List of countries by date of nationhood
Categories: Accuracy disputes | NPOV disputes | Lists of countries
Below is a list of nations in chronological order of their nationhood.
Nation-building is a long evolutionary process. It is therefore practically impossible to come up with a single date for a nation's "birth". However, most nations have accepted some dates in their respective histories as their symbolic starting points. This is usually done more for nationalistic propaganda than for scientific reasons. For many ancient and medieval nations these starting points are usually the dates when a nation was mentioned in a written document for the first time or simply a date from their national mythology. In Europe this often coincides with the ruler's conversion to Christianity. For post-colonial nations, starting with the United States, the beginning of nationhood is usually considered to be the date when independence was declared, granted or recognised.
The following list is mainly based on data published by the CIA, and is therefore restricted to nations whose independence is recognised by the USA. Independence dates earlier than 1919 should be treated with caution, since prior to the founding of the League of Nations, there was no international body to recognise nationhood, and independence had no meaning beyond mutual recognition of de facto sovereigns (the role of the League of Nations was effectively taken over by the United Nations after the Second World War). See also Disputed territories.
The situation is futher complicated by the confusion between the terms nation (genereally considered an ethnic or cultural grouping) and state (an independent political entity). (These two words are commonly used as synonyms.)
Contents |
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Before 1200
| Date | Nation | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 3100 BC | Egypt | unification of Upper and Lower Egypt into one country by pharaoh Menes (despite subsequent conquests, Egypt has remained a united nation ever since) |
| 660 BC | Japan | traditional founding by Emperor Jimmu |
| 550 BC | Iran | founding of Persia by Cyrus II as an independent state |
| 221 BC | China | unification under the Qin Dynasty |
| c. 1st century BC-3rd century AD | Ethiopia | oldest independent country in Africa and one of the oldest in the world |
| 3 September, 301 | San Marino | claims to be world's oldest republic |
| 486 | France | conquered by Clovis |
| 681 | Bulgaria | unification of Bulgars and Slavs by Asparukh after the Byzantine empire was forced to sign a peace treaty with them. |
| 843 | Scotland | unified by Kenneth mac Alpin |
| 864 | Bulgaria | khan Boris becomes the first Bulgarian Christian king |
| 895 | Bohemia | from Great Moravia |
| 9th century | England | Alfred the Great (871-899) the first King of England |
| 10th century | Croatia | transformation of the medieval Croatian state into a kingdom under Tomislav around 925 |
| 930 | Iceland | founding of a central parliament (Alþingi) for the newly settled country |
| 966 | Poland | Christianized after being unified by Mieszko I, the first Duke of Poland |
| 10th century | Denmark | organized as a unified state by Harold Bluetooth around 980 |
| 1001 | Hungary | unification by King Stephen I |
| 1002 | Ireland | unified under King Brian I |
| 1025 | Poland | coronation of Boleslaus I the Brave, the first King of Poland |
| 1085 | Bohemia | coronation of Vratislaus II, the first King of Bohemia |
| 23 June 1128 | Portugal | from Kingdom of Leon |
| 5 October 1143 | Portugal | King Afonso Henriques' rule recognized as independent |
| 1156 | Austria | raised from a Bavarian margravate to an independent duchy under the Babenbergs in the Privilegium Minus |
| 1180 | Serbia | first king Konstantin Bodin |
| 1190 | Albania | Progon, Prince of Albania |
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1200-1799
| Date | Nation | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 1238 | Thailand | traditional founding date; never colonized |
| 1236 | Grand Duchy of Lithuania | Mindaugas becomes the first Grand Duke of Lithuania |
| 1278 | Andorra | formed under the joint suzerainty of the French count of Foix and the Catalan bishop of Urgell |
| 1290 | Wallachia | traditional founding date 1 August |
| 1291 | Switzerland | date of the Federal Charter |
| 1349 | Moldavia | founded by Bogdan I |
| 1419 | Monaco | beginning of the rule by the House of Grimaldi |
| 28 November, 1443 | Albania | Skanderbeg liberated Kruja, then Albanian capital |
| 1512 | Spain | Annex of Navarra, the last independent kingdom whose territory is now within the Kingdom of Spain |
| 6 June, 1523 | Sweden | Gustav Vasa elected king |
| 1579 | Netherlands | declared independence from Spain during the Eighty Years War |
