.de/id/100018678|title=Immatrikulation von Ioannes Draconites|publisher=University of Rostock|access-date=4 February 2017|language=de|archive-date=11 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170911114711/http://matrikel.uni-rostock.de/id/100018678|url-status=live}}</ref>
|- valign="top"
| 1430<ref name=Verger/><br>(originally 1391–1394)<ref name=Verger/>
| [[University of Ferrara]]
| [[File:Arms of the house of Este (1).svg|18px|House of Este]] [[House of Este]]
| {{flagicon|Italy}} [[Ferrara]], Italy
| 
|- valign="top"
| 1431<ref name=Verger/><br>(originally 1303 to {{circa|1400}})<ref name=Verger/>
| [[Sapienza University of Rome]]
| [[File:Emblem of the Papacy SE.svg|22px|Coat of arms of the Papal States]] [[Papal States]]
| {{flagicon|Italy}} [[Rome]], Italy
| Founded in 1303 but closed at the end of the 14th century; refounded 1431.<ref name=Verger/>
|- valign="top"
| 1444<ref name=Verger/>
| [[University of Catania]]
| {{flagicon|Two Sicilies|sicily}} [[Kingdom of Sicily]]
| {{flagicon|Italy}} [[Catania]], Italy
| Oldest university in Sicily. Founded in 1434 when [[Alfonso I of Sicily|King Alfonso I of Sicily]], authorized the creation of a Studium Generale with the power to grant official academic degrees. However, it was not until 1444 that [[Pope Eugene IV]] issued the official founding [[Papal bull|bull]] for the ''Siculorum Gymnasium''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=La nostra storia {{!}} Università di Catania |url=https://www.unict.it/it/ateneo/la-nostra-storia |access-date=2025-05-04 |website=www.unict.it}}</ref>
|- valign="top"
| 1450<ref name=Verger/>
| [[University of Barcelona]]
| [[File:Estandarte de la Corona de Aragon.svg|22px|Standard of the Crown of Aragon]] [[Crown of Aragon]]
| {{flagicon|Spain}} [[Barcelona]], Spain
| Founded by [[Alfonso V of Aragon]] on 3 September 1450 as  the ''[[Studium Generale|Estudi General]] de Barcelona''. From 1401 the city had a [[Medieval medicine of Western Europe|medical school]] founded by [[Martin of Aragon|King Martin of Aragon]] (the ''Estudi General de Medecina de Barcelona''), to which a faculty of arts was added in 1402. Before this, there were chairs of higher education (associated with the cathedral, the Dominican Convent of Santa Carolina, and the ''escoles majors'' supported by the city's governing council) from the 13th century.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ub.edu/web/portal/en/the-ub/the-university/history/|title=The University of Barcelona: More than five centuries of history|publisher=University of Barcelona|access-date=24 February 2021|archive-date=3 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210303120921/https://www.ub.edu/web/portal/en/the-ub/the-university/history/|url-status=live}}</ref>
|- valign="top"
| 1451<ref name=Verger/>
| [[University of Glasgow]]
| {{flag|Kingdom of Scotland}}
| {{flagicon|UK}} [[Glasgow]], United Kingdom
| Founded by papal bull in 1451, it is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four [[ancient universities]]. Along with the universities of Edinburgh, Aberdeen, and St Andrews, the university was part of the Scottish Enlightenment during the 18th century.
|- valign="top"
| 1456<ref name=Verger/>
| [[University of Greifswald]]
| rowspan="4" | {{flag|Holy Roman Empire}}
| {{flagicon|Germany}} [[Greifswald]], Germany
| Some professors from [[Rostock]] taught temporarily in Greifswald between 1437 and 1443 due to unrest in Rostock. The university was founded in 1456 by [[Wartislaw IX, Duke of Pomerania|Duke Wartislaw IX]] with the approval of [[Pope Callixtus III]] on the initiative of  Heinrich Rubenow, Lord Mayor of Greifswald (and first rector). Teaching paused temporarily during the [[Protestant Reformation]] (1527–39).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.uni-greifswald.de/en/university/history/university-chronicle/|title=Chronicle of the University of Greifswald|publisher=University of Greifswald|access-date=24 February 2021|archive-date=7 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210207094449/https://www.uni-greifswald.de/en/university/history/university-chronicle/|url-status=live}}</ref>
|- valign="top"
| 1457<ref name=Verger/>
| [[Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg]]
| {{flagicon|Germany}} [[Freiburg]], Germany
| A [[papal bull]] of 1455 authorised the [[Prince-Bishopric of Constance|Bishop of Constance]] to establish a university, and in 1457 a ducal charter from [[Albert VI, Archduke of Austria]] founded the university.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/universitieseur07rashgoog/page/n288/mode/1up|page=268|title= The Universities of Europe in the Middle Ages: pt. 1. Italy. Spain. France. Germany. Scotland, etc|publisher= Clarendon Press|author=Hastings Rashdall|year=1895}}</ref>
|- valign="top"
| 1459<ref name=Verger/>
| [[University of Basel]]
| {{flagicon|Switzerland}} [[Basel]], Switzerland
| 
|- valign="top"
| 1459<ref name=Verger/>–1472<ref name=Ingolstadt>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/universitieseur07rashgoog/page/n290|pages=270–272|title= The Universities of Europe in the Middle Ages: pt. 1. Italy. Spain. France. Germany. Scotland, etc|publisher= Clarendon Press|author=Hastings Rashdall|year=1895}}</ref>
| [[Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich]]
| {{flagicon|Germany}} [[Munich]], Germany
| Founded in [[Ingolstadt]] in 1472; with a [[papal bull]] obtained in 1459 from [[Pope Pius II]] by [[Louis the Rich]], transferred to [[Landshut]] in 1800 and then to Munich in 1826.<ref name=Ingolstadt/>
|- valign="top"
| 1475<ref name=Verger/>
| [[University of Copenhagen]]
| {{flag|Kingdom of Denmark}} within the <br /> {{flag|Kalmar Union}}
| {{flagicon|Denmark}} [[Copenhagen]], Denmark
| Founded by papal bull in 1475 and royal decree in 1478, opening in 1479.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Universitet |first=Københavns |date=2012-05-24 |title=Profil og historie |url=https://om.ku.dk/profil/ |access-date=2024-07-23 |website=om.ku.dk |language=da}}</ref>
|- valign="top"
| 1476<ref name=Verger/>
| [[Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen]]
| {{flag|Holy Roman Empire}}
| {{flagicon|Germany}} [[Tübingen]], Germany
|
|- valign="top"
| 1477<ref name=Verger/>
| [[Uppsala University]]
| [[File:Svensk_flagg_1815.svg|20px|link=]] [[Kingdom of Sweden]] within the <br /> {{flag|Kalmar Union}}
| {{flagicon|Sweden}} [[Uppsala]], Sweden
| Established in 1477 by the Catholic Archbishop [[Jakob Ulvsson]]. Decayed due to political unrest in the first decade of the 16th century and then the [[Reformation]] in the 1520s and 30s, remaining "only an idea without real content" until re-chartered in 1595.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.uu.se/en/about-uu/history/summary/|title=The history of Uppsala University|publisher=Uppsala University|access-date=14 March 2021|archive-date=14 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190914083134/https://www.uu.se/en/about-uu/history/summary/|url-status=live}}</ref>
|- valign="top"
| 1495<ref name=Verger/>
| [[University of Aberdeen]]
| {{flag|Kingdom of Scotland}}
| {{flagicon|UK}} [[Aberdeen]], United Kingdom
| [[King's College, Aberdeen|King's College]] was founded by a [[papal bull]] in 1495 and then [[Marischal College]] in 1593; they merged in 1860.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.abdn.ac.uk/about/history/our-history.php|title=History|publisher=University of Aberdeen|access-date=11 March 2021|archive-date=26 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926202105/https://www.abdn.ac.uk/about/history/our-history.php|url-status=live}}</ref>
|- valign="top"
| 1499<ref name=Verger/>
| [[Complutense University of Madrid]]
| [[File:Banner of arms crown of Castille Habsbourg style.svg|border|26px|Pennant of the Crown of Castile]] [[Crown of Castile]]
| {{flagicon|Spain}} [[Madrid]], Spain
| A ''studium generale'' was founded by [[Sancho IV of Castile]] in 1293 in [[Alcalá de Henares]]. Very little is known of this institution over the next two centuries.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://biblioteca.ucm.es/historica/bc-herencia|title=La herencia de la universidad medieval|language=Spanish|access-date=14 March 2021|publisher=Complutense University of Madrid Library|archive-date=23 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220123173759/https://biblioteca.ucm.es/historica/bc-herencia|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1499 a [[papal bull]] was granted by [[Pope Alexander VI]] authorising Archbishop [[Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros|Cisneros]] to establish a ''Colegio Mayor'' in Alcalá with the same powers as the universities of [[University of Salamanca|Salamanca]] and [[University of Valladolid|Valladolid]], from which date Verger considers it a university.<ref name=Verger/> The new university opened in 1509.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://biblioteca.ucm.es/historica/bc-fundacion|title=La fundación cisneriana: el Colegio Mayor de San Ildefonso|language=Spanish|access-date=14 March 2021|publisher=Complutense University of Madrid Library|archive-date=23 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220123180830/https://biblioteca.ucm.es/historica/bc-fundacion|url-status=live}}</ref>  The university was moved to Madrid in 1836 by royal decree.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://biblioteca.ucm.es/historica/bc-traslado|title=Traslado de la Universidad Complutense a Madrid|language=Spanish|access-date=14 March 2021|publisher=Complutense University of Madrid Library|archive-date=23 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220123182445/https://biblioteca.ucm.es/historica/bc-traslado|url-status=live}}</ref>
|- valign="top"
| 1500<ref name=Verger/>
| [[University of Valencia]]
| [[File:Estandarte de la Corona de Aragon.svg|22px|Standard of the Crown of Aragon]] [[Crown of Aragon]]
| {{flagicon|Spain}} [[Valencia]], Spain
|
|}

== Oldest universities by country or region after 1500 still in operation ==
The majority of European countries had universities by 1500. Many universities were established at institutes of learning such as schools and colleges that may have been founded significantly earlier but were not classed as universities upon their foundation; this is normally described in the notes for that institution. In some countries (particularly the US and those influenced by its culture), degree-granting higher education institutions that would normally be called universities are instead called colleges. In this case, both the oldest institution that would normally be regarded as a university and the oldest institution (if different) to actually be called a university are given. In many parts of the world, the first university to have a presence was an institution based elsewhere (often the [[University of London]] via the affiliation of a local college); where this is different from the first locally established university, both are given.

