7 Oldest Countries in the World

7. Iran – Founded c.550 BCE

Ancient Iran, which was known as Persia in the Western world until 1935, was founded around 550 BCE
under the

Achaemenid Empire. Prior to the rise of the Persian Empire, several groups of people lived in the area
that would

later become Iran – this included the Elamites, who were a pre-Iranian civilization that settled in the far
West and

Southwest region of modern-day Iran and the Medes, who had control of most of Iran until the Persians
stepped in.

Cyrus II (commonly known as Cyrus the Great) established the Persian Empire around 550 BCE after he
conquered

the Median, Lydian, and Babylonian empires and gained control of Iran. The Achaemenid Empire ruled
Iran until

Alexander the Great conquered the Persian Empire in 330 BCE. Modern-day Iran was founded in 1979
after the

Iranian Revolution ended the monarchy and an Islamic Republic was established.

6. Japan – Founded 660 BCE

Japan often cites 660 BCE as the date of the country’s founding as this was when the first Emperor of
Japan,

Emperor Jimmu ascended the throne and began Japan’s imperial dynasty. Emperor Jimmu’s is
considered a mythic

legendary emperor of Japan and is believed to be a descendant of the sun goddess Amaterasu – he is
recorded as

Japan’s first emperor in two early chronicles, Kojiki, and Nihon Shoki.

The earliest emperors of Japan, following Emperor Jimmu, are presumed to also be legendary as there is
not

sufficient evidence that they actually existed. While historians can’t be sure whether or not these early
emperors

really existed, they do know that the people began arriving in Japan from Asian mainland around 13000
BCE and the

earliest recorded history of Japan occurred during the Kofun period (c.250 AD – 538 AD). Although
Emperor Jimmu’s story is most likely a myth, Japan celebrates its National Foundation Day on February
11th as a

tribute to Emperor Jimmu’s ascension in 660 BCE.

5. Greece – Founded c.800 BCE

The Archaic period of Greece is one of the country’s most prominent time periods as it laid the
foundations for

Greek’s Classical period, which is known for establishing the foundations of modern western civilization.
This period

in Greece’s history started sometime around 800 BCE after Greece began to emerge from the Dark Ages.
During the

Archaic period, the Greeks made advances in art, poetry, and technology, but the most important thing
to be

invented during this time period was the polis, or city-state. The polis would go on to define Greek
political life for

hundreds of years.

Also during this time period, the Greek alphabet was developed as well as the earliest institutions of
democracy.

Ancient Greece was followed by Roman Greece, Byzantine Greece, and Ottoman Greece, with the
modern Greece

period starting in 1821 after the Greek Revolution.

4. Ethiopia – Founded c.980 BCE

Human life has been around in Ethiopia for millions of years as skeletal fragments belonging
to Australopithecus

afarensis, an apelike creature that may have been the ancestor of modern humans, that were found in
the area are

thought to be about 3.4 million – 2.9 million years old. As life flourished in Ethiopia, complex societies
began to

develop and one of the first kingdoms established was Dʿmt, which lasted from c.980 BCE – c.400 BCE.
The people of

this kingdom developed irrigation schemes, used plows, grew millet, and made iron tools and weapons.

After the fall of Dʿmt, the Aksumite Kingdom rose to power around 100 AD and ended sometime in 940
AD. This

kingdom was followed by the Zagwe Dynasty, and the Solomonic Dynasty after that – Ethiopia would
continue to be
ruled by a monarchy until 1974. Ethiopia is one of the only countries in Africa to never be colonized by a
European

power, but it was occupied by the Italians from 1936 – 1941.

3. India – Founded c.1500 BCE

People have been living in the region in the Indian subcontinent since around 3300 BCE, starting with
the Indus

Valley Civilization. Although these early people formed one of the world’s earliest urban civilizations, the
beginnings

of India as a nation started with the Vedic Period which lasted from c.1500 BCE – c. 600 BCE. This time
period is

named for the texts of Vedas, which were orally composed in Vedic Sanskrit and provided details of the
Vedic

culture. The Vedic Civilization laid the foundation of Hinduism (the Vedic texts are still sacred to modern
Hindus) as

well as several cultural aspects of the Indian subcontinent that still exist today.

