List of the 10 oldest countries in the world
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| Photo: REUTERS/Tyrone Siu |
- Every country in the world has a historical date of its founding or independence. For example, a neighboring country, Malaysia, was only founded on August 31 1957 after declaring independence from Britain.
Even so, there are a number of countries in other parts of the Earth that have been around for hundreds or even thousands of years, you know. Some of these countries include India and China, which have a long history of human civilization.
Apart from that, there are still a number of other countries that have the title of being the oldest countries in the world. Are you curious about these countries? Read more in this article.
How to Determine the Oldest Country in the World?
Determining the oldest country in the world is not an easy thing. Because, each country's history must be traced in depth so as not to give rise to misunderstandings.
An example is Egypt. This country, which is synonymous with the pyramids, does not have a clear date of independence.
Quoting USA Today, England recognized Egypt as an independent country in 1922. However, looking back, Egypt could be declared a country in 969 AD when the Fatimid Caliphate conquered the region and established the capital city of Cairo.
Looking back at its history, Egypt could have been declared a country since 3100 BC (BC). At that time, the first Pharaoh King united upper and lower Egypt, creating the first Pharaonic Dynasty.
Just like Egypt, China is a country that has a long history and is one of the oldest civilizations on Earth. But if you look back at history, China was a series of dynasties where one warlord or kingdom would conquer the region, then be conquered by others in turn.
This left the ruling government and China's geographical borders in a situation that has continued to change over the past millennia. Therefore, many historians believe that the Chinese state was only born around 1911-1912, when the last feudal dynasty was replaced by a modern republican system.
These things are ultimately quite complicated in determining the oldest country in the world. As a result, the World Population Review website determines which country is the oldest in two different ways.
List of Oldest Countries in the World Based on Organized Government
The first way is to determine the earliest evidence of organized government. Interestingly, from the latest World Population Review data in 2024, Indonesia is included in the list of the 10 oldest countries in the world.
Here are the 10 oldest countries in the world based on the date the earliest organized government was formed:
Peru: 3500 BC
India: 3300 BC
Pakistan: 3300 BC
Afghanistan: 3000 BC
Türkiye: 2500 BC
Sudan: 2450 BC
Israel: 2100 BC
China: 2070 BC
Indonesia: 2000 BC
Germany: 2000 BC
For the record, the data above continues to change from time to time. This depends on the discovery of historical evidence by experts.
List of Oldest Countries in the World by Date of Sovereignty
For comparison, here is a list of the 10 oldest countries in the world based on the year of the country's sovereignty:
Japan: 660 BC
China: 221 BC
San Marino: 301 AD
France: 843 AD
Austria: 976 AD
Denmark: circa 10th century AD
Hungary: 1001
Portugal: 1143
Mongolia: 1206
Thailand: 1238
That's the list of the 10 oldest countries in the world. Hopefully this article can increase your knowledge