=== Africa ===

{| class="wikitable sortable"
! colspan=2 | Location
! width=120px rowspan=2 | Current name
! width=160px rowspan=2 | Year
! rowspan=2 | Notes
|-
! width=120px|Current
! width=120px|Original
|-
| {{flagcountry|Algeria}}<br />([[Algiers]])|| {{flagicon|FRA}} [[French Algeria]]<br />([[Algiers]]) || [[University of Algiers]] ||1909 ||
|-
| {{flagcountry|Angola}}<br />([[Luanda]])|| {{flagicon|POR}} [[Portuguese Angola]]<br />([[Luanda]]) || [[Agostinho Neto University]] ||1962 ||   Founded as ''Estudos Gerais Universitários de Angola''. Was renamed ''Universidade de Luanda'' (University of Luanda) in 1968. After [[Angolan War of Independence|Angolan independence]] from [[Portugal]] in 1975, the institution was renamed the University of Angola (''Universidade de Angola''). In 1985 it was renamed ''Agostinho Neto University'', in honour of [[Agostinho Neto]], the first President of Angola.
|-
| {{flagcountry|Benin}}<br/>([[Abomey-Calavi]])|| {{flagicon|Benin}} [[Republic of Dahomey]]<br/>([[Abomey-Calavi]]) ||[[University of Abomey-Calavi]]||1970||Originally the University of Dahomey. Renamed the National University of Benin in 1975 and took its current name in 2001.
|-
| colspan=2|{{flagcountry|Botswana}}<br/>([[Gaborone]], [[Francistown]], [[Maun, Botswana|Maun]])||[[University of Botswana]]||1964 (as part of the [[University of Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland]]; university 1982)||
|-
| {{flagcountry|Burkina Faso}}<br/>([[Ouagadougou]])|| [[File:Flag_of_Upper_Volta.svg|23px]] [[Republic of Upper Volta]]<br/>([[Ouagadougou]]) ||[[University of Ouagadougou]]||1974||
|-
| {{flagcountry|Burundi}}<br/>([[Bujumbura]]) || [[File:Flag of Burundi (1962–1966).svg|23px]] [[Kingdom of Burundi]]<br/>([[Bujumbura]]) || [[University of Burundi]]||1964||
|-
| {{flagcountry|Cameroon}}<br />([[Yaoundé]]) || [[File:Flag_of_Cameroon_(1961-1975).svg|23px]] [[Federal Republic of Cameroon]]<br />([[Yaoundé]]) || [[University of Yaoundé]] || 1962 ||  In 1993 following a university reform the University of Yaounde was split into two ([[University of Yaoundé I]] and [[University of Yaoundé II]]) following the university branch-model pioneered by the [[University of Paris]].
|-
| colspan="2" | {{flagcountry|Cape Verde}}<br />([[Praia]])||[[Jean Piaget University of Cape Verde]] ||2001||  As a result of the merger of the two previously existing higher education establishments (ISE and ISECMAR)
|- 
| colspan=2|{{flagcountry|Central African Republic}}<br/>([[Bangui]])||[[University of Bangui]]||1969||
|-
| colspan=2|{{flagcountry|Chad}}<br/>([[N'Djamena]])||[[University of N'Djamena]]||1971||Originally the University of Chad, renamed the University of N'Djamena 1994.
|-
| colspan=2|{{flagcountry|Comoros}}<br/>([[Moroni, Comoros|Moroni]])||[[University of the Comoros]]||2003<ref>{{cite news|author=Wagdy Sawahel|date=15 July 2016|title=Higher education struggles under multiple pressures|work=University World News|url=https://www.universityworldnews.com/post-mobile.php?story=2016070208521759}}</ref>||
|-
| colspan=1|{{flagcountry|Democratic Republic of the Congo}}<br/>([[Kinshasa]])||[[File:Flag of the Congo Free State.svg|23px]] [[Belgian Congo]]<br/>([[Kinshasa]])||[[University of Kinshasa]]||1954|| Originator established as the [[Lovanium University]], affiliated to the [[Catholic University of Leuven (1835–1968)|Catholic University of Leuven]]. Merged into the [[National University of Zaire]] in 1971 then demerged under its current name in 1981.
|-
| {{flagcountry|Republic of the Congo}}<br/>([[Brazzaville]]) || [[File:Flag_of_the_People's_Republic_of_Congo.svg|23px]] [[People's Republic of the Congo]]<br/>([[Brazzaville]]) || [[Marien Ngouabi University]]||1971|| Founded as the University of Brazzaville in 1971, changed to current name in 1977.
|-
| colspan=2|{{flagcountry|Djibouti}}<br/>([[Djibouti City]])||[[University of Djibouti]]||2006||
|-
| {{flagcountry|Egypt}}<br />([[Giza]])|| {{flagicon|EGY|variant=1882}} [[Khedivate of Egypt]]<br />([[Cairo]]) || [[Cairo University]] ||1908|| The oldest university in Egypt and second oldest higher education institution (after [[Al-Azhar University]], which was founded as a [[madrasa]] {{circa|970}} and became a university in 1962)
|-
| colspan=2|{{flagcountry|Equatorial Guinea}}<br/>([[Malabo]])||[[National University of Equatorial Guinea]]||1995||
|-
| colspan=2|{{flagcountry|Eritrea}}<br/>([[Mai Nefhi]])||[[Eritrea Institute of Technology]]||2003|| Founded following the closure of the [[University of Asmara]], which had been established as a college in 1958
|-
| {{flagcountry|Eswatini}}<br/>([[Kwaluseni]])||{{flagcountry|Swaziland}}<br/>([[Kwaluseni]])||[[University of Eswatini]]||1964 (as part of the [[University of Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland]]; university 1982)|| Originally established as the University of Swaziland, changed to current name in 2018
|-
| {{flagcountry|Ethiopia}}<br />([[Addis Ababa]])|| {{flagicon|ETH|variant=1897}} [[Ethiopian Empire]]<br />([[Addis Ababa]]) || [[University of Addis Ababa]] ||1950 (as college offering degree courses; university 1962)||  The university was originally called the University College of Addis Ababa in 1950, offering courses leading to degrees of the [[University of London]]. It became Haile Selassie I University in 1962, named after the Ethiopian Emperor [[Haile Selassie|Haile Selassie I]]. The institution received its current name in 1975.
|-
| colspan=2|{{flagcountry|Gabon}}<br/>([[Libreville]])||[[Omar Bongo University]]||1970|| Founded as the National University of Gabon and took current name in 1978
|-
| colspan=2|{{flagcountry|Gambia}}<br/>([[Serekunda]])||[[University of the Gambia]]||1999|| 
|-
| {{flagcountry|Ghana}}<br />([[Accra]])|| {{flagcountry|Gold Coast}}<br />([[Accra]]) || [[University of Ghana]] ||1948 (as affiliate college of the [[University of London]]; university 1961)<ref>{{cite web|title=University of Ghana &#124; Legon|url=http://www.ug.edu.gh/index1.php?linkid=243&sublinkid=72|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130601144614/http://www.ug.edu.gh/index1.php?linkid=243&sublinkid=72|archive-date=1 June 2013|access-date=15 August 2013|publisher=Ug.edu.gh}}</ref>||  Founded as the University College of the Gold Coast, an affiliate college of the [[University of London]] which supervised its academic programmes and awarded the degrees. It gained full university status in 1961.
|-
| colspan=2|{{flagcountry|Guinea}}<br/>([[Conakry]])||[[Gamal Abdel Nasser University of Conakry]]||1962||
|-
| colspan=2 rowspan=2|{{flagcountry|Guinea-Bissau}}<br/>([[Bissau]])||[[Universidade Colinas de Boé]]||2003|| 
|-
|[[Universidade Amílcar Cabral]]||2003||
|-
| colspan="2" | {{flagcountry|Ivory Coast}}<br />([[Abidjan]])||[[Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny]] ||1964 (as main campus of the University of Abidjan; university 1996)||
|-
| {{flagcountry|Kenya}}<br />([[Nairobi]])||[[File:Flag of Kenya (1921–1963).svg|link=[[:File:Flag of British East Africa]].svg|23px]] [[Kenya Colony|Colony and Protectorate of Kenya]]
([[Nairobi]])
| [[University of Nairobi]] ||1961 (as affiliate college of the [[University of London]]; college 1956; university 1970)||  Oldest in Kenya. Established 1956 as the ''Royal Technical College''. Renamed the ''Royal College of Nairobi'' when it became affiliated to the [[University of London]] in 1961. On 20 May 1964, was renamed ''University College Nairobi'' when it was admitted as a constituent college of inter-territorial [[University of East Africa]]. In 1970, it transformed into the first national university in Kenya and was renamed the University of Nairobi.<ref name="J. M. Hyslop 1964 286–302">{{cite journal|jstor=41821619|title=The University of East Africa|author= J. M. Hyslop|journal= Minerva|volume= 2|issue=3|date= 1964| pages=286–302|doi=10.1007/BF01097318|s2cid=145768841}}</ref>
|-
| colspan=2|{{flagcountry|Lesotho}}<br/>([[Roma, Lesotho|Roma]])||[[National University of Lesotho]]||1964 (as part of the [[University of Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland]]; college 1945; university 1975|| 
|-
| colspan="2" | {{flagcountry|Liberia}}<br />([[Monrovia]])||[[University of Liberia]] ||1951 (college 1863)||  Building on Liberia College founded in 1863
|-
| {{flagcountry|Libya}}<br />([[Benghazi]] & [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]])|| {{flagicon|LBY|variant=1956}} [[Kingdom of Libya]]<br />([[Benghazi]]) || [[University of Libya]] ||1956|| A royal decree was issued on 15 December 1955 for the founding of the university. The first faculty to be formed was the Faculty of Literature in Benghazi, and the royal palace "Al Manar", from which [[Idris of Libya|King Idris I]] of Libya declared its independence on 24 December 1951, was assigned to be the campus. Later divided to University of Benghazi and [[University of Tripoli]], the names were changed again during [[History of Libya under Muammar Gaddafi|Gaddafi's era]], but now they have reinstated their original names.
|-
| {{flagcountry|Madagascar}}<br />([[Antananarivo]])|| {{flagicon|FRA}} [[French Madagascar|Colony of Madagascar and Dependencies]]<br />([[Antananarivo]]) || [[University of Antananarivo]] ||1961 (as university; institute for advanced studies 1955)||  Founded December 1955 as the Institute for Advanced Studies in Antananarivo. Renamed the University of Madagascar in 1961.
|-
| colspan="2" | {{flagcountry|Malawi}}<br />([[Zomba, Malawi|Zomba]], [[Blantyre]] & [[Lilongwe]])||[[University of Malawi]] ||1965 ||
|-
| colspan="2" | {{flagcountry|Mali}}<br />([[Bamako]])||[[University of Bamako]] ||1996 ||
|-
| colspan="2" | {{flagcountry|Mauritania}}<br />([[Nouakchott]])||[[University of Nouakchott Al Aasriya]] ||1981 ||
|-
| {{flagcountry|Mauritius}}<br />([[Moka]])|| {{flagicon|Mauritius|1923}} [[British Mauritius]]<br />([[Moka]]) || [[University of Mauritius]] || 1965 || The Faculty of Agriculture is the oldest faculty of the university. It was founded in 1914 as the School of Agriculture in 1914, and in 1966 it was incorporated into the newly established University of Mauritius.
|-
| {{flagcountry|Morocco}}<br />([[Fez, Morocco|Fez]]) || [[Idrisid dynasty]]<br />([[Fez, Morocco|Fez]]) || [[University of Al Quaraouiyine]] ||1965 (as university; madrasa 859)|| Traces its origins back to the al-Qarawiyyin mosque and associated [[madrasa]] founded by [[Fatima al-Fihri]] in 859, and was named a university in 1965. It is the oldest continuously operating institution of higher learning in the world,<ref>{{cite web|title=Oldest higher-learning institution, oldest university|url=https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/oldest-university|access-date=30 June 2020|work=Guinnes World Records|archive-date=7 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141007183911/http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/3000/oldest-university|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Medina of Fez|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/170|access-date=30 June 2020|work=World Heritage List|publisher=[[UNESCO]]|archive-date=19 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170919192617/http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/170|url-status=live}}</ref> though only became an official university in 1965. 
|-
| colspan="2" | {{flagcountry|Morocco}}<br />([[Rabat]])||[[Mohammed V University]] ||1957||  Founded as University of Rabat
|-
| {{flagcountry|Mozambique}}<br />([[Maputo]])|| {{flagicon|POR}} [[Portuguese Mozambique]]<br />([[Maputo|Lourenço Marques]]) || [[Eduardo Mondlane University]] ||1962 ||
|-
| colspan="2" | {{flagcountry|Namibia}}<br />([[Windhoek]])||[[University of Namibia]] ||1992||
|-
| colspan="2" | {{flagcountry|Niger}}<br />([[Niamey]])||[[Abdou Moumouni University]] ||1974||  Originally the University of Niamey
|-
|{{flagcountry|Nigeria}}<br />([[Ibadan]])|| [[File:Flag of Nigeria (1914–1952).svg|23px]] [[Colonial Nigeria|Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria]]<br />([[Yaba, Lagos]]) || [[University of Ibadan]] ||1949 (as affiliated college of the [[University of London]]; college 1932; university 1962)||  Founded as ''Yaba College'' in 1932 in [[Yaba, Lagos]], as the first [[Tertiary education|tertiary educational institute]] in Nigeria. Yaba College was transferred to Ibadan, becoming the ''University College of Ibadan'', in 1948<ref>{{cite book|last=Nkulu|first=Kiluba L.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ms9Bs9fUmpcC&pg=PA52|title=Serving the Common Good: an African perspective on higher education|publisher=Peter Lang|year=2005|isbn=978-0-8204-7626-1|page=54}}</ref> and was a university college associated with the [[University of London]]. Independent university since 1962.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=University of Ibadan History|url=https://www.ui.edu.ng/History|access-date=1 Feb 2021|website=University of Ibadan|archive-date=23 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210123225925/https://www.ui.edu.ng/History|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
| {{flagcountry|Nigeria}}<br />([[Nsukka]])|| {{flagicon|Nigeria}} [[Federation of Nigeria]] <br />([[Nsukka]]) || [[University of Nigeria, Nsukka]] ||1960<ref>{{cite web|title=History/Overview|url=http://www.unn.edu.ng/administration/office-of-the-vice-chancellor/records-unit/|access-date=12 February 2017|publisher=University of Nigeria|archive-date=15 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170115104023/http://www.unn.edu.ng/administration/office-of-the-vice-chancellor/records-unit/|url-status=live}}</ref>||  First university in Nigeria.
|-
| {{flagcountry|Rwanda}}<br />([[Kigali]])|| {{flagcountry|Rwanda|1962}}<br />([[Kigali]]) || [[University of Rwanda]] ||1963||  Founded as the National University of Rwanda in 1963; incorporated into the University of Rwanda 2013
|-
| colspan="2" | {{flagcountry|São Tomé and Príncipe}}<br />([[São Tomé]])||[[University of São Tomé and Príncipe]] ||2014 (as university; polytechnic school 1996)||
|-
| colspan="2" | {{flagcountry|Sahrawi Republic}}<br />([[Tifariti]])||[[University of Tifariti]] ||2013||
|-
| {{flagcountry|Senegal}}<br />([[Dakar]])||{{flagicon|France}}[[French Senegal]]<br />([[Dakar]])||[[Cheikh Anta Diop University]] ||1957||
|-
| colspan=2|{{flagcountry|Seychelles}}<br />([[Anse Royale]])||[[University of Seychelles]] ||2009||
|-
| {{flagcountry|Sierra Leone}}<br />([[Freetown]])|| [[File:Flag of Sierra Leone (1916–1961).svg|23px]] [[Sierra Leone Colony and Protectorate]]<br />([[Freetown]]) || [[Fourah Bay College]] ||1876 (as affiliated college of [[Durham University]]; college 1827; part of [[University of Sierra Leone]] 1967)||  Oldest university-level institution in Africa. Founded as a missionary school to train teachers in 1827. Became an affiliated college of [[Durham University]] in 1876 and awarded first degrees in West Africa in 1878. Became part of the federal University of Sierra Leone in 1967.<ref>{{cite web|title=Fourah Bay College (1827 – )|date=13 January 2010|url=http://www.blackpast.org/gah/fourah-bay-college-1827|access-date=3 October 2015|publisher=BlackPast.org|archive-date=5 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151005023533/http://www.blackpast.org/gah/fourah-bay-college-1827|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|date=2012|title=The First BA in Africa|url=https://issuu.com/durhamfirst/docs/dug2379_durham_first_32_aw4_web/7|magazine=Durham First|issue=32|page=7|access-date=1 February 2017|archive-date=9 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161209143041/https://issuu.com/durhamfirst/docs/dug2379_durham_first_32_aw4_web/7|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
| {{flagcountry|Somalia}}<br />([[Mogadishu]])|| {{flagdeco|Italy}} [[Trust Territory of Somaliland]]<br />([[Mogadishu]]) || [[Somali National University]] ||1954 ||
|-
| {{flagcountry|RSA}}<br />([[Pretoria]])|| {{flagicon|Cape Colony}} [[Cape Colony]]<br />([[Cape Town]]) || [[University of South Africa]] ||1873||  Originally founded as the [[University of the Cape of Good Hope]] in 1916 it was transformed into the federal University of South Africa (Unisa) and relocated to Pretoria.
|-
| {{flagcountry|South Sudan}}<br />([[Juba]]) || {{flagicon|Sudan}} [[History of Sudan (1969–1985)|Democratic Republic of the Sudan]]<br />([[Juba]]) ||[[University of Juba]]||1975||
|-
| {{flagcountry|Sudan}}<br />([[Khartoum]]) || [[File:Flag of Sudan (1956–1970).svg|23px]] [[History of Sudan (1956–69)|Republic of the Sudan]]<br />([[Khartoum]]) || [[University of Khartoum]] ||1956 (as university; college 1902)<ref>{{cite web|title=Historical Background|url=http://www.uofk.edu/en/about/historical|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131030025742/http://www.uofk.edu/en/about/historical|archive-date=30 October 2013|access-date=11 November 2013|publisher=[[University of Khartoum]]}}</ref>||  Renamed from Gordon Memorial College, founded 1902, when it gained full university status in 1956
|-
|{{flagcountry|Tanzania}}<br/>([[Dar es Salaam]]) || [[File:Flag of Tanganyika (1923–1961).svg|23px]] [[Tanganyika (territory)|Tanganyika Territory]]<br/>([[Dar es Salaam]]) ||[[University of Dar es Salaam]] || 1961 (as affiliated college of the [[University of London]]; part of the [[University of East Africa]] 1963; university 1970)|| 
|-
| colspan=2|{{flagcountry|Togo}}<br />([[Lomé]]) ||[[University of Lomé]]||1970|| Originally the University of Benin, changed to current name in 2001
|-
| {{flagcountry|Tunisia}}<br />([[Tunis]]) || [[File:Umayyad Flag.svg|23px]] [[Umayyad Caliphate]]<br />([[Tunis]]) || [[University of Ez-Zitouna]] ||1961 (as university; madrasa {{circa|737}})|| Traces its origins back to the Al-Zaytuna [[madrasa]] founded around 737, it gained university status in 1961
|-
| {{flagcountry|Uganda}}<br />([[Kampala]])|| [[File:Flag of the Uganda Protectorate.svg|23px]] [[Uganda Protectorate|British Protectorate of Uganda]]<br />([[Kampala]]) || [[Makerere University]] || 1949 (as affiliated college of the [[University of London]]; part of [[University of East Africa]] 1963; university 1970) ||Started as a technical college in 1922. Then became an [[Affiliated school|affiliate college]] of the [[University of London]]; part of the [[University of East Africa]] 1963. It would become an independent University<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.mak.ac.ug/about-makerere |title=About Makerere |access-date=21 March 2022 |archive-date=4 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220504082224/https://www.mak.ac.ug/about-makerere |url-status=live }}</ref> 1970.
|-
| colspan=2|{{flagcountry|Zambia}}<br />([[Lusaka]]) ||[[University of Zambia]]||1966|| 
|-
| {{flagcountry|Zimbabwe}}<br />([[Harare]])|| {{flagcountry|Southern Rhodesia}}<br />([[Harare|Salisbury]]) || [[University of Zimbabwe]] ||1952 (as affiliated college of the [[University of London]]; university 1970)||Founded in 1952 as University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. University of Rhodesia from 1970 and University of Zimbabwe from 1980 
|}

