Defining the "oldest country in the world" is tricky because it depends on the criteria used
. Based on the earliest evidence of organized government:
- Iran: 3200 BCE.
- Egypt: 3100 BCE.
- Vietnam: 2879 BCE.
- Armenia: 2492 BCE.
- North Korea: 2333 BCE.
- China: 2070 BCE.
- India: 2000 BCE.
Based on the date of self-sovereignty:
- Japan: 660 BCE.
- China: 221 BCE.
- San Marino: 301 CE.
- France: 843 CE.
- Austria: 976 CE.
- Denmark: Sometime in the 10th century CE.
- Hungary: 1001 CE.
- Portugal: 1143 CE.
- Mongolia: 1206 CE.
- Thailand: 1238 CE.
