Moscow State Institute of International Relations (university) of the MFA of Russia

MGIMO is one of the oldest university centres in the country for education of international specialists. The university was founded on 14 October 1944, when the Council of People's Commissars transformed the International Faculty of Lomonosov Moscow State University, which has been created a year earlier, into an independent institute. Since 1946, students from foreign countries began enrol to MGIMO for studying. The university had three faculties in the early years: international, economic and legal. In 1954, an eastern branch was opened at MGIMO as a result merging with the Moscow Institute of Oriental Studies, the successor to the Lazarev School, created in 1815.

For seven decades, MGIMO has become a major educational institution and research centre, where educational programs for bachelor's and master's degrees are implemented in 16 areas of training (state and municipal administration, journalism, foreign regional studies, linguistics, international relations, management, pedagogical education, political science, advertising and relations with socio-cultural activities, sociology, trading, finance and credit, ecology and environmental management, economics, jurisprudence), postgraduate students are trained in 28 scientific specialties (seven dissertation councils), intensive language training is conducted in 53 foreign languages (20 language departments). The University has eight faculties, five institutes and a School of Business and International Competencies. In July 2013, MGIMO received international accreditation for all educational programs at three levels of education, becoming the first and so far, the only university in Russia to implement such a large-scale project.

Currently around 6.5 thousand students from more than 70 constituent entities of the Russian Federation and 67 foreign countries study at the University. During its activity, MGIMO has trained over 40 thousand students, including more than 5.5 thousand foreign citizens. Among the famous Russian graduates of MGIMO are statesmen and politicians, diplomats, scientists (20 members and corresponding members of the RAS), businessmen and journalists. More than two thirds of the employees of the Russian diplomatic service graduated from MGIMO. The graduates of the University are the President of Azerbaijan Aliyev I.G., the Ministers of the Foreign Affairs of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Slovakia, Mongolia, and other prominent statesmen and politicians.