=== Asia ===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|- valign="top"
! colspan=2 | Location
! width="15%" rowspan=2 | Current name
! width="5%" rowspan=2 | Year
! width="50%" rowspan=2 | Notes
|-
! width="15%" | Current
! width="15%" | Original
|- valign="top"
| {{flagcountry|Afghanistan}}<br />([[Kabul]])|| {{flagdeco|Kingdom of Afghanistan}} [[Kingdom of Afghanistan]]<br />([[Kabul]]) || [[Kabul University]] ||1931||  Founded in 1931, formally opened 1932.
|-
| colspan="2" | {{flagcountry|Bahrain}}<br />([[Sakhir]], [[Isa Town]])||[[University of Bahrain]] ||1986||
|-
| {{flagcountry|Bangladesh}}<br />([[Dhaka]])|| {{flagcountry|British Raj}}<br />([[Dhaka|Dacca]], [[Bengal Presidency]]) || [[University of Dhaka]] ||1921||  First university in Bangladesh, opened 1 July 1921.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.du.ac.bd/main_menu/the_university/about|title=The University|publisher=Dhaka college|access-date=12 February 2017|archive-date=2 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170502030816/http://www.du.ac.bd/main_menu/the_university/about|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
| colspan="2" | {{flagcountry|Bhutan}}<br />([[Thimphu]])||[[Royal University of Bhutan]] ||2003||
|-
| colspan="2" | {{flagcountry|Brunei}}<br />([[Bandar Seri Begawan]])||[[University of Brunei Darussalam]] ||1985||
|-
| {{flagcountry|Cambodia}}<br />([[Phnom Penh]])|| {{flagdeco|Cambodia|1863}} [[French Protectorate of Cambodia]]<br />([[Phnom Penh]]) || [[Royal University of Fine Arts]] ||1917||
|-
| rowspan="3" |{{flagcountry|PRC}}
| rowspan="3" |{{flagdeco|Qing dynasty|1862}} [[Qing Empire]]<br />
|[[Tianjin University]]
|1895
|The first higher education institution in China, established in 1895 as National Peiyang University (国立北洋大学). Restructured in 1951 and renamed Tianjin University. 
|-
|[[Nanyang Public School]] and [[Shanghai Jiao Tong University|Jiaotong University]]
|1896
|Both universities were founded in 1896 and later merged and restructured several times. The most notable of their five modern successors is [[Shanghai Jiao Tong University]]. 
|-
|[[Peking University]]
|1898
|Originally named Jingshi Daxuetang ({{zh|t=京師大學堂|l=Capital Grand Study Hall}}), then National Beijing University ({{zh|t=國立北京大學|p=Guólì Běijīng Dàxué}}). 
|-
| colspan=2|{{flagcountry|East Timor}}|| [[National University of East Timor]] ||2000||
|-
| {{flagcountry|Hong Kong}}|| {{flagcountry|Hong Kong|1910}} || [[The University of Hong Kong]] ||1911 (as university; college 1887)||  Founded as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese in 1887, incorporated as a university in 1911
|-
| {{flagcountry|India}}<br />([[Serampore]])|| {{flagdeco|DEN}} [[Danish India]]<br />([[Frederiknagore]]) || [[Serampore College]] ||1827 (as university; college 1818)||  Incorporated and granted university status and the right to award degrees by royal charter of [[Frederick VI of Denmark]] on 23 February 1827, endorsed by the Bengal Government Act 1918.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-life/article1115067.ece|title=Colonial Archive|author=Sankar Ray|work=[[The Hindu]]|date=11 April 2008|access-date=12 February 2017|archive-date=6 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160106144632/http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-life/article1115067.ece|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
| rowspan="2" | {{flagcountry|Indonesia}}|| rowspan="2" | {{flagdeco|Netherlands}} [[Dutch East Indies]] || [[Bandung Institute of Technology]] ||1920||  Founded as ''Technische [[Vocational university#Netherlands|Hogeschool]]''. Renamed in 1959.
|-
| [[University of Indonesia]] ||1924 (as ''hogeschool''; medical school 1851; university 1947)|| Incorporates the medical school founded as the Dokter-Djawa School Batavia in 1851, which became the ''Geneeskundige Hogeschool'' in 1927 and the ''Rechts Hogeschool'' founded in 1924.
|-
<!--
| {{flagcountry|Iran}}|| {{flagdeco|Persia}} [[Qajar Iran]] || [[Dar ul-Funun (Persia)|Dar ul-Funun]] ||1851|| first modern university and modern institution of higher learning in [[Iran]]<ref>{{EI3|last=Ringer|first=Monica|title=Dār al-Funūn (Iran)|url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-3/dar-al-funun-iran-COM_25893?s.num=2&s.f.s2_parent=s.f.book.encyclopaedia-of-islam-3&s.q=Iran|year=2013}}</ref>
|- -->
| rowspan="2" | {{flagcountry|Iran}}|| {{flagdeco|Iran|1925}} [[Imperial State of Persia]] || [[University of Tehran]] ||1934|| Founded by [[Rezā Shāh]], incorporating portions of the [[Dar ul-Funun (Persia)|Dar ul-Funun]] Polytechnic Institute (1851) and the [[Tehran School of Political Sciences]] (1899)
|-
| {{flagdeco|Iran|1925}} [[Sublime State of Persia]] || [[Kharazmi University]] ||1974 (as university; institute 1919)|| Named after [[Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi|Khwarizmi]] ({{Circa|780}}–850), Persian mathematician, astronomer and geographer. It was established in 1919 as the Central Teachers' Institute and gained university status as Tarbiat Moallem University of Tehran in 1974. It changed its name to Kharazmi University on January 31, 2012.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-03-30 |title=Kharazmi University |url=https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/kharazmi-university |access-date=2022-06-23 |website=Times Higher Education (THE) |language=en |archive-date=18 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220618190708/https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/kharazmi-university |url-status=live }}</ref>
|-
| {{flagcountry|Iraq}}|| {{flagdeco|Iraq|1924}} [[Kingdom of Iraq]] || [[University of Baghdad]] ||1956 ||  The Iraqi Royal College of Medicine was established in 1928
|-
| rowspan="2" | {{flagcountry|Israel}}|| {{flagcountry|Ottoman Empire}}<br />([[Beirut vilayet]]) || [[Technion – Israel Institute of Technology]] ||1912 (opened 1924)||  Founded in 1912, but formal teaching began in 1924
|-
|{{flagdeco|FRA}}{{flagdeco|UK}} [[Occupied Enemy Territory Administration]] || [[Hebrew University of Jerusalem]] ||1918 ||
|-
| rowspan="3" | {{flagcountry|Japan}}|| rowspan="3" | {{flagcountry|Empire of Japan}} || [[University of Tokyo]] ||1877 (as a university; earliest predecessor 1630) ||  Previous names are University of Tokyo (1877–1886), Imperial University (1886–1897), and Tokyo Imperial University (1897–1947). Its origins include a private college of Confucian studies founded by Hayashi Razan in 1630,<ref>須藤敏夫『近世日本釈奠の研究』（思文閣出版、2001年） {{ISBN|978-4-7842-1070-1}}</ref> [[Tenmongata|Tenmonkata]] (The Observatory, 1684)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/gen03/b03_02_j.html |title=東京大学 [東京大学の歴史&#93;沿革略図 |publisher=U-tokyo.ac.jp |access-date=15 August 2013 |archive-date=5 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130805220455/http://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/gen03/b03_02_j.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and Shutōsho (Smallpox Vaccination Centre, 1849).<ref>深瀬泰旦著 『天然痘根絶史』 恩文閣出版、2002年9月 {{ISBN|4-7842-1116-0}}</ref><br />The university was established in 1877 by the merger of three institutions: Shoheiko (Japanese and Chinese Literature, established 1789), Yogakusho (Occidental Studies, established 1855) and Shutosho (Vaccinations, established 1860), originally as Tokyo University before becoming the Imperial University and then Tokyo Imperial University before reverting to its original name after World War II.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/about/chronology.html|title=Chronology|publisher=Tokyo University|access-date=8 April 2017|archive-date=9 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170409113018/http://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/about/chronology.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
|[[Keio University]] ||1920 (as university; school for Dutch studies 1858) ||  Founded as a "school for [[Rangaku|Dutch studies]]" in 1858. College with three university departments (literature, law and economics) established 1890. Accredited as a university by the Japanese government in 1920.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.keio.ac.jp/en/about/history/index.html|title=History|publisher=Keio University|access-date=8 April 2017|archive-date=9 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170409021257/https://www.keio.ac.jp/en/about/history/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
|[[Ryukoku University]] ||1922 (as "Daikyoko (Great School)" 1876; school 1639)||  Traces its origins to a school for Buddhist monks of the [[Nishi Hongan-ji]] denomination founded in 1639. Assumed its current name and became a university under the University Ordinance in 1922.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ryukoku.ac.jp/english2/about/e_history.html|title=The Spirit of Tradition and Innovation Embodied in the 370 Year History of Ryukoku|publisher=Ryukoku University|quote=Daikyoko (Great School) established in September, 1876, as the highest institution of the educational system promulgated by the Nishi-Hongwanji organization … 1922 Renamed Ryukoku University Became a university under University Ordinance|access-date=8 April 2017|archive-date=9 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170409110943/http://www.ryukoku.ac.jp/english2/about/e_history.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
| colspan="2" | {{flagcountry|Jordan}}||[[University of Jordan]] ||1962||
|-
| {{flagcountry|Kazakhstan}}|| {{flagcountry|Soviet Union}}<br />([[File:Flag of The Kazakh Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic (1920-36).svg|20px|link=]] [[Kazakh Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic]]) || [[Al-Farabi Kazakh National University]] ||1933 ||
|-
| colspan="2" | {{flagcountry|Kuwait}}||[[University of Kuwait]] ||1966||
|-
| {{flagcountry|Kyrgyzstan}}||{{flagcountry|Soviet Union}}<br/>({{flagcountry|Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic}})||[[Kyrgyz National University]] ||1951 (as university; institute of education 1925)||
|-
| colspan="2" | {{flagcountry|Laos}}||[[National University of Laos]] ||1996||
|-
| rowspan="2" | {{flagcountry|Lebanon}}|| rowspan="2" | {{flagcountry|Ottoman Empire}}<br />([[Syria vilayet]]) || [[American University of Beirut]] ||1920 (as degree-awarding college 1866)|| Originally Syrian Protestant College, chartered by the [[New York (state)|State of New York]], took current name in 1920
|-
|[[Saint Joseph University]] ||1872||
|-
| rowspan="3" | {{flagcountry|Pakistan}}|| rowspan="3" | {{flagcountry|British Raj}}<br />([[Punjab Province (British India)|Punjab]]) || [[University of the Punjab]] ||1882
|  Established by [[British Raj|British colonial authorities]] in 1882 as the first university in what would become Pakistan.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://pu.edu.pk/page/show/historyandpride.html|title=Our History Our Pride|publisher=University of the Punjab|access-date=23 August 2023}}</ref>
|-
|[[King Edward Medical University, Lahore]]
|1860
|Established as Lahore Medical College, 1860. Became an independent university in 2005.<ref name=":0" />
|-
|[[Government College University, Lahore]] ||2002 (as a University)
1864 (as college)
|  Established as Government College, Lahore, 1864. Became an independent university in 2002.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=http://punjablaws.gov.pk/laws//443.html|title=The Government College University, Lahore Ordinance 2002|website=Punjab Laws Online|access-date=8 April 2017|archive-date=22 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622171959/http://punjablaws.gov.pk/laws/443.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
| {{flagcountry|Macau}}|| {{flagcountry|Macau|colonial}} || [[University of Macau]] ||1981||  Established as University of East Asia in 1981, renamed 1991
|-
| {{flagcountry|Malaysia}}
|{{flagdeco|UK}} [[British Malaya]]||[[University of Malaya]] ||1905||  Established as Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States Government Medical School on 13 July 1905 in Singapore
|-
| colspan="2" | {{flagcountry|Maldives}}||[[Maldives National University]] ||1998 (as degree awarding college; university 2011)||  Established in 1998 as the Maldives College of Higher Education, establishing its first degree course in 2000. Became the Maldives National University in 2011.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mnu.edu.mv/history/|title=History|work=Maldives National University|access-date=13 August 2019|archive-date=4 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191004042020/http://mnu.edu.mv/history/|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
| {{flagcountry|Mongolia}}|| {{flagdeco|Mongolia|1924}} [[Mongolian People's Republic]] || [[National University of Mongolia]] ||1942||
|-
| {{flagcountry|Myanmar}}|| {{flagcountry|British Burma}} || [[Rangoon University]] ||1878<ref>{{cite news| url=https://af.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idAFTRE7AQ02420111127 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402093336/http://af.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idAFTRE7AQ02420111127 | url-status=dead | archive-date=2 April 2015 | work=Reuters | title=Yangon – From stately city to crumbling symbol of isolation | date=27 November 2011}}</ref>||
|-
| {{flagcountry|Nepal}}|| {{flagcountry|Kingdom of Nepal|old}}|| [[Tribhuvan University]] ||1959<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tribhuvan-university.edu.np/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=173&Itemid=232 |title=About Us |publisher=Tribhuvan-university.edu.np |access-date=15 August 2013 |archive-date=25 December 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121225055853/http://www.tribhuvan-university.edu.np/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=173&Itemid=232 |url-status=live }}</ref>||
|-
| {{flagcountry|North Korea}}|| {{flagcountry|Provisional People's Committee of North Korea}} || [[Kim Il-sung University]] ||1946||
|-
| colspan=2|{{flagcountry|Oman}}  || [[Sultan Qaboos University]] ||1986<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.squ.edu.om/About/About-SQU/Campus-Profile|title=Campus Profile|work=Sultan Qaboos University|access-date=13 August 2019|archive-date=23 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190523234119/https://www.squ.edu.om/About/About-SQU/Campus-Profile|url-status=live}}</ref>||
|-
|{{flagcountry|Palestine}}||[[File:Flag of the Israel Defense Forces.svg|20px]] [[Israeli Military Governorate]]||[[Bethlehem University]]||1973<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bethlehem.edu/about/mission-history|title=Mission and History|work=Bethlehem University|access-date=13 August 2019|archive-date=4 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180904192056/https://www.bethlehem.edu/about/mission-history|url-status=dead}}</ref>||
|-
|  {{flagcountry|Philippines}}||  {{flagdeco|Spanish Empire|1785}} [[Captaincy General of the Philippines]] || [[University of Santo Tomas]] ||1645 (college 1611) || Founded on 28 April 1611 by the [[Order of Preachers]] and raised to university status by [[Pope Innocent X]] in 1645. The [[National Historical Commission of the Philippines]] recognizes it as the oldest university in the country as well as in Asia.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nhcp.gov.ph/asias-oldest-university-the-royal-and-pontifical-university-of-santo-tomas/|title=Asia's Oldest University, The Royal and Pontifical University of Santo Tomas|publisher=National Historical Commission of the Philippines|date=4 September 2012|author=Quennie Ann J. Palafox|access-date=7 September 2020|archive-date=9 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221009185023/https://nhcp.gov.ph/asias-oldest-university-the-royal-and-pontifical-university-of-santo-tomas/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|-
| colspan="2" | {{flagcountry|Qatar}}||[[Qatar University]] ||1977<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.qu.edu.qa/about|title=About|work=Qatar University|access-date=13 August 2019|archive-date=15 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190815210335/http://www.qu.edu.qa/about|url-status=live}}</ref>||
|-
| colspan="2" | {{flagcountry|Saudi Arabia}}||[[King Saud University]] ||1957||
|-
| {{flagcountry|Singapore}}|| {{flagcountry|Straits Settlements}} || [[National University of Singapore]] ||1905|| Founded as Straits and Federated Malay States Government Medical School
|-
| rowspan="2" |{{flagcountry|South Korea}}||rowspan="2" |{{flagcountry|Joseon}} || [[Sungkyunkwan University]] ||1895 (as university; royal institution 1398)  || [[Sungkyunkwan]] was established in 1398 as the highest educational institution of the Joseon Dynasty. In 1895, Sungkyunkwan was reformed into a modern three-year university after the national state examination was abolished the previous year. It was again reorganized as Sungkyunkwan University in 1946 at the end of the Japanese occupation of Korea.
|-
|[[Ewha Womans University]]||1946 (as university; school 1886)||Established in 1886 as the [[Ewha Haktang]] mission school for girls, started higher education in 1910, and was reorganized as Ewha Womans University in 1946. 
|-
| {{flagcountry|Sri Lanka}}|| {{flagcountry|British Ceylon}} || [[University of Colombo]] ||1942||  Formed in 1942 as the [[University of Ceylon]] by the amalgamation of University College Colombo (established 1921) and [[Ceylon Medical College]] (established in 1870). Was part of the University of Sri Lanka 1972–1978.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cmb.ac.lk/index.php/history/|title=History|publisher=University of Colombo|access-date=8 April 2017|archive-date=9 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170409111048/http://www.cmb.ac.lk/index.php/history/|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
| {{flagcountry|Syria}}|| [[File:Flag of the State of Damascus.svg|20px]] [[State of Damascus]] || [[University of Damascus]] ||1923|| Founded in 1923 through the merger of the School of Medicine (established 1903) and the Institute of Law (established 1913)
|-
| {{flagcountry|TWN}}|| {{flagdeco|Empire of Japan}} [[Taiwan under Japanese rule|Japanese Taiwan]]|| [[National Taiwan University]] ||1928 || Founded as Taihoku (Taipei) Imperial University
|-
| {{flagcountry|Tajikistan}}||{{flagcountry|USSR}}<br/>({{flagcountry|Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic}})||[[Tajik National University]] ||1947||
|-
| {{flagcountry|Turkmenistan}}<br />([[Ashgabat]])||{{flagcountry|USSR}}<br/>({{flagcountry|Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic}})||[[Turkmen State University]] ||1950 (as university; pedagogical institute 1931)||
|-
| {{flagcountry|Thailand}}|| {{flagdeco|Thailand|1855}} [[Rattanakosin Kingdom (1782–1932)|Rattanakosin Kingdom]] ||[[Chulalongkorn University]] ||1917 (as university; college 1899)||
|-
| colspan="2" | {{flagcountry|UAE}}||[[United Arab Emirates University]] ||1976||
|-
| rowspan="2" | {{flagcountry|Vietnam}}|| rowspan="2" | {{flagcountry|French Indochina}} || [[Hanoi Medical University]] ||1902|| 
|-
|[[Vietnam National University, Hanoi]] ||1904|| Originally the University of Indochina, first full subject university in Vietnam.
|-
| {{flagcountry|Yemen}}|| {{flagcountry|Yemen Arab Republic}} || [[Sanaa University]] ||1970|| 
|-
|}

