What are the 3 oldest independent countries in the world?
India, the world’s largest democracy, recently celebrated its independence day but of course that’s independence from the British, gained in August 1947 just 77 years ago.
For a country with such a deep and fascinating history it strikes us as odd to be celebrating just 77 years of independence and yet it led us to question which countries might claim to be the oldest independent states?
This should be a straightforward question, but it isn’t.
Like all good Top 3’s, it’s a matter for some serious debate as to how you define “independence”
At first sight, Iran, Egypt, Greece and India should be candidates having all emerged during the pre-Christian era.
But then the question has to be asked as to what relation do those ancient civilisations have to the countries which bear these names now as independent states?
Given the seismic events of history, it can be argued that the more modern iterations of these countries are sufficiently different to count as new nations and indeed that’s what many conclude when asking this question.
But in the spirit of 3ology, I had to force myself to come up with a list and
based on consistency of peoples and borders over the centuries, decided it was these heavyweights who should be included in our Top 3 of oldest independent nations;
1. Japan — although modern Japan emerged after the Second World War, the Japanese themselves date their country’s founding from 660 BCE, making it 2,684 years old
2. China — similarly Communist China has been around only since 1949, but the Chinese look back 2,245 years to a founding date of 221 BCE
3. Morocco —the North African country is 1,236 years old, having been a recognisable self-governing entity since 788 CE
There you have it.
That’s my Top 3.
I await the contrary views.