The first kingdoms or Janapadas started to form c.1200 BCE and lasted until the end of the Vedic period.
The end of

the Vedic period led to the rise of Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism in India and the beginning of the
powerful

dynasties that would rule India for the next three millennia. Modern-day India was founded in 1947
after the

country gained its independence from the British Empire.

2. China – Founded c.2070 BCE

The first Chinese dynasty was the Xia Dynasty which lasted from c.2070 BCE – 1600 BCE. There are no
first-hand

records from the Xia Dynasty as the written history of China dates back to the Shang Dynasty (c. 1600
BCE – 1046

BCE) – however, the Xia Dynasty is mentioned in historical chronicles such as the Bamboo Annals,
the Classic of

History, and the Records of the Grand Historian.

Until excavations in the 1960s and 1970s uncovered sites that provided strong evidence for the
existence of the Xia
Dynasty, many people believed that it was more myth than fact. China’s dynastic period lasted until
1912 when the

Qing Dynasty ended and the republic was formed. The People’s Republic of China was founded in 1949
and

continues on as modern-day China.

1. Egypt – Founded c.3100 BCE

Although ancient Egyptian civilization can trace its roots back to around 6000 BCE, when various groups
of hunter-

gatherers settled in the Nile River Valley, Egypt’s first dynasty is dated c.3100 BCE and is classified as the
oldest

country in the world. Around this time period, Upper and Lower Egypt were unified into a single
kingdom by King

Menes – Menes is actually the Egyptian word for founder and many historians believe that founder of
Egypt was a

ruler named Narmer.

King Menes was able to establish control over the entire navigable length of the Nile and established the
capital in

Memphis, a city near modern-day Cairo. This first dynasty was the first of a series of dynasties that
would go on to

rule over Egypt for the next three millennia until it was conquered by Alexander the Great in 332 BCE.
Modern Egypt

was founded in 1953 after the Egyptian Revolution of 1952.

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8 Oldest Lakes in the World

8. Lake Malawi

Age: 1 – 2 million years

Location: located between Malawi, Mozambique, and Tanzania

Surface Area: 11,400 sq mi (29,600 km²)

Max Depth: 2,316 ft (706 m)

Volume: 2,000 cu mi (8,400 km³)

Lake Malawi (also called Lake Nyasa in Tanzania and Lago Niassa in Mozambique) is the ninth largest
lake in the world and the third

largest of the Eastern Rift Valley lakes of East Africa. The lake contains more species of fish than any
other lake in the world, many of

which are endemic – there are at least 700 different species of cichlids living in the lake.

A majority of the lake is protected – the Mozambique portion was officially declared a reserve by its
government in 2011 and the

Malawi portion is part of the Lake Malawi National Park, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

7. Lake Titicaca

Age: 3 million years

Location: on the border of Bolivia and Peru

Surface Area: 3,232 sq mi (8,372 km²)

Max Depth: 922 ft (281 m)

Volume: 214 cu mi (893 km³)

At an elevation of 12,500 feet (3,810 meters), Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world to
large vessels and it is often

considered the largest lake in South America (many people do not consider Lake Maracaibo a true lake).

Although the lake’s true age is difficult to date, according to UNESCO, Lake Titicaca is about 3 million
years old. Lake Titicaca has a

rich cultural history and the Inca civilization believed that the lake was where civilization first began. It
was actually home to Peru’s

ancient civilizations as it was first settled in the mid-2nd millennium BCE.

6. Lake Biwa

Age: 4 million years

Location: Japan

Surface Area: 258.8 sq mi (670.3 km²)

Max Depth: 341 ft (104 m)

Volume: 6.6 cu mi (27.5 km³)

Lake Biwa is the largest freshwater lake in Japan and one of the oldest in the world, dating back to at
least 4 million years ago. It is
located in the Shinga Prefecture, northwest of Japan’s former capital city of Kyoto.

Due to its age and proximity to Kyoto, Lake Biwa is frequently referenced in Japanese literature,
especially in poetry and historical

accounts of battles. The lake is a large breeding ground for freshwater fish, including trout and also an
important place for water

birds – about 5,000 water birds visit Lake Biwa annually. It also supports a cultured pearl industry as well
as nearby textile industries.