=== Europe ===
While Europe had 143 universities in 1789, the [[French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars]] took a heavy toll, reducing the number to 83 by 1815. The universities of France were abolished<ref name="Jones, 2006"/> and over half of the universities in both Germany and Spain were destroyed. By the mid 19th century, Europe had recovered to 98 universities.<ref name=Ruegg3>{{cite book|title=A History of the University in Europe|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|last=Rüegg|first=Walter|date=2004|volume=3, Universities in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries (1800–1945)|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=entlN4EEPUYC&pg=PA4|page=3|chapter=1 Themes|isbn=9781139453028}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|- valign="top"
! colspan=2 | Location
! width="15%" rowspan=2 | Current name
! width="5%" rowspan=2 | Year
! width="50%" rowspan=2 | Notes
|-
! width="15%" | Current
! width="15%" | Original
|- valign="top"
| {{flagcountry|Albania}}<br />([[Tirana]])||{{flagicon|Albania|1946}} [[People's Socialist Republic of Albania]]<br />([[Tirana]]) ||[[University of Tirana]] ||1957 ||  Originally established in 1957 as the State University of Tirana through merging of five existing institutes of higher education, the most important of which was the Institute of Sciences, founded in 1947.
|-
| {{flagcountry|Albania}}<br />([[Shkodër]])||{{flagicon|Albania|1946}} [[People's Socialist Republic of Albania]]<br />([[Shkodër]])||[[University of Shkodër "Luigj Gurakuqi"]] || 1957 ||
|-
| {{flagcountry|Armenia}}<br />([[Yerevan]])|| {{flagicon|Armenia|1918}} [[First Republic of Armenia]]<br />([[Gyumri|Alexandropol]]) || [[Yerevan State University]] || 1919 ||
|-
| {{flagcountry|Austria}}<br />([[Graz]])||{{flagicon|Austria}} [[Archduchy of Austria]],<br>{{flag|Holy Roman Empire}}<br />([[Graz]]) ||[[University of Graz]] ||1585 (continuous from 1827)||  Founded in 1585 by Archduke Charles II of Austria. Closed 1782–1827.
|-
| {{flagcountry|Austria}}<br />([[Innsbruck]])||{{flagicon|Austria}} [[Archduchy of Austria]],<br>{{flag|Holy Roman Empire}}<br />([[Innsbruck]]) || [[University of Innsbruck]] || 1669 (continuous from 1826)|| Originally established as a [[Society of Jesus|Jesuit]] school in 1562 before becoming a university in 1669. Closed as a university from 1782 to 1826.
|-
| {{flagcountry|Azerbaijan}}<br />([[Baku]])||{{flagicon|Azerbaijan|1918}} [[Azerbaijan Democratic Republic]]<br />([[Baku]])|| [[Baku State University]]  ||1919 || In 1930, the government ordered the university shut down in accordance with a reorganization of higher education, and the university was replaced with the Supreme Pedagogical Institute. In 1934 the university was reestablished.
|-
| {{flagcountry|Belgium}}<br />([[Flemish Region]])<br/>([[Ghent]])|| {{flagicon|Netherlands}} [[United Kingdom of the Netherlands]]<br />([[Ghent]]) ||[[Ghent University]] ||1817||  Established in 1817 by [[William I of the Netherlands]]
|-
| {{flagcountry|Belgium}}<br />([[Wallonia]])<br />([[Liège]])||{{flagicon|Netherlands}} [[United Kingdom of the Netherlands]] <br />([[Liège]])||[[University of Liège]]||1817 || Established in 1817 by [[William I of the Netherlands]]
|-
| {{flagcountry|BIH}}<br />([[Sarajevo]]) || {{flag|Yugoslavia|alias}}<br />([[Sarajevo]]) || [[University of Sarajevo]] || 1949||
|-
| rowspan="1" | {{flagcountry|Bulgaria}}<br />([[Sofia]]) || {{flagicon|Bulgaria|1878}} [[Principality of Bulgaria]]<br />([[Sofia]])|| [[Sofia University]] || 1904 ("higher pedagogical course" from 1888)<ref>{{cite journal|last=Pundeff|first=Marin|title=The University of Sofia at Eighty|journal=Slavic Review|volume=27|issue=3|pages=438–446|date=September 1968|jstor=2493343|doi=10.2307/2493343|s2cid=164056461 }}</ref> ||
|-
| {{flagcountry|Croatia}}<br />([[Zagreb]])||{{flag|Kingdom of Croatia (Habsburg)}}<br />([[Zagreb]]) || [[University of Zagreb]] || 1669 || History of the university began on 23 September 1669, when the [[Holy Roman Emperor]] [[Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor|Leopold I]] issued a decree granting the establishment of the [[Society of Jesus|Jesuit Academy]] of the Royal Free City of Zagreb. Decree was accepted at the Council of the Croatian Kingdom on 3 November 1671.
|-
| {{flagcountry|Czech Republic}}<br />([[Olomouc]])||{{flagicon|Bohemia}} [[Lands of the Bohemian Crown|Bohemian crown lands]],<br>{{flag|Holy Roman Empire}}<br />([[Olomouc]]) || [[Palacký University]] || 1573 || Originally known as Olomouc [[Society of Jesus|Jesuit]] University.
|-
| {{flagcountry|Denmark}}<br />([[Copenhagen]])|| {{flagdeco|Denmark|state}} [[History of Denmark#19th century|Denmark]]||[[Technical University of Denmark]] || 1829 ||Was founded in 1829 as the ''College of Advanced Technology''
|-
| {{flagcountry|Estonia}}<br />([[Tartu]])|| [[File:Svensk_flagg_1815.svg|20px|link=]] [[Kingdom of Sweden]]<br />([[Tartu|Dorpat]])|| [[University of Tartu]] || 1632 (continuous operation since 1802)||Founded as Academia Gustaviana in the then Swedish province of [[Livonia]]. It was closed by the Russian Government from 1710 to 1802.
|-
| {{flagcountry|Finland}}<br />([[Helsinki]])||[[File:Svensk_flagg_1815.svg|20px|link=]] [[Kingdom of Sweden]]<br />([[Turku|Åbo]]) || [[University of Helsinki]] || 1640 ||Founded as the [[Royal Academy of Turku]] (Swedish: ''Kungliga Akademin i Åbo''). It was shut down by the [[Great Fire of Turku]] in 1827. The [[University of Helsinki]] was founded the next year, in 1828, and it started operating in 1829. The University of Helsinki sees itself as continuation of the Royal Academy of Turku.
|-
|  {{flagcountry|France}}<br />([[Paris]])||{{flag|Kingdom of France|seme}}<br />([[Paris]])  || [[Sorbonne University]]||1150–1250 (continuous operation since 1896)|| Emerged around 1150 as a corporation associated with the cathedral school of [[Notre-Dame de Paris|Notre Dame de Paris]], it was considered the second-oldest university in Europe. Officially chartered in 1200 by [[Philip II of France]] and recognised in 1215 by [[Pope Innocent III]], it was often nicknamed after its theology collegiate institution, College of Sorbonne, founded about 1257 by [[Robert de Sorbon]] and charted by [[Louis IX of France]]. It was abolished in 1793 by the [[French Revolution]],<ref name="Jones, 2006"/> and was replaced by [[Napoleon]] on 1 May 1806 by the ''[[University of France]]'' system. In 1896 the Louis Liard law allowed the founding of a new University of Paris. In 1970, it split into 13 separate universities and numerous specialised institutions of higher education. In 2018, [[Sorbonne University]] was formed from the [[Paris-Sorbonne University]] (created from the faculty of humanities of the University of Paris) and [[Pierre and Marie Curie University]] (created from the faculty of science and medicine of the University of Paris).<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.studyinternational.com/news/consolidation-of-two-elite-paris-universities-confirmed-for-2018/#ueqSveXzd4FU54uu.97 |title=Study International, Consolidation of two elite Paris universities confirmed for 2018 |date=18 April 2016 |access-date=16 August 2017 |archive-date=7 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807073849/https://www.studyinternational.com/news/consolidation-of-two-elite-paris-universities-confirmed-for-2018/#ueqSveXzd4FU54uu.97 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://thepienews.com/news/mega-university-planned-for-pariss-left-bank/ |title=The Pie News, Mega university planned for Paris's Left Bank |access-date=16 August 2017 |archive-date=7 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170807155553/https://thepienews.com/news/mega-university-planned-for-pariss-left-bank/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
|-
| {{flagcountry|France}}<br />([[Occitania (administrative region)|Occitanie]])||[[File:Flag_of_Occitania.svg|25px]] [[County of Toulouse]]<br />([[Toulouse]]) ||[[Université fédérale de Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées]] || continuous operation since 1896|| Founded by [[papal bull]] in 1229 as the University of Toulouse. It closed in 1793 due to the [[French Revolution]], and reopened in 1896. In 1969, it split into three separate universities and numerous specialised institutions of higher education. It no longer represents a single university, as it is now the collective entity which federates the universities and specialised institutions of higher education in the region.
|-
| {{flagcountry|France}}<br />([[Montpellier]])|| {{flagicon|Kingdom of Mallorca|1269}} [[Kingdom of Majorca]]<br />([[Montpellier]]) ||[[University of Montpellier]]<br />[[Paul Valéry University, Montpellier III|Paul Valéry University Montpellier 3]] || continuous operation since 1896||  The world's oldest medicine faculty was established before 1137 and operated continuously until the [[French Revolution]]. University by [[papal bull]] in 1289. It closed in 1793 due to the French Revolution, and reopened in 1896. The university of Montpellier was officially re-organised in 1969 after a students' revolt. It was split into its successor institutions the [[University of Montpellier 1]] (comprising the former faculties of medicine, law, and economy), [[Montpellier 2 University|Montpellier 2]] (science and technology) and [[Paul Valéry University, Montpellier III|Montpellier 3]] (social sciences, humanities and liberal arts). On 1 January 2015, the [[University of Montpellier 1]] and the [[Montpellier 2 University|University of Montpellier 2]] merged to form the newly recreated University of Montpellier.<ref name="lamarseillaise1">{{cite web |url=http://www.lamarseillaise.fr/herault-du-jour/education/34545-l-universite-de-montpellier-a-l-epreuve-de-la-fusion |title=L'université de Montpellier à l'épreuve de la fusion|trans-title=The University of Montpellier put to the test of a merger|lang=fr|last=Cougnenc|first=Rémy|work=[[La Marseillaise (newspaper)|La Marseillaise]]|date=January 5, 2015|access-date=14 October 2015 |archive-date=2 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402093746/http://www.lamarseillaise.fr/herault-du-jour/education/34545-l-universite-de-montpellier-a-l-epreuve-de-la-fusion}}</ref><ref name="umontpellier2">{{cite web|url=http://www.umontpellier.fr/universite/histoire-de-luniversite/ |title=Université de Montpellier|trans-title=University of Montpellier|lang=fr|publisher=Umontpellier.fr |date=20 June 2014 |access-date=14 October 2015 |archive-date=11 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151011083144/http://www.umontpellier.fr/universite/histoire-de-luniversite/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Meanwhile, the [[Paul Valéry University, Montpellier III|Paul Valéry University Montpellier 3]] remains a separate institution.
|-
| {{flagcountry|France}}<br />([[Aix-en-Provence]], <br />[[Marseille]]) || [[File:Drapeau de Provence « ancien ».svg|22px]] [[County of Provence]],<br />{{flag|Holy Roman Empire}}<br />([[Aix-en-Provence|Aix]]) ||[[Aix-Marseille University]] || continuous operation since 1896||Founded in 1409 as the University of Provence, and in 1792, dissolved, along with twenty-one other universities. In 1896 it was reformed as the University of Aix-Marseille, one of 17 self-governing regional universities financed by the state. In 1968 it was divided into two institutions, the University of Provence (Aix-Marseille I) as a school of languages and letters, and the University of Aix-Marseille (Aix-Marseille II) as primarily a school of medicine and sciences. In 1973 the University of Law, Economics and Science (Aix-Marseille III) was added. In 2012 the three universities merged and was renamed Aix-Marseille University.
|-
| {{flagcountry|Germany}}<br />([[Wittenberg]]<br />[[Halle (Saale)|Halle]])|| {{flagcountry|Holy Roman Empire}}<br />([[Wittenberg]])  || [[Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg]] || 1502 ||Established in 1502 as the University of Wittenberg. Merged with University of Halle (founded 1691) in 1817.
|-
| {{flagcountry|Georgia}}<br />([[Tbilisi]])||{{flag|Democratic Republic of Georgia}}<br />([[Tbilisi]]) || [[Tbilisi State University]] ||1918|| Founded in 1918 as Tbilisi State University
|-
| colspan="2" | {{flagcountry|Gibraltar}}||[[University of Gibraltar]] || 2015<ref>{{cite news|last=Clapperton|first=Guy|title=The new campus on the Rock – part 2|url=https://www.newstatesman.com/newstatesman-gibraltar/special-features/2015/09/new-campus-rock-part-2|access-date=15 October 2019|work=New Statesman|publisher=Progressive Digital Media|date=22 September 2015|archive-date=16 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191016014000/https://www.newstatesman.com/newstatesman-gibraltar/special-features/2015/09/new-campus-rock-part-2|url-status=live}}</ref>||
|-
| {{flagcountry|Greece}}<br />([[Athens]])|| {{flag|Kingdom of Greece|1831}}<br />([[Athens]])||[[National and Kapodistrian University of Athens]] || 1837<ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.uoa.gr/about_us/|title=about us|work=National and Kapodistrian University of Athens|access-date=11 August 2019|archive-date=4 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190704172139/https://en.uoa.gr/about_us/|url-status=live}}</ref>|| 
|-
| rowspan="1" | {{flagcountry|Hungary}}<br />([[Budapest]])|| {{flag|Kingdom of Hungary}}<br />([[Trnava|Nagyszombat]]) || [[Eötvös Loránd University]] ||1635||Founded in 1635 by the archbishop and theologian [[Péter Pázmány]] as the ''University of Nagyszombat''. Renamed Royal Hungarian University of Science in 1769. The university was moved to [[Buda]] (today part of Budapest) in 1777. The university moved to its final location in [[Pest, Hungary|Pest]] (now also part of Budapest) in 1784 and was renamed Royal University of Pest. It has been renamed three times since then: University of Budapest (1873–1921), (Hungarian Royal Pázmány Péter University (1921–1950), and since 1950, Eötvös Loránd University.
|-
|  {{flagcountry|Iceland}}<br />([[Reykjavík]])||{{flagcountry|Denmark}}<br />([[Reykjavík]]) || [[University of Iceland]] || 1911||
|-
|  {{flagcountry|Ireland}}<br />([[Dublin]])||{{flag|Kingdom of Ireland}}<br />([[Dublin]]) ||[[University of Dublin]] ||1592|| Founded by Queen [[Elizabeth I]] and modelled after the [[Collegiate university|collegiate universities]] of [[University of Oxford|Oxford]] and [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge]]. Only one college was ever established, [[Trinity College Dublin]], making the two designations effectively synonymous.
|-
| {{flagcountry|Italy}}<br />([[Urbino]])|| [[File:Corona ferrea monza (heraldry).svg|24px]] [[Kingdom of Italy (Holy Roman Empire)|Kingdom of Italy]],<br />{{flagcountry|Holy Roman Empire}}<br />([[Urbino]]) || [[University of Urbino]] || 1506 ||
|-
| {{flagcountry|Kosovo}}<br />([[Pristina]])||{{flag|Yugoslavia|alias}}<br />([[Pristina]]) || [[University of Pristina]] || 1969||
|-
|  {{flagcountry|Latvia}}<br />([[Riga]])||{{flag|Russian Empire}}<br />([[Riga]])||[[Riga Technical University]]  ||1862|| First established as Riga Polytechnicum in 1862
|-
| colspan = 2 | {{flagcountry|Liechtenstein}}<br />([[Vaduz]]) || [[University of Liechtenstein]] ||1961||  Successor to the Abendtechnikum Vaduz in 1992
|-
| {{flagcountry|Lithuania}}<br />([[Vilnius]])|| {{Flag|Grand Duchy of Lithuania}},
{{Flag|Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth}}<br />([[Vilnius]])
|[[Vilnius University]] || 1579 (continuous operation since 1919)|| Founded as the [[Society of Jesus|Jesuit Academy]] of Vilnius; the university was closed in 1832–1919 and again in 1943–44
|-
| colspan = 2 | {{flagcountry|Luxembourg}}<br />([[Esch-sur-Alzette]]) || [[University of Luxembourg]] || 2003||
|-
| {{flagcountry|Malta}}<br />([[Msida]])|| {{flagicon|Sovereign Military Order of Malta}} [[Hospitaller Malta]]<br />([[Valletta]]) || [[University of Malta]] || 1769 || First established as the [[Collegium Melitense]] by the Jesuits in 1592
|-
| {{flagcountry|Netherlands}}<br />([[Leiden]])||{{flag|Dutch Republic}}<br />([[Leiden]]) || [[Leiden University]] || 1575|| Although formally still part of the [[Habsburg Netherlands]], Leiden sided with the [[Dutch Revolt]] in 1572
|-
| {{flagcountry|North Macedonia}}<br />([[Skopje]])||{{flag|Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia}}<br />([[Skopje]]) || [[Ss. Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje]] || 1946 ||
|-
| {{flagcountry|Norway}}<br />([[Oslo]])||{{flag|Denmark–Norway}}<br />([[Oslo|Christiania]]) || [[University of Oslo]] || 1811||Founded as The Royal Frederik's University
|-
|  {{flagcountry|Poland}}<br />([[Wrocław]])|| {{flagicon|Bohemia}} [[Lands of the Bohemian Crown|Bohemian crown lands]],<br />{{Flag|Holy Roman Empire}}<br />([[Breslau]])||[[University of Wrocław]] || 1702|| Founded in 1702 by [[Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor]] as the university ''Leopoldina''. It has been renamed five times since then: ''Universitas Literarum Vratislaviensis'' in 1742 by [[Frederick II of Prussia|King Frederick II of Prussia]], ''Silesian Friedrich Wilhelm University in Breslau'' in 1811, ''University of Breslau'' in the second half of the 19th century, ''Bolesław Bierut university'' between 1952 and 1989, and since 1989, ''University of Wrocław''.
|-
| {{flagcountry|Poland}}<br />([[Warsaw]])|| {{flagicon|Poland|1815}} [[Congress Poland|Kingdom of Poland]],<br />{{flag|Russian Empire}}
|[[University of Warsaw]] ||1816||Founded as a Royal University on 19 November 1816, when the Partitions of Poland separated Warsaw from the older [[University of Kraków]] (founded in 1364).
|-
|{{flagcountry|Portugal}}<br />([[Porto]])||{{flag|Kingdom of Portugal}}<br />([[Porto]]) ||[[University of Porto]]|| 1836 (university 1911)||First established as Polytechnic University of Porto and Medical-Surgical School of Porto since 1836
|-
|{{flagcountry|Portugal}}<br />([[Lisbon]])||{{flag|Portuguese Republic}}<br />([[Lisbon]]) ||[[University of Lisbon]]|| 1911||Successor to the Lisbon General Study'','' 1290
|-
| {{flagcountry|Romania}}<br />([[Iași]])|| [[File:Flag of the United Principalities of Romania (1862 - 1866).svg|20px]] [[United Principalities]]<br />([[Iași]]) || [[Alexandru Ioan Cuza University]] || 1860<ref name="Study-in-romania.ro">{{cite web |url=http://www.study-in-romania.ro/historyofeducation.htm |title=Study in Romanian – Learn & Live Freely |publisher=Study-in-romania.ro |access-date=15 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150611181940/http://www.study-in-romania.ro/historyofeducation.htm |archive-date=11 June 2015 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref name="Uaic.ro">{{cite web |url=http://www.uaic.ro/en/university-2/short-history/ |title=Short history |publisher=Alexandru Ioan Cuza University |access-date=10 August 2017 |archive-date=14 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170714082855/http://www.uaic.ro/en/university-2/short-history/ |url-status=live }}</ref>||Successor to the [[Princely Academy, Iaşi|Princely Academy from Iaşi]], 1642, and [[Academia Mihăileană]], 1835<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uaic.ro/en/university-2/university/timeline/|title=Timeline|publisher=Alexandru Ioan Cuza University|access-date=10 August 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170811150130/http://www.uaic.ro/en/university-2/university/timeline/|archive-date=11 August 2017}}</ref>
|-
|  {{flagcountry|Russia}}<br />([[Saint Petersburg]])|| {{flag|Russian Empire}}<br />([[Saint Petersburg]]) || [[Saint Petersburg State University]] || 1724 (continuous from 1819)||Claims to be the successor of the university established along with the Academic Gymnasium and the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences on 24 January 1724 by a decree of [[Peter the Great]]. In the period between 1804 and 1819, Saint Petersburg University officially did not exist
|-
| {{flagcountry|Russia}}<br />([[Moscow]])|| {{flag|Russian Empire}}<br />([[Moscow]])||[[Moscow State University]] || 1755||Founded in 1755 as [[Imperial Moscow University]]
|-
| {{flagcountry|Serbia}}<br />([[Belgrade]])||[[File:Flag of Revolutionary Serbia.svg|20px|link=]] [[Revolutionary Serbia]]<br />([[Belgrade]])|| [[University of Belgrade]] || 1808||Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School, by 1838 it merged with the Kragujevac-based departments into a single university, under current name from 1905; Orthodox Christian [[Lyceum]] in 1794; Teacher's college in 1778.
|-
|  {{flagcountry|Czech Republic}}<br />([[Brno]])|| {{flag|Czechoslovakia}}<br />([[Brno]])||[[Masaryk University]] || rowspan="3" |1919||
|-
|  {{flagcountry|Slovakia}}<br />([[Bratislava]])|| {{flag|Czechoslovakia}}<br />([[Bratislava]])||[[Comenius University]] ||
|-
| {{flagcountry|Slovenia}}<br />([[Ljubljana]])||{{flagcountry|Kingdom of Yugoslavia|name=Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes}}<br />([[Ljubljana]]) || [[University of Ljubljana]] ||
|-
|  {{flagcountry|Spain}}<br />([[Seville]])|| {{flag|Spanish Empire|1506}}<br />([[Seville]]) || [[University of Seville]] || 1505 ||
|-
| colspan="2" | [[File:Svensk_flagg_1815.svg|20px|link=]] [[Kingdom of Sweden]]<br />([[Lund]]) || [[Lund University]] || 1666||A Franciscan Studium Generale was founded in Lund in 1425, as the first university in Northern Europe, but as a result of the [[Protestant Reformation]] the operations of the catholic university were suspended.
|-
| {{flagcountry|Switzerland}}<br />([[Lausanne]])|| {{flag|Old Swiss Confederacy}}<br />([[Lausanne]]) || [[University of Lausanne]] ||1537||
|-
| {{flag|Switzerland}}<br />([[Zürich]])|| [[File:Flag of Switzerland 2-3.svg|20px|link=]] [[Restoration and Regeneration in Switzerland|Swiss Confederation]] || [[University of Zurich]] || 1833 (incorporating colleges dating to 1525)||University established in 1833, taking in the [[Carolinum, Zürich|Carolinum]] theology college, dating to 1525, and colleges of law and medicine.
|-
| rowspan="2" | {{flag|Turkey}}<br />([[Istanbul]])||rowspan="2" | {{flag|Ottoman Empire}}<br />([[Constantinople]])||[[Istanbul Technical University]] || 1773 (university 1928)||Founded in 1773 as [[Turkish Naval Academy|Imperial School of Naval Engineering]] by the Ottoman Sultan [[Mustafa III]], but became a state university in 1928.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.itu.edu.tr/en/about-itu/general/history |title=Istanbul Technical University |publisher=Itu.edu.tr |access-date=15 August 2013 |archive-date=26 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161126183405/http://www.itu.edu.tr/en/about-itu/general/history |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|-
| [[Istanbul University]] || 1453 (university 1933)||
Its ultimate origins lie in a [[madrasa]] and institute of higher education founded by the Ottoman Sultan [[Mehmed II]] in 1453; was reformed to a Western style of education with multiple faculties of sciences in 1846; gained university status in 1933.
|-
| {{flagcountry|Ukraine}}<br />([[Kharkiv]])|| {{flag|Russian Empire}}<br />([[Kharkiv]]) || [[National University of Kharkiv|V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University]] || 1804||
|-
| {{flagcountry|UK}}<br />({{flagcountry|SCO}})<br />([[Edinburgh]])|| {{flag|Kingdom of Scotland}}<br />([[Edinburgh]]) || [[University of Edinburgh]] ||  1582–3<ref name=Ruegg680>{{cite book|title=A History of the University in Europe|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|last=Rüegg|first=Walter|date=2004|volume=3, Universities in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries (1800–1945)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=entlN4EEPUYC&pg=PA680|page=680|isbn=9781139453028}}</ref>||  Formally established as the ''Tounis College'' (Town's College) under the authority of a [[royal charter]] granted to the Town of Edinburgh by King [[James VI and I|James VI]] of Scotland on 14 April 1582.<ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gteIvcJ5GVMC&pg=PA100|chapter=Commerce and Culture: Edinburgh, Edinburgh University, and the Scottish Enlightenment|page=100|last=Phillipson|first=Nicholas|editor-last=Bender|editor-first=Thomas|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|date=1988|isbn=9780195067750|title=The University and the City: From Medieval Origins to the Present}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QE-P0ffkTUoC&pg=PA42|chapter=Edinburgh|pages=42–43|last=Lynch|first=Michael|editor1-last=Hermans|editor1-first=Jos. M. M.|editor2-last=Nelissen|editor2-first=Marc|title=Charters of Foundation and Early Documents of the Universities of the Coimbra Group|publisher=Leuven University Press|date= 2005|isbn=9789058674746}}</ref> It opened its doors to students in October 1583.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ed.ac.uk/about/our-history|title=Our History|publisher=University of Edinburgh|access-date=15 August 2017|archive-date=20 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160420153653/http://www.ed.ac.uk/about/our-history|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
| {{flagcountry|UK}}<br />({{flagcountry|ENG}})<br />([[Durham, England|Durham]])|| [[File:Flag of the United Kingdom (1-2).svg|20px|link=]] [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland]]||[[Durham University]] || 1832<ref name=Ruegg684>{{cite book|title=A History of the University in Europe|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|last=Walter Rüegg|first=Walter|date=2004|volume=3, Universities in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries (1800–1945)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=entlN4EEPUYC&pg=PA684|page=684|isbn=9781139453028}}</ref>|| Claims to be the [[Third oldest university in England debate|third oldest university in England]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Durham University Undergraduate Prospectus 2015|publisher=[[Durham University]]|url=http://issuu.com/communicationsoffice/docs/ugp2015_complete_prospectus_web_ppp|page=6|quote=We are the third oldest university in England and one of the world's leading centres of scholarship and learning|access-date=30 September 2015|archive-date=2 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140602093007/http://issuu.com/communicationsoffice/docs/ugp2015_complete_prospectus_web_ppp|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dur.ac.uk/about/shaped/|title=Our history and values|quote=Henry VIII and Oliver Cromwell's attempts to formally establish a University for the North in Durham were subsumed by politics and North-South rivalries, and it was not until 1832, as the Prince-Bishopric declined lost his powers, was Durham finally endowed with the Castle and lands and granted degree awarding powers by the king as England's third University|access-date=30 September 2015|archive-date=10 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910030303/https://www.dur.ac.uk/about/shaped/|url-status=live}}</ref><br />
Listed by Rüegg in [[A History of the University in Europe]] as meeting standard criteria for recognition as a university from 1832.<ref name=Ruegg684 />

