A public university in the city of Batna in Algeria, the University of Batna 1 was established in 1977. Today it is one of the largest universities in North Africa with six faculties including material sciences, humanities and social sciences, Islamic sciences, economics, commercial and management sciences, law and political sciences and Arabic language, literature and arts.
The university has an interesting history. In 1985 the university became officially recognised under a new administrative structure called National Institutes of High Education. When it was first created there were two institutes, law sciences and Arabic literature and language, it later went on to develop several other faculties. However, in 2005 the university was split into two and became known as the University of Batna 1 and the University of Batna 2.
Today, each faculty has various departments set across nine sites dotted over the city of Batna. One of the newest and most utilised sites is found in the south of the city and is home to four of the faculties as well as the central library.