TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The earliest human civilization recorded was estimated around 6500 BCE when people decided to abandon nomadic lives for a more permanent one. The settlements grow and develop over time into countries.

Citing oldest.org, here are the top 10 countries that have existed the longest and survived modern civilization.

10. San Marino

San Marino became a sovereign state in 301 CE and was officially founded on September 3. The founder, Saint Marinus, built a church on Monte Titano which grew into the city of San Marino. San Marino is one of the smallest countries in the world and is part of the Italian Peninsula. The country is very prosperous with low unemployment rates.

9. Iran

Cyrus II (commonly known as Cyrus the Great) established the Persian Empire (Ancient Iran) around 550 BCE after he conquered the Median, Lydian, and Babylonian empires and gained control of Iran. Modern-day Iran was founded in 1979 after the Iranian Revolution ended the monarchy and an Islamic Republic was established.

8. Japan

Emperor Jimmu 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, in 660 BCE. While historians can’t be sure whether or not he really existed, Japan is still considered one of the oldest countries in the world.

7. Greece

The Archaic period is one of the country’s most prominent periods as it laid the foundations for Greece’s Classical period. This period 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, technology, and politics.

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6. Ethiopia

Skeletal fragments belonging to Australopithecus afarensis, an apelike creature that was found in Ethiopia are thought to be about 3.4 million-2.9 million years old. As life flourished in Ethiopia, one of the first kingdoms established was Dmt, which lasted from 980 BCE to 400 BCE. The people of this kingdom developed irrigation schemes.

5. Georgia

Georgia is also recorded as one of the oldest states in the world. Georgia traces its history to the legendary Kingdom of Colchis and the Kingdom of Karlti/Iberia. Both kingdoms were important during the Bronze Age of Eurasia, around 1500 BCE.

4. China

China's first dynasty was the Xia Dynasty which lasted from 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 (1600 BCE-1046 BCE). However, excavations in the 1960s and 1970s uncovered sites that provided strong evidence for the existence of the Xia Dynasty.

3. Afghanistan

The Indus Valley Civilization is believed to have had a colony in Afghanistan as early as 3000 BCE. They established one of the world's first cities, Mundigak. Over time, Afghanistan was conquered by Darius I of Persia and later Alexander the Great. In 1973, Afghanistan became a unitary presidential Islamic republic.

2. India

Similar to Afghanistan, the Indus Valley Civilization started living in the region around 3300 BCE. However, India as a nation started with the Vedic Period which lasted from 1500 BCE to 600 BCE. The Vedic Civilization laid the foundation of Hinduism as well as several cultural aspects of India.

1. Egypt

The oldest country in the world is Egypt. It was known that various groups of hunter-gatherers settled in the Nile River Valley around 6000 BCE. However, Egypt's first dynasty is dated 3100 BCE when King Menes unified Upper and Lower Egypt into a single kingdom

MELYNDA DWI PUSPITA

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