Established under the authority of the University of Durham Act 1832.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/actsrelatingtoe00parlgoog|pages=[https://archive.org/details/actsrelatingtoe00parlgoog/page/n415 389]|title=Acts Relating to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners for England|publisher=Ecclesiastical Commissioners for England|date=1844|last1=Parliament|first1=Great Britain}}</ref> Recognised as a university in the Municipal Corporations Act 1835 and the Established Church Act 1836.<ref>{{cite book|quote=nothing herein contained shall affect or interfere with the rights and privileges granted by charter or Act of Parliament to the University of Durham|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4_RQAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA225|page=225|title=A Collection of Statutes of Practical Utility|last1=Chitty|first1=Joseph|year=1837}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|quote=that the Bishop of Durham do in future hold the castle of Durham in trust for the University of Durham|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4_RQAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA148|page=148|title=A Collection of Statutes of Practical Utility|date=1837|last1=Chitty|first1=Joseph}}</ref> Incorporated and confirmed by Royal Charter in 1837 and degrees granted equal privileges with those of Oxford and Cambridge by the Attorneys and Solicitors Act 1837.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dur.ac.uk/about/governance/charter/|publisher=[[Durham University]]|title=About Durham University – Royal Charter|access-date=30 September 2015|archive-date=23 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923004625/https://www.dur.ac.uk/about/governance/charter/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="1837act">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jls0AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA277|page=277|title=The Statutes of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|publisher=His Majesty's Statute and Law Printers|date=1837|access-date=3 September 2017|archive-date=25 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230425140601/https://books.google.com/books?id=jls0AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA277|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
| {{flagcountry|UK}}<br />({{flagcountry|ENG}})<br />([[London]])|| [[File:Flag of the United Kingdom (1-2).svg|20px|link=]] [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland]]||[[University of London]] || 1836<ref name=Ruegg684 />||Claims to be the third oldest university in England on the basis of the date of its charter.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.london.ac.uk/history.html|title=History|publisher=University of London|access-date=30 September 2015|quote=The University of London was founded by Royal Charter on 28 November 1836 and is the third oldest university in England.|archive-date=9 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140209004448/http://www.london.ac.uk/history.html|url-status=live}}</ref><br />
Listed by Rüegg as meeting standard criteria for recognition as a university from 1836.<ref name=Ruegg684 />