| 1642 | Confederate Ireland | A renewed period of Irish independence, when the Catholic nobility rebelled against England and created their own government, which was crushed by the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland in 1649. |
| 1650 | Oman | expulsion of the Portuguese |
| 26 March 1707 | Great Britain | union of the kingdoms of England and Scotland |
| 23 January, 1719 | Imperial Principality of Liechtenstein | |
| 1768 | Nepal | unified by Prithvi Narayan Shah |
| 4 July, 1776 | United States | declared independence from Great Britain |
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1800-1899
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1900-1939
| Date | Nation | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 1 January, 1901 | Australia | granted self-government as federation of UK colonies |
| 20 May, 1902 | Cuba | from U.S. administration |
| 3 November, 1903 | Panama | from Colombia |
| June 7, 1905 | Norway | union with Sweden dissolved |
| September 26, 1907 | New Zealand | granted self-government from UK |
| September 26, 1907 | Newfoundland | granted self-government from UK (later became a province of Canada) |
| September 22, 1908 | Bulgaria | gained independence from Ottoman Empire |
| May 31, 1910 | South Africa | granted self-government from UK |
| January 1 (February 12, O.S.), 1912 | Republic of China | from Qing Dynasty |
| November 28, 1912 | Albania | from Ottoman Empire |
| December 6, 1917 | Finland | from Russia |
| February 16, 1918 | Lithuania | from Russia |
| February 24, 1918 | Estonia | from Russia |
| March 25, 1918 | Belarus | from Russia |
| November 1, 1918 | North Yemen | from the Ottoman Empire |
| November 11, 1918 | Poland | regained independence, proclaimed as a republic |
| November 18, 1918 | Latvia | from Russia |
| December 1, 1918 | Iceland | became a sovereign state under the Danish Crown |
| August 19, 1919 | Afghanistan | from UK control over Afghan foreign affairs |
| July 11, 1921 | Mongolia | from China |
| December 6, 1921 | Ireland | from UK by treaty, most of Ireland (26 counties) became an independent nation known as the Irish Free State; while the six counties of the North (Northern Ireland with a loyalist Protestant community) remained part of the United Kingdom. |
| 1922 | Soviet Union | fall of the Russian Empire |
| October 29, 1923 | Turkey | successor state to the Ottoman Empire |
| February 11, 1929 | Vatican City | from Italy |
| September 23, 1932 | Saudi Arabia | Unification of the Kingdom |
| October 3, 1932 | Iraq | from League of Nations mandate under British administration |
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1940-1949
| Date | Nation | Event |
|---|---|---|
| November 22, 1943 | Lebanon | from League of Nations mandate under French administration |
| June 17, 1944 | Iceland | from Denmark |
| August 15, 1945 | Korea | from Japan |
| August 17, 1945 | Indonesia | from the Netherlands |
| September 2, 1945 | Vietnam | from France |
| April 17, 1946 | Syria | from League of Nations mandate under French administration |
| May 25, 1946 | Jordan | from League of Nations mandate under British administration |
| August 14, 1947 | Pakistan | from UK |
| August 15, 1947 | India | from UK |
| December 30, 1947 | Romania | proclaimed as a republic |
| 1948 | Republic of Ireland | Ireland cuts off all lasting political links with the United Kingdom; all of Ireland (with the exception of British Northern Ireland) is now fully independent. |
| January 4, 1948 | Burma | from UK |
| February 4, 1948 | Sri Lanka | from UK |
| May 14, 1948 | Israel | from League of Nations mandate under British administration |
| August 15, 1948 | Republic of Korea | founding of the Republic of Korea |
| September 9, 1948 | Democratic People's Republic of Korea | founding of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea |
| May 23, 1949 | Federal Republic of Germany | from the western part of occupied Germany |
| July 19, 1949 | Laos | from France |
| August 8, 1949 | Bhutan | from India |
| October 1, 1949 | People's Republic of China | from Republic of China |
| October 7, 1949 | German Democratic Republic | from the eastern part of occupied Germany |
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1950-1959
| Date | Nation | Event |
|---|---|---|
| December 24, 1951 | Libya | from Italy |
| November 9, 1953 | Cambodia | from France |
| January 1, 1956 | Sudan | from Egypt and UK |
| March 2, 1956 | Morocco | from France and Spain |
| March 20, 1956 | Tunisia | from France |
| March 6, 1957 | Ghana | from UK |
| August 31, 1957 | Malaysia | from UK |
| October 2, 1958 | Guinea | from France |
| October 5, 1958 | France | French Fifth Republic declared |
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1960-1969
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1970-1979
