The predecessor of Xinjiang University, the Xinjiang Russian Law and Politics Special School, was founded in 1924 and was transformed into Xinjiang University in 1935. In 1950, the People's Government of Xinjiang Province merged the former Provincial College of Chinese Language and Literature into Xinjiang College, and renamed Xinjiang College Xinjiang Institute for Nationalities; It was renamed Xinjiang University in 1954. In May 1959, the Ministry of Higher Education decided that Peking University, Tsinghua University, Northwest University and other institutions should support the establishment of Xinjiang University. In 1960, Xinjiang University was officially established. In 2000, Xinjiang University merged with the former Xinjiang Institute of Technology to form a new Xinjiang University. In 1997, the university was listed in the first batch of "211 Project" key universities. In 2004, the university became a university jointly built by the People's Government of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and the Ministry of Education. In 2017, it became one of the first 42 world-class universities in China. In 2018, it was determined to be a joint university of the Ministry of Education and the People's Government of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The school has three campuses, namely the headquarters, the south campus and the north campus, covering an area of 2.99 million square meters.