Established by Royal Charter as degree awarding examining body for [[King's College London]] and [[University College London]] (see below), the London medical schools, and other institutions.<ref>{{cite book|title=University of London – The Historical Record, 1836–1912|publisher=University of London|date=1912|pages=7–24|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vyPiAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA7}}</ref> Degrees granted equal privileges with those of [[University of Oxford|Oxford]] and [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge]] by the Attorneys and Solicitors Act 1837.<ref name="1837act" /><br />[[University College London]] (founded 1826; charter 1836) and [[King's College London]] (charter 1829<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=08ZLAAAAcAAJ|title=The charter and by-laws of King's College, London|date=1830|last1=(London)|first1=King's College}}</ref>) claim to be the third and fourth oldest universities in England,<ref>{{cite web|title=Living in London|quote=London offers a scene and status unrivalled by any other city. UCL, England's third oldest university, is at the heart of what has been described as 'the knowledge capital of the world'.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151127131250/http://www.ucl.ac.uk/prospective-students/accommodation/living-london|archive-date=27 November 2015|url=http://www.ucl.ac.uk/prospective-students/accommodation/living-london|publisher=University College London|access-date=30 September 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Undergraduate Prospectus 2015|date=4 April 2014 |publisher=University College London|url=http://issuu.com/ucl-pams/docs/ugp_15_all|page=7|access-date=30 September 2015|archive-date=1 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151001115928/http://issuu.com/ucl-pams/docs/ugp_15_all|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kcl.ac.uk/aboutkings/facts/index.aspx|publisher=King's College London|title=About King's|access-date=30 September 2015|archive-date=4 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160104211428/http://www.kcl.ac.uk/aboutkings/facts/index.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref> but did not offer degree courses prior to the foundation of the University of London<ref>{{cite journal|journal=[[Penny Cyclopaedia]]|title=University College London
|publisher=[[Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge]]|pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_bS-H_-NYM4IC/page/n28 23]–28|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_bS-H_-NYM4IC|date=1843}}</ref> and did not gain their own degree awarding powers until 2005 and 2006 respectively.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ucl.ac.uk/media/library/degreepowers|title=UCL granted degree awarding powers|date=27 September 2005|publisher=University College London|access-date=12 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160410145742/https://www.ucl.ac.uk/media/library/degreepowers|archive-date=10 April 2016|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150921224332/https://www.kcl.ac.uk/aboutkings/governance/about/index.aspx |url=https://www.kcl.ac.uk/aboutkings/governance/about/index.aspx |archive-date=21 September 2015 |title=King's Governance |publisher=King's College London |access-date=12 February 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref> They are listed by Rüegg as colleges of the University of London rather than as a universities.<ref name="Ruegg684" />
|-
| {{flagcountry|UK}}<br />([[Northern Ireland]])<br />([[Belfast]])|| [[File:Flag of the United Kingdom (1-2).svg|20px|link=]] [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland]]<br />([[History of Ireland (1801–1923)|Ireland]])<br />([[Belfast]])|| [[Queen's University Belfast]] || 1845<ref name=Ruegg684 /> (as college offering degree courses; university 1908)||Oldest university in Northern Ireland. Listed by Rüegg as meeting standard criteria for recognition as a university from 1845.<ref name=Ruegg684 /><br />
Founded 1845, as a university college offering courses leading to degrees of the [[Queen's University of Ireland]] then the [[Royal University of Ireland]], gained university status in 1908.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.qub.ac.uk/Discover/About-Queens/History-and-heritage/|title=History and Heritage|date=March 2016|quote=Queen's University Belfast was founded by Royal Charter in 1845. One of three Queen's Colleges in Ireland, with the others being in Cork and Galway, it became a university in its own right in 1908.|publisher=[[Queen's University Belfast]]|access-date=28 January 2017|archive-date=1 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170201052505/http://www.qub.ac.uk/Discover/About-Queens/History-and-heritage/|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
| {{flagcountry|UK}}<br />({{flagcountry|WAL}})<br />([[Cardiff]])|| [[File:Flag of the United Kingdom (1-2).svg|20px|link=]] [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland]]<br />({{flagcountry|WAL}})<br />([[Aberystwyth]],<br />[[Bangor, Gwynedd|Bangor]],<br />[[Cardiff]])|| [[University of Wales]] || 1893<ref name=Ruegg687>{{cite book|title=A History of the University in Europe|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|last=Rüegg|first=Walter|date=2004|volume=3, Universities in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries (1800–1945)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=entlN4EEPUYC&pg=PA687|page=687|isbn=9781139453028}}</ref>||  Founded by Royal Charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff – the university was the first and oldest university in Wales. Listed by Rüegg as meeting standard criteria for recognition as a university from 1893<ref name=Ruegg687 />
|-
| {{flagcountry|UK}}<br />({{flagcountry|WAL}})<br />([[Carmarthen]],<br />[[Lampeter]],<br />[[Swansea]])|| [[File:Flag of the United Kingdom (1-2).svg|20px|link=]] [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland]]<br />({{flagcountry|WAL}})<br />([[Carmarthen]],<br />[[Lampeter]])|| [[University of Wales Trinity Saint David]] || 1852 (limited degree awarding powers; as college 1822) ||The university was founded as [[St David's College, Lampeter|St David's College]] (Coleg Dewi Sant) in 1822 "to provide a liberal education to members of the clergy" and was incorporated by royal charter in 1828.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uwtsd.ac.uk/news/press-releases/press-releases-2014/the-university-of-wales-trinity-saint-david-celebrates-founders-day.html|title=The University of Wales Trinity Saint David celebrates Founders Day|date=17 November 2014|access-date=30 September 2015|publisher=[[University of Wales Trinity Saint David]]|archive-date=1 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151001183251/http://www.uwtsd.ac.uk/news/press-releases/press-releases-2014/the-university-of-wales-trinity-saint-david-celebrates-founders-day.html}}</ref> It was renamed St David's University College (Coleg Prifysgol Dewi Sant) in 1971, when it became part of the federal University of Wales. It was again renamed [[University of Wales, Lampeter]] in 1996 in line with moves elsewhere in the University of Wales. In 2010 it merged with [[Trinity University College]] to form the University of Wales, Trinity Saint David.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wales.ac.uk/en/NewsandEvents/News/General/UniversityofWalesTrinitySaintDavidReceivesRoyalApproval.aspx|title=University of Wales Trinity Saint David Receives Royal Approval|publisher=[[University of Wales]]|date=23 July 2010|access-date=30 September 2015|archive-date=1 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151001185610/http://www.wales.ac.uk/en/NewsandEvents/News/General/UniversityofWalesTrinitySaintDavidReceivesRoyalApproval.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref> Although described as the oldest university in Wales,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2009/apr/17/lampeter-merge-trinity|title=End of an era for Lampeter, the oldest university in Wales|last=Lipsett|first=Anthea|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=17 April 2009|access-date=30 September 2015|archive-date=1 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151001211447/http://www.theguardian.com/education/2009/apr/17/lampeter-merge-trinity|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/fears-future-survival-wales-oldest-2086978|title=Fears for the future survival of Wales' oldest university|publisher=Wales Online|date=7 August 2009|access-date=30 September 2015|archive-date=1 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151001185413/http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/fears-future-survival-wales-oldest-2086978|url-status=live}}</ref> it was not listed by Rüegg as meeting standard criteria for a university<ref>{{cite book|title=A History of the University in Europe|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|last=Rüegg|first=Walter|date=2004|volume=3, Universities in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries (1800–1945)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=entlN4EEPUYC|isbn=9781139453028}}</ref> and lost a court case in 1951 against the [[Ministry of Education (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Education]] in which it sought to receive recognition as a university.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://oxcheps.new.ox.ac.uk/casebook/Resources/STDAVI_1%20DOC.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030509051852/http://oxcheps.new.ox.ac.uk/casebook/Resources/STDAVI_1%20DOC.pdf | url-status=dead | archive-date=9 May 2003 | title=St David's College, Lampeter v Ministry of Education 1951 | access-date=30 December 2014 }}(PDF)</ref>
|-
| {{flagcountry|UK}}<br />({{flagcountry|WAL}})<br />([[Aberystwyth]])|| [[File:Flag of the United Kingdom (1-2).svg|20px|link=]] [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland]]<br />({{flagcountry|WAL}})<br />([[Aberystwyth]])|| [[Aberystwyth University]] || 1872<ref name=Ruegg687 /> (as college offering degree courses; university 2007)||Founded in 1872 as University College Wales, offering courses leading to degrees of the [[University of London]], it became a founder member of the University of Wales in 1894.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.aber.ac.uk/en/university/history/timelinepart1/|title=Early Days|publisher=[[Aberystwyth University]]|access-date=30 September 2015|archive-date=20 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160720051746/http://www.aber.ac.uk/en/university/history/timelinepart1/|url-status=live}}</ref> It claims to be "Wales's oldest university",<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.aber.ac.uk/en/university/future/|title=Investing over £100m in your future|quote=Together they will ensure that Wales's oldest university will be well placed to survive the challenges of the twenty-first century – Aberystwyth's third century of existence.|publisher=[[Aberystwyth University]]|access-date=30 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151001093619/https://www.aber.ac.uk/en/university/future/|archive-date=1 October 2015|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> but was listed by Rüegg as a college of the University of Wales rather than as a university.<ref name=Ruegg687 /> It became an independent university (as Aberystwyth University) in 2007.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.aber.ac.uk/en/university/history/timelinepart3/|title=College by the sea to College on the hill|publisher=Aberystwyth University|access-date=30 September 2015|archive-date=1 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151001080236/https://www.aber.ac.uk/en/university/history/timelinepart3/|url-status=live}}</ref>
|}

