Princess Nora bint Abdulrahman University (PNU). The largest women-only university in the world opened in Saudi Arabia yesterday with a capacity to enroll about 50,000 students. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia inaugurated the SR20-billion \"Princess Nora bint Abdulrahman University (PNU)\", 25 km east of the Saudi capital, Riyadh, as part of an ambitious education plan of the Saudi government.
\"Princess Nora University is a symbol of women\'s education and women\'s participation in the building of this nation,\" Saudi Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf said, while giving an overview of the campus, which includes a medical facility, a research center and a library with about five million books and journals.
\"A residential area at PNU has about 1,400 villas, and massive hostel facilities to accommodate 12,000 students,\" said the minister, adding that a sports city for girls is another major attraction besides a service tunnel along the university campus.
This education facility has set up major facilities complying with environmental guidelines, said Al-Assaf.
To this end, he noted that the PNU has a solid-waste treatment plant, wastewater treatment facility, warehouses and maintenance workshops.
PNU President Huda bint Mohammad Al-Ameel said PNU had become a major symbol of gender equality and women\'s education in Saudi Arabia.
She added that the university campus has modern infrastructure facilities, including a high-tech transport system that links all important facilities on the campus 24 hours a day.
The highlight of the transport system is an elevated railway that will facilitate the smooth flow of traffic inside the campus.
Taking advantage of the energy-saving technology, the campus buildings have been designed in a way that use sunlight as a source of light.
The 40,000 square meters of solar paneling will provide 16 percent of power for campus heating and 18 percent for air-conditioning.
The new campus includes a 700-bed university hospital, 15 colleges, a central library, a conference hall, laboratories and three research centers for nanotechnology, information technology and bioscience.