The School of Oriental and African Studies was founded in 1916 primarily as an institution to train British administrators for colonial postings, and has grown into one of the world's foremost institutions for the study of Asia and Africa. A college of the University of London, SOAS fields include Law, Social Sciences, Humanities and Languages with special reference to Asia and Africa. The SOAS Library is the UK's national resource for materials relating to Asia and Africa and is the largest of its kind in Europe.