According to geographer Matt Rosenberg:
Ultimately, it is difficult to judge which country is the world's oldest due to a variety of complex factors. One might answer that San Marino, Japan, or China is the world's oldest country and still be accurate.Let’s take a closer look at the three countries mentioned by Rosenberg.
Japan:
Japan often claims to be the oldest country in the world: in 660 BCE the Emperor Jimmu (神武天皇)established the country. While the imperial house of Japan claims descent from Jimmu, many modern historians feel that there is little actual evidence of his reign. Many historians feel that the reign of Emperor Kimmei (509-571 CE), the 29th emperor of Japan according to tradition, is the actual first emperor for which there are verifiable dates. Many archaeologists and historians regard Emperor Jimmu as a legendary figure who may have been a composite figure.
According to the traditional stories, Jimmu was the direct descendent of the sun goddess Amatetasu. He was born on 13 February 711 BCE and died on 11 March 585 BCE.
A portrait of Jimmu is shown above.
China:
China celebrates 221 BCE as its founding year. At this time Qin Shi Huang (秦始皇) became China’s first emperor.
However it was not until the Han Dynasty in the third century CE that a unified Chinese culture and tradition developed. The Republic of China was founded in 1912 and the People’s Republic of China came into existence in 1949.
At one time there were a number of people who felt that the story of Qin Shi Huang was more mythical than real. Then, in 1874, thousands of terracotta warriors were found near a burial mound. Since the initial discovery, archaeological investigations have revealed that this is the burial place of the first emperor.
A modern statue of the first emperor is shown above.
San Marino:
San Marino is one of the smallest countries in Europe: with 61 square kilometers it ranks third after the Vatican and Monaco. This means that it is about one third the size of Washington, D.C. San Marino claims to be the world’s oldest republic. It was founded by a Christian stonemason named Marinus on September 3, 301.
Shown above is the founding of San Marino.
San Marino adopted a written constitution in 1600 (usually credited as being the world’s oldest written constitution), but it wasn’t recognized as an independent sovereign country by the Pope until 1631.
Some other countries:
There are a number of other countries which trace their origins back more than 500 years. While some go back more than 1,000 years, none goes back more than 1,200 years. Some of these are:
France: 843
Austria: 976
Denmark: 10th century
Hungary: 1001
Portugal: 1143
Mongolia: 1206
Thailand: 1238
Andorra: 1278
Switzerland: 1291
Monaco: 1419
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