| Date | Nation | Event |
|---|---|---|
| June 4, 1970 | Tonga | from UK protectorate |
| October 10, 1970 | Fiji | from UK |
| March 26, 1971 | Bangladesh | from Pakistan. ( Declare Liberation War ). |
| August 15, 1971 | Bahrain | from UK |
| September 3, 1971 | Qatar | from UK |
| December 2, 1971 | United Arab Emirates | from UK |
| December 16, 1971 | Bangladesh | from Pakistan.( Defeat Pakistan in Liberation War ). |
| July 10, 1973 | The Bahamas | from UK |
| September 24, 1973 | Guinea-Bissau | from Portugal (declaration) |
| February 7, 1974 | Grenada | from UK |
| October 19, 1974 | Niue | became a self-governing parliamentary government in free association with New Zealand |
| June 25, 1975 | Mozambique | from Portugal |
| July 5, 1975 | Cape Verde | from Portugal |
| July 6, 1975 | Comoros | from France |
| July 12, 1975 | São Tomé and Principe | from Portugal |
| September 16, 1975 | Papua New Guinea | from the Australian-administered UN trusteeship |
| November 11, 1975 | Angola | from Portugal |
| November 25, 1975 | Suriname | from Netherlands |
| November 28, 1975 | East Timor | from Portugal (declaration)- from Portugal / UN Trusteeship (recognition, East Timor was invaded by Indonesia from 1975 to 1999, officially Portugal never gave up its claim) |
| June 29, 1976 | Seychelles | from UK |
| June 27, 1977 | Djibouti | from France |
| July 7, 1978 | Solomon Islands | from UK |
| October 1, 1978 | Tuvalu | from UK |
| November 3, 1978 | Dominica | from UK |
| February 22, 1979 | Saint Lucia | from UK |
| July 12, 1979 | Kiribati | from UK |
| October 27, 1979 | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | from UK |
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1980-1989
| Date | Nation | Event |
|---|---|---|
| April 18, 1980 | Zimbabwe | from UK |
| July 30, 1980 | Vanuatu | from France and UK |
| September 21, 1981 | Belize | from UK |
| November 1, 1981 | Antigua and Barbuda | from UK |
| September 19, 1983 | Saint Kitts and Nevis | from UK |
| January 1, 1984 | Brunei | from UK |
| October 21, 1986 | Marshall Islands | from the US-administered UN trusteeship as Compact of Free Association takes effect |
| November 3, 1986 | Federated States of Micronesia | from the US-administered UN Trusteeship as Compact of Free Association takes effect |
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1990-1999
| Date | Nation | Event |
|---|---|---|
| March 11, 1990 | Lithuania | from Soviet Union |
| March 21, 1990 | Namibia | from South African mandate |
| May 22, 1990 | Yemen | merger North Yemen and South Yemen |
| October 3, 1990 | Germany | unification of West Germany and East Germany |
| April 9, 1991 | Georgia | from Soviet Union |
| June 25, 1991 | Croatia | from Yugoslavia |
| June 25, 1991 | Slovenia | from Yugoslavia |
| August 20, 1991 | Estonia | from Soviet Union |
| August 21, 1991 | Latvia | from Soviet Union |
| August 24, 1991 | Russia | from Soviet Union |
| August 24, 1991 | Ukraine | from the Soviet Union |
| August 25, 1991 | Belarus | from Soviet Union |
| August 27, 1991 | Moldova | from Soviet Union |
| August 30, 1991 | Azerbaijan | from Soviet Union |
| August 31, 1991 | Kyrgyzstan | from Soviet Union |
| September 1, 1991 | Uzbekistan | from Soviet Union |
| September 8, 1991 | Republic of Macedonia | from Yugoslavia |
| September 9, 1991 | Tajikistan | from Soviet Union |
| September 21, 1991 | Armenia | from Soviet Union |
| October 27, 1991 | Turkmenistan | from the Soviet Union |
| December 16, 1991 | Kazakhstan | from the Soviet Union |
| March 1, 1992 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | from Yugoslavia |
| April 27, 1992 | Serbia and Montenegro | formed as self-proclaimed successor to the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia |
| January 1, 1993 | Czech Republic | Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia |
| January 1, 1993 | Slovakia | Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia |
| May 24, 1993 | Eritrea | from Ethiopia |
| October 1, 1994 | Palau | from the US-administered UN Trusteeship as Compact of Free Association takes effect |
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Since 2000
| Date | Nation | Event |
|---|---|---|
| May 20, 2002 | East Timor | from Portugal / UN Trusteeship (recognition, East Timor was invaded by Indonesia in 1975, annexed, then occupied to 1999; officially Portugal never gave up its claim before 2002) |
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See also
- List of countries
- List of national capitals
- List of countries by continent
- List of countries by population
- List of countries by area
- List of countries by population density
- List of countries and capitals in native languagesbs:Spisak država po datumu državnosti
hr:Popis država po datumu državnosti pt:Lista de países por data de criação