The North-West University is a newly merged institution from 1 January 2004 onwards with four campuses at Potchefstroom, Mafikeng, Vanderbijlpark and Mankwe. The Potchefstroom Campus (founded in 1869) is the largest, and the head office of the University is situated at this location. With its merged status the North-West University became one of the largest universities in South Africa with approximately 32 000 students (full-time and distance education students). The universities that merged to form this institution are the Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education and the University of North-West (formerly the University of Bophuthatswana). These two campuses form the main hubs of the university, with the Potchefstroom campus catering towards the Afrikaans-orientated academic sphere, and the Mafikeng campus being geared towards meeting the needs of a more diverse academic field. Webometrics ranked NWU 12th best university in South Africa, 14th in Africa and 3023 in the world in 2010.