List of oldest countries in the world.

The oldest nation considered to be Armenian.

Some of the other ones can be seen below:

Trivia

 * This list only includes countries that still exist now.


 * If one does dig down deep enough, the first nation state to come into existance has proven to be Sumer, the first city states were the Sumerian cities of Mesopotamia, while the first complex Empire was the Akkadian Empire, which unified the fertile cresent under one flag and one ruler, Sargon the Great.
 * Out of the six cradles of civilization (the Indo-Gangetic Plain, Nile Valley, Tigris-Euphrates Valley + Armenian Highlands, North China Plain, Andean Coast and Mesoamerican Gulf Coast), only countries from 4 are listed, as the other two have failed to survive in any form resembling their original one.
 * In order for a location to be characterized as a "Cradle of Civilization", complex society needs to have developed there independently from any outside influence.
 * The Tigris-Euphrates Valley seems to be the oldest of such cradles, spawning the first Empires, nation states and city states.
 * Historically, complex civilizations always appeared on arable land, usually close to rivers and with some access to the salt water seas.