Where is the oldest university in the world?

The question of the oldest university depends on definitions. The University of al-Qarawiyyin in Fez, Morocco, established in 859 AD by a woman named Fatima al-Fihri, is recognised by many, including UNESCO and Guinness World Records, as the oldest existing continuously operating educational institution that awards degrees. In the European tradition, the University of Bologna in Italy, founded in 1088, is considered the oldest university and gave rise to the very word university, from a Latin term for a community of scholars. Other ancient centres of higher learning, such as Nalanda in India, flourished even earlier but did not survive continuously. These institutions established many features of modern higher education, including faculties, degrees, and academic self-governance. They remain symbols of the long human pursuit of knowledge.