5. Caspian Sea

Age: 5.5 million years

Location: between Europe and Asia; Kazakhstan to the north, Russia to the northwest, Azerbaijan to the
west, Iran to the south, and

Turkmenistan to the southeast

Surface Area: 143,200 sq mi (371,000 km²)

Max Depth: 3,360 ft (1,025 m)

Volume: 18,800 cu mi (78,200 km³

The Caspian Sea is the largest inland body of water in the world, making it the world’s largest lake,
although it is not a freshwater

lake and has a salinity of about 1.2%. It is a remnant of the ancient Paratethys Sea and became
landlocked about 5.5 million years

ago. The lake, which has characteristics of both seas and lakes, is an endorheic basin as it has no natural
outflows other than by

evaporation.

Over the past two decades, the Caspian Sea’s evaporation has increased due to the rising temperatures
associated with climate

change. Researchers predict that the lake will fall below its historic low set in the 1970s.

4. Lake Tanganyika

Age: 9 – 12 million years

Location: Tanzania, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Burundi, and Zambia

Surface Area: 12,700 sq mi (32,900 km²)

Max Depth: 4,820 ft (1,470 m)

Volume: 4,500 cu mi (18,900 km³)

Lake Tanganyika is the second largest freshwater lake in the world by volume and the second deepest, in
both cases after Lake Baikal,

which is another ancient lake – it is also the world’s longest lake. The lake forms the boundary between
Tanzania and the Democratic

Republic of the Congo (DRC) as well as part of the boundary between Burundi and the DRC and part of
the border between Tanzania

and Zambia.

Lake Tanganyika has three basins, which have different ages and at one point formed separate lakes –
the central basin is about 9 –

12 million years old; the northern is 7 – 8 million years old; and the the southern basin in 2 – 4 million
years old.

3. Lake Maracaibo

Age: 20 – 36 million years

Location: Venezuela

Surface Area: 5,100 sq mi (13,210 km²)

Max Depth: 200 ft (60 m)

Volume: 67.17 cu mi (280 km³)

Lake Maracaibo is considered the largest natural lake in South America and one of the oldest in the
world with an estimated age of

20 – 36 million years. Although it is typically called a lake, many sources state the Lake Maracaibo should
be called an inlet as it

receives water from the Atlantic Ocean – the geological record does show that it was a true lake in the
past.

The lake is a major shipping route and the surrounding Maracaibo Basin contains large reserves of crude
oil, making it one of the

world’s richest petroleum-producing regions. One of the lake’s most unique features is the high
occurrence of lightning strikes at the

mouth of the Catatumbo River, where it empties into the Lake Maracaibo; it produces more lightning
than any other place in the

world.

2. Lake Baikal

Age: 25 million years

Location: Southern Siberia

Surface Area: 12,248 sq mi (31,722 km²)

Max Depth: 5,387 ft (1,642 m)

Volume: 5,670 cu mi (23,615.39 km³)

Although Lake Zaysan is supposedly older than Lake Baikal, it is often cited as being the oldest lake in the
world at 25 million years

old. In addition to being considered the oldest, Lake Baikal is the deepest and largest freshwater lake in
the world by volume – it

holds about 20% of the world’s fresh surface water. The lake was formed as an ancient rift valley, giving
it a long crescent shape.

Lake Baikal contains more than 2,000 species of plants and animals, a majority of which are only located
in the area in and around

the lake. To protect Lake Baikal, it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996.

1. Lake Zaysan

Age: about 65 million years

Location: Eastern Kazakhstan

Surface Area: 700 sq mi (1,810 km²)

Max Depth: 49 ft (15 m)

Volume: 12.7 cu mi (53 km³)

Lake Zaysan is believed to have existed since at least the late Cretaceous Period, which lasted from 136
million to 65 million years

ago, making it the oldest lake in the world. However, a direct indication of the lake’s age is difficult to
find.

Although the age of Lake Zaysan is hard to pin down, modern research suggests that its basin has never
dried, which means that the

lake may have formed about 70 million years ago. Lake Zaysan is located in eastern Kazakhstan and
provides an abundance of fish

such as sturgeon, carp, sterlet, pike, and taimen for the local population.