Oldest Universities in the World

This toplist shows the oldest existing universities in the world in continuous operation.

Flags represent the country location today.

University, in this context, is defined as the traditional definition used by academic historians. I.e. institutions with distinctive structural and legal features first developed in Europe, which make them different from other institutions of higher learning.

Some universities, like Université de Paris, were divided and exist today as several autonomous universities. Others may have merged. These are excluded from this list. Briefly closures, such as during the world wars, is regarded as continuity.

Data visualization created with flourish.studio https://flourish.studio