Morocco is home to Al-Qarawiyyin, widely regarded as the world’s oldest continuously operating university.
Fatima al-Fihri founded the institution in Fez in 859 CE. It began as a mosque and developed into a major centre of learning, teaching subjects that included Islamic jurisprudence, grammar, mathematics, astronomy, and medicine.
The institution’s status is sometimes misunderstood because medieval education did not use the same organizational model as a modern university. Guinness World Records and UNESCO have recognized Al-Qarawiyyin’s long educational history, while modern Moroccan higher education places it within the country’s university system. Fez itself is one of Morocco’s historic imperial cities.