Universiti Utara Malaysia (literally meaning Northern University of Malaysia, abbreviated as UUM) is a management university established on 16 February 1984 under the Universiti Utara Malaysia 1984 Order. It has a main campus in Sintok, Kedah and also a branch campus in Kuala Lumpur. UUM was ranked in the bracket of 591–600 in the QS World University Rankings 2020. History The construction planning began in August 1983 when the Ministry of Education began to plan the university. On 19 October 1983, the Cabinet gave its approval for this project in Kedah. At that time, the project was called "The Sixth University Project". Several months later, the temporary office of the Sixth University, officially named Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM), was officially opened on 15 February 1984 in Jitra. Four months after its official opening, the UUM office was relocated to the provisional Darul Aman Campus in Jitra, in June 1984, when the first phase of the project had been completed. The first academic year began in June 1984. The Darul Aman Campus was on a 62-acre tract of land in Bandar Darulaman. It was 18 km north of Alor Setar and 4.8 km from Jitra. Meanwhile, the planning of a permanent campus had begun. It was to be built on an area of 1,061 hectares in Sintok (in the district of Kubang Pasu), 48 km north of Alor Setar and 10 km east of Changlun, a small town along the North-South Highway, near the Malaysia-Thai border. The permanent UUM campus, referred to as the Sintok Campus, began operations on 15 September 1990. In a former tin mining area, it is in a valley of lush tropical forests, embraced by blue hills, and watered by two rivers that flow along the middle of the campus. The rivers are Sungai Sintok and Sungai Badak. The MYR580 million Sintok Campus was opened on 17 February 2004 by the Royal Chancellor, His Royal Highness Sultan Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah. The main buildings are the Sultanah Bahiyah Library, the Chancellery (present-day Sultan Sallehudin Chancellery), the Sultan Badlishah Mosque, the Mu’adzam Shah Hall, the Tan Sri Othman Hall, the Sports Complex, the Varsity Mall, the Budi Siswa building, the Convention Complex, and the buildings that house the departments of the academic colleges. In January 2008, a restructuring of the university academic system was undertaken. Thirteen faculties were merged and streamed into three main academic colleges: UUM COB