What is the oldest country?

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.
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Yeah, that's what made me guess Switzerland. They haven't been invaded for centuries (for good reasons, :lol:).
 
I would agree with the poster who suggested the Isle of Man. A crown dependancy it may be, which means that the UK handles its diplomatic and military affairs as a matter of conveniance but it is seperate from the United Kingdom and reputedly has the oldest Parliament that still exists. Being a small island in the irish sea, it's borders will have hardly changed. Except for erosion.
 
Here's a list of countries and when they were formed or last controlled by an outside government:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_by_date_of_formation

To figure out the oldest country I would probably look at the the "date of last subordination". I think you need to look at how long the people have controlled themselves and not by an outside government through being a colony, occupied region or whatever else.

With that said, I would say the United Kingdom is the world's oldest country, although I would use the date of 1088 instead of 843 since that was the end to the Norman Conquest.
 
Joey D
Here's a list of countries and when they were formed or last controlled by an outside government:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_by_date_of_formation

To figure out the oldest country I would probably look at the the "date of last subordination". I think you need to look at how long the people have controlled themselves and not by an outside government through being a colony, occupied region or whatever else.

With that said, I would say the United Kingdom is the world's oldest country, although I would use the date of 1088 instead of 843 since that was the end to the Norman Conquest.
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The United Kingdom in its latest form was created in 1922, after Ireland became independent. Or 1927, when its name changed.
 
noisiaturismo
The United Kingdom in its latest form was created in 1922, after Ireland became independent. Or 1927, when its name changed.
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That's just adding area to their country, it's has still be a sovereign nation for about 900 years.
 
The UK was not formed by the 11th century. No way. If anything, 1707 would be the earliest date with the Acts of Union. But in it's current state 1927 would be a more appropriate date.

Is the Isle of Man on that list? Mobile internet is of poor quality. It's not a sovereign state due to being a crown dependancy owing to it's size and location, but it has been independant and self-governing since 1399 at least.
 
MazdaPrice
The UK was not formed by the 11th century. No way. If anything, 1707 would be the earliest date with the Acts of Union. But in it's current state 1927 would be a more appropriate date.
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It depends on how you interpret it. To me a country becomes a country when it's a sovereign nation, despite the government or land area. If you look at the definition of sovereignty (there's quite a few of them), it's gist basically says a power over an organized political body in a geographic region.

The United States doesn't become a new nation when a Republican majority takes over the government. Also the US didn't become a new nation when it bought the Virgin Island in the early 1900's either.
 
Naturally, I want to say that the oldest countries that still exists, and has obvious roots to it's history in it's modern day culture, are Saudi Arabia or Syria, or Jerusalem..

Probably wrong though, just a guess with basic background knowledge...
 
Joey D
It depends on how you interpret it. To me a country becomes a country when it's a sovereign nation, despite the government or land area. If you look at the definition of sovereignty (there's quite a few of them), it's gist basically says a power over an organized political body in a geographic region.
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The point I was making is that the constituent countries of the UK were independant of one another in the 11th century. What we now call Wales was independant, what we now call England was independant, what we now call Scotland was independant, Ireland was independant.

The sovereign state The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland first came into existance in the early 18th century. And it's changed since then. The constituant countries had co-existed prior to that, but were not one united state.
 
Joey D
It depends on how you interpret it. To me a country becomes a country when it's a sovereign nation, despite the government or land area. If you look at the definition of sovereignty (there's quite a few of them), it's gist basically says a power over an organized political body in a geographic region.

The United States doesn't become a new nation when a Republican majority takes over the government. Also the US didn't become a new nation when it bought the Virgin Island in the early 1900's either.
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Colonies don't count. Actual new parts of a country do, and a new version of a government also does.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_by_date_of_formation#Sortable_list

Select on ascending, and you see the minimal date of last subordination.

However, most of these are incorrect.

Please also read the history of countries careful.
 
And a change in government being a change from democracy to theocracy et cetera or vice versa, unicameralism to bicameralism or vice versa. An election change is just an election change.
 
theotherspongey
Naturally, I want to say that the oldest countries that still exists, and has obvious roots to it's history in it's modern day culture, are Saudi Arabia or Syria, or Jerusalem..

Probably wrong though, just a guess with basic background knowledge...
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It'd be closer to Iraq or Iran since that's where the first civilisation sprung up.

noisiaturismo
Colonies don't count. Actual new parts of a country do, and a new version of a government also does.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_by_date_of_formation#Sortable_list

Select on ascending, and you see the minimal date of last subordination.

However, most of these are incorrect.

Please also read the history of countries careful.
Click to expand...

Based on that, you're telling me America became a new nation when it added Alaska and Hawaii in 1959? Or again during the Boundary Treaty of 1970 where the US received land from Mexico?
 
Joey D
Based on that, you're telling me America became a new nation when it added Alaska and Hawaii in 1959? Or again during the Boundary Treaty of 1970 where the US received land from Mexico?
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I'd certainly say that the Alaskans and Hawaiians considered it to be so, yes.

Nevertheless, the original question did include boundaries so answers should bear boundaries in mind.
 
Famine
I'd certainly say that the Alaskans and Hawaiians considered it to be so, yes.

Nevertheless, the original question did include boundaries so answers should bear boundaries in mind.
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In that case, it appears Switzerland is probably the oldest as it became a federal state in 1848 and hasn't really changed since.

San Marino, while quite old, was under German rule during 1945 so we can't count that. Sweden could also have a case made for it since it became a country in 1523, but it's borders changed. Same goes for Russia, which looks pretty similar to how it does today in 1721 but lost land after the fall of the USSR.
 
If I remember correctly from my World Cultures class, Egypt was where there was the first civilization.
 
tfujiwara
If I remember correctly from my World Cultures class, Egypt was where there was the first civilization.
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It was Iraq that had the first known civilization of Mesopotamia.
 

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