The National University of San Marcos (Spanish: Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, UNMSM) is a public research university located in Lima, the capital of Peru. It is considered the most important, recognized and representative educational institution at the national level. At the continental level, it is the first officially established (privilege by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor) and the oldest continuously operating university in the Americas, which is why it appears in official documents and publications as "University of Peru, Dean University of the Americas". It had its beginnings in the general studies that were offered in the cloisters of the convent of the Rosario of the order of Santo Domingo —current Basilica and Convent of Santo Domingo— around 1548. Its official foundation was conceived by Fray Thomas de San Martín on May 12, 1551; with the decree of Emperor Carlos I of Spain and V of the Holy Roman Empire, in 1571, it acquired the degree of pontifical granted by Pope Pius V with which it ended up being named as the "Royal and Pontifical University of the City of the Kings of Lima". Being recognized by the Spanish Crown as the first university in America officially founded by Real cédula, it is also referred to as the "University of Lima" throughout the Viceroyalty. Throughout its history, the university had a total of four colleges under tutelage: the Colegio Real y Mayor de San Martín and the Colegio Real y Mayor de San Felipe y San Marcos, the Real Colegio de San Carlos —focused on law and letters, derived from the merger of the two previous ones—and the Royal College of San Fernando—focused on medicine and surgery—. In the times of emancipation, it acquired a main role in the formation of several of the leaders managing the independence of Peru. After the proclamation of independence and during the republic, it maintains both colloquially and formally —in various treaties and documents historical—its name as "University of Lima" until 1946, the year in which its current name and denomination as National and Major University were made official.The University of San Marcos is considered the most important and representative Peruvian institution of higher education for its "tradition, prestige, quality and selectivity", being also recognized as the institution with the highest scientific production in Peru.It has positioned itself in the 1st place at the national level in certain editions of various university rankings, such as in the first University Ranking of Peru prepared by the National Assembly of Rectors of Peru under the auspices of UNESCO in 2006, in the University Rankings by Academic Performance of the URAP Center, in various editions of the QS World University Rankings by Quacquarelli Simonds, in the Web Rankings of Universities prepared by CSIC and known as Webometrics, in the University Web Rankings by 4ICU, in the University Web Rankings by 4ICU, and in the SIR World Reports by SCImago Research Center; being together with the UPCH (created by professors from the Faculty of Medicine of San Marcos) and the PUCP (whose founder and benefactor was a San Marcos graduate), one of the only three Peruvian universities that have appeared in such a position, as well as the only public one to do so. In addition, it has a ten-year institutional license granted by the National Superintendence of Higher University Education (SUNEDU) and some international institutional accreditations that certify its academic and administrative quality. In terms of research, according to information from the Scopus database, the University of San Marcos is to date the 1st Peruvian institution in the production of scientific articles, both annually and historically. Various influential Peruvians and Latin Americans have come out of its classrooms, all recognizing and valuing the high level of teaching and the active and important intellectual participation that the university and its students had throughout the history of Peru. The University of San Marcos has been referred to many times as a reflection of Peru for expressing the advances and limitations that the country eventually has, in addition to the valued diversity, preparation and activism of its students. Twenty-one Presidents of the Republic of Peru, five Peruvian candidates for Nobel Prizes of Physics, Literature and Peace —of the total of six Peruvians nominated between 1901 and 1964, the only period currently published by the Norwegian Committee— and a Nobel Prize winner —Mario Vargas Llosa, until now the only Peruvian with such recognition— they have been graduates, researchers and/or professors of this university.
In its 471 years of operation, the University of San Marcos has passed through several locations, of which it maintains and stands out: the "Casona de San Marcos", a historic location of the university with more than 400 years of history —part of the area and of the list of buildings in the Historic Center of Lima that were recognized as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1988—and that are currently the venue for the main cultural activities and the granting of high degrees by the university; the current premises of the "San Fernando" Faculty of Medicine, inaugurated in 1901 for the first medical school in the country; and the so-called "University City", which has been its main headquarters since 1960, where most of the faculties, the central library, the university stadium and the rectory are located, and most of the academic and research activities are carried out. All these premises are located in the Cercado de Lima. The University of San Marcos currently has 66 professional schools, grouped into 20 faculties, and these in turn in 5 academic areas, being the Peruvian university that covers the largest number of university subjects. All faculties offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. It also has various centers, institutions, and dependencies; such as its cultural centers, museums, libraries, clinics, and university clinics, editorial fund, among others. In addition, through its "Domingo Angulo" historical archive, the university preserves documents and writings of great historical relevance dating from the 16th, 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. In 2019, the "Colonial Fund and Foundational Documents of the National University of San Marcos: 1551–1852” was incorporated into the UNESCO Memory of the World Register, in recognition of its significance for the global collective memory.
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