=== Latin America and the Caribbean ===
{{Main|List of colonial universities in Latin America}}

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|- valign="top"
! colspan=2| Location
! width="15%" rowspan=2| Current name
! width="5%" rowspan=2| Year
! width="50%" rowspan=2| Notes
|-
! width="15%"| Current
! width="15%"| Original
|- valign="top"
| {{flag|Anguilla}}<br />{{flag|Antigua and Barbuda}}<br />{{flag|Bahamas}}<br />{{flag|Barbados}}<br />{{flag|Belize}}<br />{{flag|British Virgin Islands}}<br />{{flag|Cayman Islands}}<br />{{flag|Dominica}}<br />{{flag|Grenada}}<br />{{flag|Jamaica}}<br />{{flag|Montserrat}}<br />{{flag|St. Kitts and Nevis}}<br />{{flag|St. Lucia}}<br />{{flag|St. Vincent and the Grenadines}}<br />{{flag|Trinidad and Tobago}}<br />{{flag|Turks and Caicos}} || {{flag|Jamaica|1906}} ([[Kingston, Jamaica|Kingston]])
| [[University of the West Indies]] || 1948 (as affiliated college of the [[University of London]]; university 1962)|| First campus opened in Jamaica as the University College of the West Indies associated with the [[University of London]] in 1948. Gained independent university status in 1962.
|-
| {{flag|Argentina}} || {{flagcountry|Spain|1506}} ([[Viceroyalty of Peru|Peru]])
([[Governorate of the Río de la Plata|Río de la Plata]])

([[Córdoba, Argentina|Córdoba]])
| [[National University of Córdoba]] || 1613 ||  It is the third-oldest university in the Americas and oldest university in Argentina.
|-
| {{flag|Belize}} || {{flag|Belize}} || [[University of Belize]] || 2000 ||
|-
| {{flag|Bolivia}} ||  {{flagcountry|Spain|1506}} ([[Viceroyalty of Peru|Peru]])
([[Real Audiencia of Charcas|Charcas]])

[[Sucre|(La Plata)]]
| [[University of Saint Francis Xavier]] || 1624 || Founded in 1624 by order of King [[Philip IV of Spain|Philip IV]], and with the support of [[Pope Innocent XII]]. Full name is The Royal and Pontificial Major University of [[Francis Xavier|Saint Francis Xavier]] of Chuquisaca
|-
| colspan="2" rowspan="3" | {{flag|Brazil}}||[[Federal University of Rio de Janeiro]] || 1920 (precursors trace back to 1792) || Created in 1920 as University of Rio de Janeiro.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://sociedades.cardiol.br/socerj/revista/2008_05/a2008_v21_n05_a13Albanesi.pdf |title=O Ensino, a Universidade e a Realidade |website=Sociedades.cardiol.br |access-date=2016-03-31 |archive-date=18 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140118185152/http://sociedades.cardiol.br/socerj/revista/2008_05/a2008_v21_n05_a13Albanesi.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Has as precursors the Polytechnic School (founded as Royal Academy of Artillery, Fortification and Design in 1792),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://fernandanascimento.com.br/ARTIGO_OS_CURSOS_DE_ENGENHARIA_NO_BRASIL_E_AS_TRANSFORMACOES_NOS_PROCESSOS_PRODUTIVOS.pdf |title=FERNANDA NASCIMENTO |access-date=2016-11-17 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20161118023158/http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://fernandanascimento.com.br/ARTIGO_OS_CURSOS_DE_ENGENHARIA_NO_BRASIL_E_AS_TRANSFORMACOES_NOS_PROCESSOS_PRODUTIVOS.pdf |archive-date=18 November 2016 }}</ref> the National College of Medicine (founded as Academy of Medicine and Surgery in 1808)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dichistoriasaude.coc.fiocruz.br/iah/P/verbetes/escancimerj.htm |title=Escola Anatômica, Cirúrgica e Médica do Rio de Janeiro |access-date=January 17, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130323023854/http://www.dichistoriasaude.coc.fiocruz.br/iah/P/verbetes/escancimerj.htm |archive-date=March 23, 2013 }}</ref> and by the National College of Law (founded in 1891).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.direito.ufrj.br/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=9&Itemid=23|title=Direito – Histórico|author=Administrator|access-date=5 July 2015|archive-date=6 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150706170518/http://www.direito.ufrj.br/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=9&Itemid=23|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://educa.fcc.org.br/pdf/rbedu/n10/n10a03.pdf |title=A Universidade do Brasil |website=Educa.fcc.org.br |access-date=2016-03-31 |archive-date=23 December 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121223132101/http://educa.fcc.org.br/pdf/rbedu/n10/n10a03.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>
|-
|[[Federal University of Paraná]] || 1912 (closed in 1920, refounded in 1951) || Closed as university in 1920. Refounded as university in 1951.
|-
|[[Federal University of Amazonas]] || 1909 (closed in 1926, refounded in 1962, precursors trace back to 1909) || Has as precursor the Free University School of Manaós, founded on 17 January 1909. Became the University of Manaós in 1910. Closed 1926, reformed 1962 as the University of Amazonas.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ufam.edu.br/historia.html|title=Historia|work=Federal University of Amazona|access-date=12 August 2019|language=pt|archive-date=13 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190813072311/https://www.ufam.edu.br/historia.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
| colspan="2" | {{flag|Chile}}||[[Universidad de Chile (university)|Universidad de Chile]] || 1842 || Successor to the [[Royal University of San Felipe|Real Universidad de San Felipe]], created in 1738. Oldest university in Chile.
|-
|  {{flag|Colombia}} ||   {{flagcountry|Spain|1506}} ([[Viceroyalty of Peru|Peru]])
[[New Kingdom of Granada|(New Granada)]]
[[Bogotá|(Santa Fe de Bogotá)]]
| [[Saint Thomas Aquinas University]] || 1580 || Founded in 1580 by the Dominican Order. It is the second-oldest university in the [[Americas]].
|-
| colspan="2" | {{flag|Costa Rica}}||[[University of Costa Rica]] || 1940 || The first institution dedicated to higher education in Costa Rica was the University of Saint Thomas (Universidad de Santo Tomás), which was established in 1843. That institution maintained close ties with the [[Catholic Church]] and was closed in 1888 by the progressive and anti-clerical government of President [[Bernardo Soto Alfaro]] as part of a campaign to modernize public education. The schools of law, agronomy, fine arts, and pharmacy continued to operate independently. In 1940, those four schools were re-united to establish the modern UCR, during the reformist administration of President [[Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia]].
|-
| {{flag|Cuba}} ||  {{flagcountry|Spain|1701}} ([[New Spain]])
[[Governorate of Cuba|(Cuba)]]
([[Havana]])
| [[Universidad de La Habana]] || 1728 ||
|-
| colspan="2" | {{flag|Dominica}}||[[Ross University School of Medicine]] || 1978 ||
|-
| colspan="2" | {{flag|Dominican Republic}}||[[Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo]] || 1914 || Successor to the [[Universidad Santo Tomás de Aquino]] (founded by papal bull in 1538, royal charter in 1558) which closed in 1823.
|-
| {{flag|Ecuador}} || {{Flagicon|Gran Colombia|variant=1822}} [[Gran Colombia|Republic of Colombia]]
([[Gran Colombia]])

