What is the oldest country?

[noisiaturismo]

The title says it. What is the oldest country?

I mean, which country has the same form of government, the same borders, and more of that?

All I found was the oldest country known which still exists, that would be Syria. Or San Marino. Or France.

 

[Azuremen]

France would only be a couple hundred years old in its current form. Syria was a colony of France about 60 years ago. San Marino beats both of those heavily. Not sure where England stands with its current form of government.

Culturally, I'd say China is probably king, along with India.

The longest lasting country/empire, under a relatively stable rule, would be the Ottoman Empire I think.

 

[W3H5]

Mesopotamian?

Why not Wiki this?

 

[Wyvern89]

I would probably say China.

 

[W3H5]

Do consider that China was many different states through most of the last millennia and was only 'formed' into China as it's known today relatively recently in history terms.

 

[Famine]

It's not China - China changes its borders relatively often and changed its system of government in 1950 (the Chinese Civil War). See Taiwan (1949), Tibet (1971) and Hong Kong (1999).

 

[Mike Rotch]

If this were a pub quiz, I'd say Egypt.

 

[Grand Prix]

I'll take a guess at Switzerland.

 

[Neal]

It's Port Talbot, it's been 1953 there since forever.

 

[W3H5]

How about Whoville? According to their mayoral ancestry they've been holding up since the Neolithic.

 

[Wyvern89]

Hmmm, I'll have another go. Im taking a stab at Armenia or Ethiopia.

 

[Omnis]

Greece. The older a country is, the higher percentage there will be women with mustaches.

 

[PHCharls]

China is the oldest country.

 

[Famine]

If this were a pub quiz, I'd say Egypt.

If it's "What is currently the oldest country", probably not given the Arab Spring this year If it's just what country survived the longest in one form, it may well be.

One of the problems we're going to butt into with questions like this is that there were pretty much no countries outside of Europe until the 17th Century. Most non-European land areas were either tribal, inhabited by nomadic people or "conquered" by European countries - the big guns being Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, France and England.

But then European countries weren't quite what we think they are back then either. Renaissance France was between a half and two-thirds the size it is now due to conflict - France even owned huge chunks of Italy (particularly around Turin and Florence) in the 1800s. Italy didn't even exist until the middle of the 19th Century, despite the best efforts of Rodrigo Borgia in the 16th Century. England has been relatively unchanged over the years, but we've expanded and contracted to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in steps over four hundred years (1542 - Wales becomes part of England; 1707 - England and Scotland unite to form the UK; 1801 - UK and Ireland unite to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; 1922 - Republic of Ireland becomes independant again). The Kingdom of Spain didn't come into existence until the 19th Century - but then they had a Civil War in the 1930s... Portugal has been geographically stable (empire notwithstanding) but not politically so, having two revolutions in the 20th Century alone (1910, 1974), not even becoming a democracy until after the second one...

In summary, dunno.

China is the oldest country.

It's not China - China changes its borders relatively often and changed its system of government in 1950 (the Chinese Civil War). See Taiwan (1949), Tibet (1971) and Hong Kong (1999).

PRC didn't come into existence until 1950. It's. Not. China.

 

[dhandeh]

Not a country but the Isle of Man has had the same borders and governing style for over a 1000 years. As well as other things.

 

[marluxiaXI11]

If you go by having the same government as today than San Marino is oldest. If you go by the country still exists than it would be Egypt. And if Mesopotamia still existed it's estimated to be 100 years older than Egypt.

 

[Celicaas]

I'd say egypt has a long history


But What the oldest countries are usually in the old world which is asia europe & africa



Denmark has'nt changed their flag from a long time ago


Damuscus was the oldest city in the worlld

 

[Famine]

I'd say egypt has a long history


But What the oldest countries are usually in the old world which is asia europe & africa

Hardly.

One of the problems we're going to butt into with questions like this is that there were pretty much no countries outside of Europe until the 17th Century. Most non-European land areas were either tribal, inhabited by nomadic people or "conquered" by European countries

Much of Africa was French until the 18th Century. Most of the rest of it was tribal or nomadic. Here's Africa as it looked in 1913 - not even a hundred years since:

The various colours represent control or territorial claims. Yellow is Belgian, pale green is German, pink is Spanish, blue is French, peach is British, green is Italian and purple is Portuguese. Notice how Egypt was under British rule back then - it didn't gain independence until 1922. There is an error on the map in that Côte d'Ivoire - Côte d'Ivoire with its entirely French name - is plotted as independent when it was in fact under French (qu'elle surprise) control until 1960. The other independent marker there is Ethiopia - but not all of it - which was largely independent at the time, though Italy had laid earlier claims to the territory. The Ethiopian nation effectively came into existence in the 1890s as the various tribal factions were conquered and united under Emperor Menelik II and the Italians driven out of Eritrea despite a treaty between them.

