想象自己的祖国不复存在可能感觉很奇怪，但一个国家要在世界上生存实际上是相当困难的。 必须管理经济，必须促进工业和环境的繁荣，必须建设和维护基础设施，必须保持政治联盟的健康……而一场战争或武装冲突就可以摧毁所有这些因素。

尽管存在这些挑战，世界上近 200 个国家中的一些国家经受住了时间的考验。 尽管国界、执政政府和首都都发生了变化，但这些国家多年来一直存在，使它们成为世界上最古老的国家。

国家从何而来？

自由之星
确定世界上最古老国家的第一步是准确定义什么才有资格成为一个国家。 早期的城邦，如乌尔、乌鲁克、雅典、罗马和奇琴伊察，在当时非常强大和有影响力，但它们并不是我们今天所认为的国家。 同样，经常征服和连接这些城邦的庞大帝国，如欧洲的罗马帝国和亚洲的汉朝，也不会被视为国家。 然而，国家可以从崩溃帝国的破碎遗迹中诞生。


自由之星
尽管现代帝国不多，但新的国家仍在不断涌现。 这通常发生在领土从现有国家分离时，例如苏维埃社会主义共和国联盟 (U.S.S.R.) 从 1988-92 年分裂为 25 个较小的领土（其中 15 个成为国家）并且不复存在。

确定国家生日的挑战
确定一个国家的年龄并不总是一项简单的任务。 特别是对于历史悠久的国家，很难确定该国正式开始的历史时刻。 埃及就是一个很好的例子。 这个国家是否始于 1922 年，当时英国承认它是一个独立国家？ 还是始于 969 年法蒂玛王朝征服该地区并建立首都开罗？ 也许是在公元前 3100 年，第一位法老统一上下埃及，建立第一王朝？ 人们可以很容易地为这些日期中的任何一个以及其他几个日期提供理由。

同样，我们所熟知的中国是地球上最古老文明之一的发源地，其早期文字证据可追溯到公元前 7000 年，大规模政府的书面记录早在公元前 2070 年。 然而，中国的早期历史是一系列朝代，在这些朝代中，一个军阀或王国征服了该地区，然后又被另一个军阀或王国征服，而该地区往往在其间分裂成更小的王国。 因此，中国的统治政府和地理边界几千年来一直处于不断变化的状态。 正因为如此，许多历史学家会说，我们称之为中国的国家直到 1911 年至 1912 年才诞生，那时最后一个封建王朝被现代共和国所取代——事实上，有些人会把日期提前到 1949 年，那时中国人 内战结束，中国成为我们今天所知的共产主义“中华民主共和国”。


自由之星
其他拥有非常早的现代人类居住证据的国家包括希腊，它拥有大约 4000 年的先进文明，其雅典城是世界上已知的第一个采用民主制度的城市，以及印度，其第一个文明大约始于 一万年前。

甚至年轻的国家也可能提出一个令人困惑的案例。 例如，美国的官方生日是 1776 年 7 月 4 日，即 13 个原始殖民地宣布脱离英国独立的日子。 但可以说，这可能是几千年前第一批美洲原住民从亚洲迁移过来的时候； 当哥伦布于 1492 年登陆时； 1620 年第一批朝圣者抵达时； 或 1783 年 9 月 3 日，美国独立战争正式结束，英国正式承认美国独立。

由于诸如此类的复杂情况，任何最古老国家的名单都会根据人们如何定义一个国家的诞生而发生重大变化。 例如，如果我们将一个国家的开端视为已知最早有组织政府证据的日期，则列表如下所示：
按时间顺序列出的世界上最古老的13个国家的正确列表（公元年份和公元前年份混合列出）：
埃及 - 公元前3100年建立日本 - 公元前660年建立伊朗 - 公元前550年建立希腊 - 公元前509年建立朝鲜 - 公元1948年建立中国 - 公元前221年建立瑞典 - 公元1000年左右建立丹麦 - 公元965年建立挪威 - 公元872年建立法国 - 公元843年建立葡萄牙 - 公元1143年建立摩纳哥 - 公元1297年建立英国 - 公元927年建立
世界上最古老的 10 个国家（根据已知最早有组织的政府的日期）
伊朗 - 公元前 3200 年
埃及 - 公元前 3100 年
越南 - 公元前 2879 年
亚美尼亚 - 公元前 2492 年
朝鲜 - 公元前 2333 年
中国 - 公元前 2070 年
印度 - 公元前 2000 年
格鲁吉亚 - 公元前 1300 年
以色列 - 公元前 1300 年
苏丹 - 公元前 1070 年
阿富汗 - 公元前 678 年

自由之星
为了进行比较，以下列表按国家被认为成为主权国家的日期对每个国家进行排序：

世界上最古老的 10 个国家（按自治日期）
日本 - 公元前 660 年
中国 - 公元前 221 年
圣马力诺 - 公元 301 年
法国 - 843
奥地利 - 976
丹麦 - 10 世纪
匈牙利 - 1001
葡萄牙 - 1143
蒙古 - 1206
泰国 - 1238
几个世界上最古老的城市
几千年来，世界上几个最古老的城市一直有人居住。 据信，叙利亚大马士革的历史可追溯到公元前 10,000 年。 其他明显古老的城市包括约旦河西岸的杰里科（公元前 9000 年）； 保加利亚普罗夫迪夫（公元前 7000 年）； 和伊朗苏萨（公元前 7000 年）。

