Al-Farabi University
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Al-Farabi Kazakh National University (Kazakh: Əл Фараби атындағы Қазақ Ұлттық Университеті), often shortened to Al-Farabi University, is a university in Almaty, Kazakhstan. It is the country's primary and largest university.
The University was founded on January 15, 1934 as the S.M. Kirov State University. Kazakhstan achieved its independence in 1990 and in 1991 the name was changed to Al-Farabi University. In 2001 President Nursultan Nazarbayev decreed the University bear the title of "national" university.
As of 2005 it has approximately 16,000 students and over 1000 professors spread over 105 departments. Like other universities founded under the Soviet system, it is highly centralized.
[edit] Notable alumni
- German Kim, head of the Department of Korean Studies and one of the leading internationally-recognised scholars of the Koryo-saram