Jawaharlal Nehru University, institution of higher education located at New Delhi, capital city of India. Established in 1966 by the Jawaharlal Nehru University Act, the university was inaugurated on November 14, 1969, the birthday of Jawaharlal Nehru, first prime minister of India. The university is a teaching and residential institution consisting of 7 multidisciplinary schools of study, 1 special centre for biotechnology, and 10 recognized institutions. Reflecting the university’s interdisciplinary structure, each school is organized as a body of scholars and disciplines, linked with each other in terms of their subject matter and methodology. Each school consists of a number of centres that are engaged in interdisciplinary programmes of research and teaching. The university’s jurisdiction extends over the whole of India. The university’s main source of income is the Indian University Grants Commission.

The JNU campus covers around 405 hectares (1,000 acres) of land in southern Delhi, near the village of Munirka. The site is located in an attractive setting, with the Qutab Minar hills rising in the background. The JNU academic year comprises two semesters (July to December and January to May). Its library has holdings of around 459,000 volumes and subscribes to some 790 periodicals. There are about 4,100 students (1997) enrolled in seven schools: computer and systems sciences, environmental sciences, international studies, languages, life sciences, physical sciences, and social sciences.