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National University of Colombia
Universidad Nacional de Colombia
Motto	Inter-Aulas-Academiæ-Quære-Verum
Motto in English	Search for the truth in the academy classrooms
Established	September 22, 1867
Type	Public, National
Rector	Moisés Wasserman Lérner
Staff	2,862
Students	43,341
Undergraduates	39,382
Postgraduates	3,959
Doctoral students	423[1]
Location	Bogotá, D.C., Cundinamarca, Colombia 4°38′16″N 74°05′02″W / 4.637767°N 74.083987°W / 4.637767; -74.083987Coordinates: 4°38′16″N 74°05′02″W / 4.637767°N 74.083987°W / 4.637767; -74.083987
Campus	300 acres (1.2 km2), Urban
Nickname	"La Nacho", "UNAL"
Website	http://www.unal.edu.co/

The National University of Colombia (Spanish: Universidad Nacional de Colombia), also called UNAL or just UN, is a public, national, coeducational, research university, located primarily in Bogotá, Colombia. Its main campus, known as University City of Bogotá (Spanish: Ciudad Universitaria de Bogotá, CUB) is the flagship campus of the university system, which also includes six satellite campuses located in the cities of Medellín, Manizales, Palmira, Arauca, Leticia, and San Andrés. Established in 1867 by an act of the Congress of Colombia,^[2] the university is the largest higher education institution of the country with more than 43,341 students, the largest number of graduated professionals per year, and number of academic programs at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, with 374 academic programs, which includes 88 graduate diplomas, 118 Master's degrees, 40 medical specialties, and 30 doctorates. It is also one of the few universities that employs post-doctorate fellows in the country.

The university is member of the Association of Colombian Universities (ASCUN),^[3] the Iberoamerican Association of Postgraduate Universities (AUIP),^[4] and the Iberoamerican University Network Universia. Along with the Antioquia and Valle universities, it conforms what is known as the Golden Triangle of higher education in Colombia,^[5] being among the most selective and competitive universities in the country. A study by Universia found it to be the Colombian university producing the largest number of scientific papers published in peer-refereed publications in 2005, and the 45th most prolific in Latin America.^[6][7]

[edit] Campus

University City of Bogotá: Map by Leopold Rother and Erich Lange, 1937.

The University City of Bogotá (Spanish: Ciudad Universitaria de Bogotá), also known as the White City (Spanish: Ciudad Blanca), is the main campus for the University. It is located in the Teusaquillo locality, northwest of the historical center. It is also the largest campus in Colombia, with an extension of 1,200,000 m² (300 acres) and a constructed area of 308,541 m² (76.242 acres), making it an ample campus with several green areas, open spaces, and pedestrian paths. Among its buildings there are 17 which have been declared national monuments and, as a whole, it is a representation of the last 60 years of architecture in Colombia.

Francisco de Paula Santander Plaza (Plaza Che)

The campus was designed by German architects Fritz Karsen and Leopold Rother, and its construction began in 1935, under the government of Alfonso Lopez Pumarejo. It is organized as an ellipse, divided in five parts, each containing one of the academic divisions and its respective dependencies. The buildings were constructed as prismatic blocks, and painted white, in order to give a austere and clean look.

Some landmarks in the campus are the León de Greiff Auditorium, and the Francisco de Paula Santander Plaza, also known unofficially as the "Ché Plaza", in honor to Ernesto el Ché Guevara. The campus has its own stadium, where sometimes matches for the national soccer championship are held.

[edit] Academics

Music Conservatory

The National University of Colombia has 20 schools distributed among Bogotá, Medellín, Manizales and Palmira:

Colleges in Bogotá:

• Agronomy
• Dentistry
• Economics Sciences
• Engineering Faculty
• Fine Arts
• Human Sciences
• Law, Social and Political Sciences
• Medicine
• Nursing Nursing Faculty
• Science
• Veterinary Medicine and Animal Management

Institutes interfaculties^[8]

• Institute of Biotechnology
• Institute of Science and Food Technology - ICTA
• Institute of Environmental Studies -IDEA-
• Institute of Studies in Communication - IECO-
• International institute of Political Studies and Relations -IEPRI-
• Genetics Institute
• "Arturo Ramírez Montúfar" Pedagogical Institute -IPARM-

Museums in Bogotá Campus:

• Casa Museo Jorge Eliécer Gaitán (Jorge Eliecer Gaitan Museum)
• Museo de Arte Universidad Nacional de Colombia (National University's Art Museum)
• Museo de Arquitectura Leopoldo Rother (Leopoldo Rother Museum of Architecture)
• Museo de Historia Natural (Museum of Natural History)
• Museo de la Ciencia y el Juego (Museum of Science and Games)
• Museo Centro de Historia de la Medicina (Museum Center of the History of Medicine)
• Museo Entomológico (Entomological Museum)
• Museo Organológico Musical (Organologic Musical Museum)
• Observatorio Astronómico Nacional (National Astronomical Observatory)

Media:

• Newspaper printed edition (Carta universitaria)
• Radio station (UN Radio)
• Newspaper (With Internet version) with articles ranging from international issues to research within the colleges.
• UN television.

[edit] Noted people

[edit] List of rectors

• 1990-1993, Antanas Mockus Sivickas
• 1994-1997, Guillermo Páramo Rocha
• 1997-2003, Víctor Manuel Moncayo Cruz
• 2003-2005, Marco Antonio Palacios Rozo
• 2005-2006, Ramón Fayad Nafah
• 2006-present, Moisés Wasserman Lérner

[edit] Notable alumni

Famous personalities among its alumni include Fernando Botero, Manuel Elkin Patarroyo, Totó la Momposina, Jorge Eliécer Gaitán, Carlos Jacanamijoy and Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

[edit] Gallery

School of Economics	Genetics Institute	School of Agronomy	Agustín Codazzi Geographic Institute
Sculpture Park	Alfonso López Pumarejo Stadium	Ernesto Guhl Library	Main Library
School of Pharmacy	School of Chemistry	Fine Arts	School of Medicine
Sociology	School of Engineering	Sports Complex	Main Library
Library of Science and Technology

[edit] See also

• List of universities in Colombia

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Oficina Nacional de Planeación (September 2006). "Estadísticas e Indicadores de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia 2005" (in Spanish) (PDF). Estadísticas e Indicadores de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia (11). ISSN 0123-8566. http://www.plandesarrollo.unal.edu.co/Soportes/Revista_de_Indicadores_%20UNAL.pdf. Retrieved March 11, 2007. 

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: National University of Colombia

• National University of Colombia Main Page
• National University of Colombia Main Page in Spanish
• National University of Colombia OCW
• National University Museum of Art
• Leopoldo Rother Museum of Architecture