The University of Lubumbashi, also known by the acronym UNILU, is one of the largest universities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The university was created in 1955 under Belgian colonial rule as the Official University of the Congo and Ruanda-Urundi by the University of Liège and opened in 1956. It was one of the institutions merged into the National University of Zaire in 1971. It was re-established as an autonomous university in 1981 when the National University of Zaire was split up.