最后，对于那些对最近的时间表感兴趣的人，以下是截至 2021 年世界上最新的国家：

世界上最年轻的 10 个国家（2021 年）：
南苏丹 - 2011-07-09
科索沃（仍在等待完全承认） - 2008-02-17
塞尔维亚 - 2006-07-05
黑山 - 2006-06-03
东帝汶 - 2002-05-20
帕劳 - 1994-10-01
厄立特里亚 - 1993-05-20
斯洛伐克 - 1993-01-01（并列）
捷克共和国 - 1993-01-01（并列）
波斯尼亚和黑塞哥维那 - 1992-03-03*
https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/oldest-countries
As strange as it may feel to imagine one's home country ceasing to exist, it's actually quite difficult for a country to survive in the world. The economy must be managed, industry and the environment must both be helped to prosper, infrastructure must be built and maintained, political alliances must be kept healthy ... and a single war or armed conflict can devastate every one of those elements.
Despite these challenges, some of the world's nearly 200 nations have stood the test of time. Although national boundaries, ruling governments, and capital cities have changed, these nations have survived throughout the years, making them the world's oldest countries.
Where do countries come from?
The first step in determining the oldest countries in the world is defining exactly what qualifies as a country. Early city-states such as Ur, Uruk, Athens, Rome, and Chichen Itza were incredibly powerful and influential in their time, but they were not countries as we would consider them today. Similarly, the sprawling empires that often conquered and connected these city-states, such as the Roman Empire in Europe and the Han Dynasty in Asia, would not be considered countries. However, countries can be born from the shattered remains of a collapsed empire.
Although few empires exist in the modern era, new countries are still emerging. This typically happens when a territory secedes from an existing country, such as when the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.) broke into 25 smaller territories (15 of which became countries) from 1988-92 and ceased to exist.
The challenge of determining national birthdays
Establishing a country's age is not always a simple task. Particularly with older countries, it can be difficult to pinpoint the moment in history when the country officially began. Egypt is an excellent example. Did the country begin in 1922, when the U.K. recognized it as an independent country? Or did it begin in 969, when the Fatimid Caliphate conquered the area and founded the capital city of Cairo? Perhaps it was in 3100 BCE, when the first pharaoh united upper and lower Egypt, creating the First Dynasty? One could easily make a case for any of these dates, as well as several others.
Similarly, the country we know as China is the birthplace of one of Earth’s oldest civilizations, with early evidence of writing that dates back to 7000 BCE and written records of large-scale governments as early as 2070 BCE. However, China’s early history is a series of dynasties in which one warlord or kingdom would conquer the region, then be conquered by another in turn, with the region often fracturing into smaller kingdoms in between. As such, the ruling government and geographical borders of China were in a state of constant flux for thousands of years. Because of this, many historians would say that the country we call China was not born until 1911-1912, when the last feudal dynasty was replaced by a modern republic—in fact, some would move the date clear up to 1949, when the Chinese Civil War ended and China became the communist “Democratic Republic of China,” which we know today.
Other countries with very early evidence of modern habitation include Greece, which has been inhabited by advanced civilization for some 4000 years and whose city of Athens was the first in the world known to have adopted the democratic system, and India, whose first civilization began approximately 10,000 years ago.
Even younger countries can present a confusing case. For example, the United States' official birthday is July 4, 1776, the day the 13 original colonies declared their independence from Great Britain. But it could arguably have been when the first native Americans migrated from Asia thousands of years earlier; when Colombus landed in 1492; when the first pilgrims arrived in 1620; or September 3, 1783, when the American Revolutionary War officially ended and Great Britain formally recognized U.S. independence.
Because of complex scenarios such as these, any list of oldest countries changes significantly depending upon how one defines the birth of a country. For instance, if we consider the beginning of a country to be the date with the earliest known evidence of organized government, the list looks like this:
Top 10 Oldest Countries in the World (by date of earliest known organized government)
Iran - 3200 BCEEgypt - 3100 BCEVietnam - 2879 BCEArmenia - 2492 BCENorth Korea - 2333 BCEChina - 2070 BCEIndia - 2000 BCEGeorgia - 1300 BCEIsrael - 1300 BCESudan - 1070 BCEAfghanistan - 678 BCE
For comparison, the following list sorts each country by the date that country is believed to have become a sovereign state:
Top 10 Oldest Countries in the World (by date of self-sovereignty)
Japan - 660 BCEChina - 221 BCESan Marino - 301 CEFrance - 843Austria - 976Denmark - 10th centuryHungary - 1001Portugal - 1143Mongolia - 1206Thailand - 1238
Several of the world's oldest cities have been continuously inhabited for thousands of years. Damascus, Syria, is believed to be as old as 10,000 BCE. Other demonstrably ancient cities include Jericho, West Bank (9000 BCE); Plovdiv, Bulgaria (7000 BCE); and Susa, Iran (7000 BCE).
Finally, for those interested in the more recent end of the timeline, the following are the newest countries in the world as of 2021:
Top 10 Youngest Countries in the World (2021):
South Sudan - 2011-07-09Kosovo (still awaiting full recognition) - 2008-02-17Serbia - 2006-07-05Montenegro - 2006-06-03East Timor - 2002-05-20Palau - 1994-10-01Eritrea - 1993-05-20Slovakia - 1993-01-01 (tie)Czech Republic - 1993-01-01 (tie)Bosnia and Herzegovina - 1992-03-03*
It is worth noting that positions 11-30 on the list of newest countries in the world are dominated by the 15 former members of the Soviet Union that became sovereign in 1991, including Uzbekistan, Estonia, Kazakhstan, and the Russian Federation.


贴主:nowhere1于2023_05_15 16:31:54编辑