So no "country" in Africa is any older than Ethiopia at scarcely 120 years of age. Oh, except the parts where the Italians took control of it again during World War II and when the Soviet-backed Mengistu junta took control in 1974. So it'd have to fall back to Egypt which isn't even 90 years old yet.


In Asia, on the other hand, the British (India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Palestine), the Ottomans (Turkey and the middle-east), the French (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia) and the Russian Empire (everything else) ruled all. The list is quite impressive, but the various nations gained independence through much of the 20th Century. We've already established China's relative youth, but Japan is surprisingly young too - like the United Kingdom it's a relatively small, unchanging island that has expanded (China, Korea) and contracted over the years, but that pesky little mid-20th Century conflict it was involved in resulted in a pretty major political upheaval. Japan's Constitution dates back to only 1947!


One of the oddest claimants for "oldest country" I'd suggest is Australia. It has remained territorially and politically stable since 1901 - under technical British sovereignty but not rule.

Denmark has'nt changed their flag from a long time ago

Indeed, but they've been invaded by Nazi Germany, had bits given to and gifted back from Russia and had two territories - Iceland and the Faroe Islands - declare independence in the last 70 years.

 

[Azuremen]

You could put the US in there for constitution and government, but we were still adding states to the Union back in the 40's. Though it is kind of interesting how politically stable we've been since our independence back in the 18th century.

 

[dhandeh]

I think the question needs to split up, to which country has had the same governing process for the longest and which country has had the current recognised border or similar the longest. To get bith, it would only be to the last hundred years or so.

 

[PeterJB]

Japan has the oldest monarchy, though I guess they stopped being an empire about 60 years ago...

 

[Keef]

It's definitely not Poland.

 

[dhandeh]

It's definitely not Poland.

Here we go....

 

[axletramp]

Georgia in the Caucasus has an interesting history and potential claim. OK, it's been invaded and occupied over the centuries by Arabs, Turks and more recently Soviet Russia, but it's current borders and name were established in the 4th century BC. Some local historians claim that the basic structure of the Georgian states date back to before 7,000BC, but obviously there's no concrete proof of that.

 

[BobK]

Do occupations count as changing borders? I'm thinking Finland here.

Sweden's been around a while, and Switzerland's government dates back to 1848 although the borders are a good bit older.

 

[noisiaturismo]

Do occupations count as changing borders? I'm thinking Finland here.

Sweden's been around a while, and Switzerland's government dates back to 1848 although the borders are a good bit older.

Finland is 1918.

Most people don't really understand the question. Oldest country is the oldest country still existing.

San Marino's first recognizion was in 1797, the full one in 1815, the oldest one I could find yet.

On a sidenote, the Roman Empire was the longest, from 27 BC to 1453. But nevermind.

 

[Villain]

Most people don't really understand the question. Oldest country is the oldest country still existing.

San Marino's first recognizion was in 1797, the full one in 1815, the oldest one I could find yet.

The adaptation of the United States Constitution is widely regarded as the official beginning of this nation's "existence" and that dates back to September 1787.

 

[Azuremen]

Finland is 1918.

Most people don't really understand the question. Oldest country is the oldest country still existing.

San Marino's first recognizion was in 1797, the full one in 1815, the oldest one I could find yet.

On a sidenote, the Roman Empire was the longest, from 27 BC to 1453. But nevermind.

But the Roman Empire's borders were hardly consistent. But if you are ignoring that again, the US is over 200 years old then.

And many of us do understand the question. But thank you for clarifying that more. Really, the issue is having both government and borders stay relatively the same for the whole time.

 

[Crash]

The various colours represent control or territorial claims. Yellow is Belgian, pale green is German, pink is Spanish, blue is French, peach is British, green is Italian and purple is Portuguese. Notice how Egypt was under British rule back then - it didn't gain independence until 1922. There is an error on the map in that Côte d'Ivoire - Côte d'Ivoire with its entirely French name - is plotted as independent when it was in fact under French (qu'elle surprise) control until 1960. The other independent marker there is Ethiopia - but not all of it - which was largely independent at the time, though Italy had laid earlier claims to the territory. The Ethiopian nation effectively came into existence in the 1890s as the various tribal factions were conquered and united under Emperor Menelik II and the Italians driven out of Eritrea despite a treaty between them.

I don't see the Ivory Coast being plotted as independent in this map. However, I do see Liberia being plotted as independent, and I thought Liberia was not colonized by the European powers since it was essentially seen by them as an US protectorate.

 

[Famine]

Ah, that makes more sense - one corner of the slave trade triangle. I must get my eyes checked.

If I recall correctly, Liberia's about 8 years old at this point, following two civil wars over two decades.