([[Quito]])
| [[Central University of Ecuador]] || 1826 ||
|-
| {{flag|El Salvador}} || {{flag|El Salvador|1839}} || [[Universidad de El Salvador]] || 1841 || Founded on 16 February 1841 by President [[Juan Lindo]].
|-
| colspan="2" | {{flag|Grenada}}||[[St. George's University]] || 1976 ||
|-
| {{flag|Guatemala}} || {{flagcountry|Spain|1506}} ([[New Spain]])
[[Real Audiencia of Guatemala|(Guatemala)]]

([[Guatemala City|Guatemala]])
| [[Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala]] || 1676 (as colegio in 1562) || The San Carlos University was the fourth university founded in the Americas, when [[Guatemala]] was part of the [[Viceroyalty of New Spain]]. It had five major transformations but never ceased teaching. It grew out of the Colegio de Santo Tomas de Aquino (a high school), founded in 1562 by Bishop [[Francisco Marroquín]]. The university's founder was King [[Charles II of Spain]] and it was consecrated by [[Pope Innocent XI]] in 1687. Activities were interrupted after the [[Act of Independence of Central America]] in 1821.{{citation needed|date=May 2020}}
|-
| {{flag|Guyana}} || {{flag|British Guiana}} || [[University of Guyana]] || 1963 ||
|-
| rowspan="2" | {{flag|Haiti}} || {{flag|Haiti|1814}} || [[University of Haiti|Université d'État d'Haïti]] || 1820 ||
|-
|{{flag|USA|1912|name=United States occupation of Haiti}} || [[Haitian Adventist University|Université Adventiste d'Haïti]] || 1921 ||
|-
| colspan="2" | {{flag|Honduras}}||[[Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras]] || 1847 ||
|-
| colspan="2" rowspan="2" | {{flag|Mexico}}||[[Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México]] || 1910 || Traces its origins back to [[Real y Pontificia Universidad de México]] (1551–1865) but no institutional continuity.
|-
|[[Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo]] || 1917 (as university; college 1540)|| Founded in 1540 as ''Colegio de San Nicolás Obispo (St. Nicholas Bishop College)'' and later in 1543 was appointed ''Real Colegio de San Nicolás Obispo (Royal St. Nicholas Bishop College)'' by King [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Carlos I of Spain]]; it was converted into a university on 15 October 1917.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.umich.mx/historia.html|title=Historia|language=es|publisher=Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo|access-date=12 August 2014|archive-date=15 April 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100415205122/http://www.umich.mx/Historia.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
| colspan="2" | {{flag|Panama}}||[[Universidad de Panamá]] || 1935 ||
|-
| colspan="2" | {{flag|Paraguay}}||[[Universidad Nacional de Asunción]] || 1889 ||
|-
| {{flag|Peru}} || {{flagcountry|Spain|1506}} ([[New Spain|Peru]])
[[Viceroyalty of Peru|(Peru)]]

([[Lima]])
| [[National University of San Marcos]] || 1551 || Also known as the "Dean university of the Americas"; It is the first officially established ([[Privilege (legal ethics)|privilege]] by [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor]]) and the longest continuously operating university in the Americas.
|-
| colspan="2" | {{flag|Puerto Rico}}||[[University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras]] || 1903 || Original campus of the [[University of Puerto Rico]]
|-
| {{flag|Suriname}} || {{flag|Kingdom of the Netherlands}} || [[Anton de Kom University]] || 1968 ||
|-
| colspan="2" | {{flag|Uruguay}}||[[Universidad de la República]] || 1849 ||
|-
| colspan="2" | {{flag|United States Virgin Islands}}||[[University of the Virgin Islands]] || 1967 (degree awarding; college 1962; university 1986) || Established by act of legislature in 1962. Opened in 1963 as the College of the Virgin Islands, offering only associate degrees. First bachelor's degree programmes 1967. Became the University of the Virgin Islands in 1986.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://uvi.edu/administration/about-uvi/history.aspx|title=History|work=University of the Virgin Islands|access-date=13 August 2019|archive-date=14 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190814020605/https://uvi.edu/administration/about-uvi/history.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
| {{flag|Venezuela}} || {{flagcountry|Spain|1506}} ([[New Spain|Peru]])
[[Captaincy General of Venezuela|(Venezuela)]]

([[Caracas]])
| [[Central University of Venezuela]] || 1721 ||
|-
|}

=== North America ===
{{See also|Colonial colleges|First university in the United States}}
In the United States, the [[colonial colleges]] awarded degrees from their foundation, but none were formally named as universities prior to the [[American Revolution]], leading to various claims to be the [[first university in the United States]]. The earliest Canadian institutions were founded as colleges, without degree awarding powers, and gained degree granting authority and university status later.

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|- valign="top"
! colspan=2 | Location
! width="15%" rowspan=2 | Current name
! width="5%" rowspan=2 | Year
! width="50%" rowspan=2 | Notes
|-
! width="15%" | Current
! width="15%" | Original
|- valign="top"

| {{flag|Bermuda}}|| || [[University of the West Indies]] || 2009 (Bermudian membership)|| First campus opened in Jamaica as the University College of the West Indies associated with the [[University of London]] in 1948. Gained independent university status in 1962. Bermuda joined the university in 2009.<ref>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100716145556/http://cavehill.uwi.edu/news/releases/release.asp?id=132|archive-date=16 July 2010|url=http://cavehill.uwi.edu/news/releases/release.asp?id=132|title=Bermuda joins the UWI Family|work=University of the West Indies}}</ref> Bermuda has also had a community college, [[Bermuda College]], since 1974.
|-
| {{flagcountry|Canada}}<br />([[Halifax, Nova Scotia]])|| {{Flagicon|United Kingdom|variant=1801}} [[Nova Scotia]]<br />([[Windsor, Nova Scotia|Windsor]]) || [[University of King's College]] ||1802 (as university; collegiate school 1789)|| Traces its roots back to the [[Columbia University|King's College]] in [[New York City]], which was first founded in 1754. Following the [[American Revolution]], [[United Empire Loyalist|Loyalists]] at the college fled to Windsor, Nova Scotia, and established as the King's Collegiate School in 1789. It received a royal charter in 1802 establishing it (after the model of [[Trinity College Dublin]]) as "The Mother of a University", making it the oldest chartered university in Canada.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ll-r5R08t7YC&pg=PA26|pages=26–27|title=Deeper Imprint: The Footsteps of Archbishop Arthur Gordon Peters|author=Kirby Walsh|publisher=Cape Breton University Press|date= 2003|isbn=9780920336953}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://ukings.ca/campus-community/about-kings/history|title=History|publisher=University of King's College|access-date=1 February 2017|archive-date=2 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202145916/https://ukings.ca/campus-community/about-kings/history|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7jM5DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT29|title=A History of Higher Education in Canada 1663–1960|author=Robin S. Harris|publisher=University of Toronto Press|date=15 December 1976|page=29|isbn=9781487589806|access-date=18 March 2021|archive-date=25 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230425140549/https://books.google.com/books?id=7jM5DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT29|url-status=live}}</ref> A fire destroyed the original university in 1920, and the institution relocated to Halifax.
|-
| {{flagcountry|Greenland}}<br />([[Nuuk]])|| {{flag|Greenland}}<br />([[Nuuk]]) || [[University of Greenland]] ||1989 (as university; college 1983) ||  Established 1983, took name University of Greenland 1987, formal university status by legislation since 1 September 1989.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://uk.uni.gl/about-us/history.aspx|title=History|publisher=University of Greenland|access-date=12 February 2017|archive-date=13 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170213090354/http://uk.uni.gl/about-us/history.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
| colspan=2|{{flagicon|France}} [[Saint Pierre and Miquelon]]|| Institut Frecker || 1975 (part of [[Memorial University of Newfoundland]])<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mi.mun.ca/users/mslaney/learn_univ_camp_frecker.htm|title=Institut Frecker|work=Memorial University of Newfoundland|access-date=13 August 2019|archive-date=8 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308121408/https://www.mi.mun.ca/users/mslaney/learn_univ_camp_frecker.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>||
|-
| {{flagcountry|USA}}<br />([[Cambridge, Massachusetts]])|| {{Flagicon image|Red Ensign of England (Square Canton).svg}} [[Massachusetts Bay Colony]] || [[Harvard University]] ||1636 || Founded in 1636, named Harvard College in 1639, chartered in 1650. Oldest institution of higher education in the United States. Officially recognised as a university by the [[Massachusetts]] Constitution of 1780.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.harvard.edu/about-harvard/harvard-glance/history|title=History|publisher=Harvard University|access-date=1 February 2017|archive-date=10 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170210103600/http://www.harvard.edu/about-harvard/harvard-glance/history|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.harvard.edu/about-harvard/harvard-glance/history/historical-facts|title=Historical Facts|publisher=Harvard University|access-date=1 February 2017|archive-date=11 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180111195424/http://www.harvard.edu/about-harvard/harvard-glance/history/historical-facts|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
| {{flagcountry|USA}}<br />([[Philadelphia]], Pennsylvania)|| {{Flagicon image|Red ensign of Great Britain (1707–1800, square canton).svg}} [[Province of Pennsylvania]]|| [[University of Pennsylvania]] ||1755  || Traces its roots to a [[charity school]] founded in 1740. Collegiate charter 1755. Claims to be "the first American institution of higher education to be named a university" (in 1779).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.upenn.edu/about/history|title=Penn's Heritage|publisher=University of Pennsylvania|access-date=1 February 2017|archive-date=22 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160422090345/http://www.upenn.edu/about/history|url-status=live}}</ref>
|}

=== Oceania ===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|- valign="top"
! colspan=2 | Location
! width="15%" rowspan=2 | Current name
! width="5%" rowspan=2 | Year
! width="50%" rowspan=2 | Notes
|-
! width="15%" | Current
! width="15%" | Original
|- valign="top"
| {{flagcountry|Australia}}<br />({{flagcountry|NSW}})|| {{noflag|[[New South Wales]]}} || [[University of Sydney]] ||1850 || Oldest in New South Wales, Australia and Oceania.
|-
| {{flagcountry|Cook Islands}}<br />{{flagcountry|Fiji}}<br />{{flagcountry|Kiribati}}<br />{{flagcountry|Marshall Islands}}<br />{{flagcountry|Nauru}}<br />{{flagcountry|Niue}}<br />{{flagcountry|Samoa}}<br />{{flagcountry|Solomon Islands}}<br />{{flagcountry|Tokelau}}<br />{{flagcountry|Tonga}}<br />{{flagcountry|Tuvalu}}<br />{{flagcountry|Vanuatu}}<br />|| {{flagicon|Fiji|colonial}} [[Colony of Fiji]]|| [[University of the South Pacific]] ||1968||  Regional university, operating in (and owned by the governments of) 12 Pacific island nations. Main campus in Fiji.
|-
| {{flagcountry|Guam}}|| {{flagcountry|Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands|1965}} || [[University of Guam]] ||1965 (degree granting; college 1952; university 1968)|| 
|-
| {{flagcountry|PNG}}|| {{flagcountry|PNG|1965}} || [[University of Papua New Guinea]] ||1965||  First university in Papua New Guinea.
|-
| {{flagcountry|NZL}}<br />({{flagcountry|Otago}})|| [[File:Flag of New Zealand Government Ships 1867.svg|20px]] [[New Zealand]]<br />([[Dunedin]]) || [[University of Otago]] ||1869|| Oldest in New Zealand.
|-
| colspan="2" | {{flagcountry|NZL}}<br />([[Auckland]])||[[University of Auckland]] ||1883 ||  Oldest in the [[North Island]].
|}

== See also ==
* {{section link|List of Islamic seminaries|List of oldest Islamic seminaries}}
* [[List of medieval universities]]
* [[List of oldest institutions in continuous operation]]

== Notes ==
{{reflist|30em|group=Note}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Lists of European universities and colleges by era}}

[[Category:Lists of education-related superlatives|Oldest universities in continuous operation]]
[[Category:Lists of universities and colleges|Oldest in continuous operation]]
[[Category:Universities and colleges by year of establishment| ]]