The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, usually referred to simply as the University of Athens (UoA), is a public university in Athens, Greece. It has been in continuous operation since its establishment in 1837 and is the oldest higher education institution of the modern Greek state and the first contemporary university in the Eastern Mediterranean. Today it is the biggest university in Europe, with more than 104,000 registered students, according to the 2014 university data sheet.