Allama Iqbal Open University (or AIOU), founded in 1974, is a university

University

A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...

 in Islamabad, Pakistan. It is one of the world's largest universities

World's largest universities

This list of largest universities by enrollment includes total active enrollment across all campuses . Enrollment numbers listed are the sum of undergraduate and graduate students in active enrollment...

 by enrollment, with 1,121,038 students in the year 2010 whereas Course Enrollment of these students are 3,305,948
Allama Iqbal Open University was established as Peoples Open University under an act of parliament in 1974 as a pioneer in non-formal and distance education

Distance education

Distance education or distance learning is a field of education that focuses on teaching methods and technology with the aim of delivering teaching, often on an individual basis, to students who are not physically present in a traditional educational setting such as a classroom...

 in Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

.