Although the existence of human beings and life in societies started millions of years ago, the earliest signs of human civilisation appeared as recently as thousands of years ago. Many countries have undergone different phases of development to survive. Some specific countries – which began as empires – have long-established civilisations that stretch back to ancient eras, and these cultures have gone on to influence developments in other nations. Along with other emerging nations, these age-longs countries have fascinating history and heritage.
Many countries experienced wars, armed conflicts, famines, or droughts, some disintegrating as empires while others got balkanised. Furthermore, there were changes in lifestyle as people stopped living nomadic lives and began to settle in and develop one area. This prompted development as these settlements soon led to massive cities, and the idea and agitation of separate countries followed.
Despite these challenges, some of these countries have adapted and survived throughout the years of successes and turmoils, thereby making them the world’s oldest countries. Well, it is time to read more about the oldest countries in Africa and the world.
Oldest countries in Africa
Most paleoanthropologists consider Africa to be the oldest inhabited territory on Earth, with the Human species originating from the continent. Many fossils have been discovered on the continent, pointing to evidence of human occupation perhaps as early as 7 million years ago.
Early human civilisation is said to have occurred in Africa as people began to settle in and develop one area. Below is a list of some of the oldest countries in Africa.
Kenya
Recent findings indicate that hominids such as Homo habilis (1.8 to 2.5 million years ago) and Homo erectus (1.9 million to 350,000 years ago) lived in Kenya during the Pleistocene epoch. Cushitic speakers were said to have first settled in Kenya’s lowlands between 3,200 and 1,300 BC.
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However, evidence of human living became more conspicuous when Nilotic-speaking pastoralists began migrating from present-day South Sudan into Kenya. The Bantu people later settled at the coast and the interior between 250 BC and 500 AD. The Bantus originated in West Africa along the Benue River, which is situated in what is now referred to as Nigeria and Cameroon.
Nilotic groups in Kenya today include the Kalenjin, Samburu, Luo, Turkana, and Maasai. Bantu groups in Kenya include the Kikuyu, Luhya, Kamba, Kisii, Meru, Kuria, Aembu, Ambeere, Wadawida-Watuweta, Wapokomo, and Mijikenda. Kenya has a rich culture, as well as a tradition oral and written literature.
Modern-day Kenya emerged from a protectorate established by the British Empire in 1895.
Sudan
Sudan’s history dates back to the eighth millennium BC when people lived a sedentary way of life, building and settling in fortified mudbrick villages. However, evidence of human living became prominent in the Pharaonic period, during the reign of the Kingdom of Kerma (c. 2500–1500 BCE).
After the fall of the Kingdom of Kerma, Sudan witnessed the Egyptian New Kingdom (c. 1500 BC–1070 BC), which partly governed the country. But the most prominent of all leadership positions Before the Common Era (BCE) was the rise of the Kingdom of Kush, which also ruled Egypt for nearly a century. The reign began in 785 BCE and lasted until 350 CE.
Following the fall of the Kush Kingdom, the Nubians formed the three Christian kingdoms of Nobatia, Makuria, and Alodia. But between the 14th and 15th centuries, most of Sudan was gradually settled by Arab nomads. However, Sudan acquired its modern borders under Egyptian rule in the 19th century.
The country has since ancient times been an arena for interaction between the cultural traditions of Africa and those of the Mediterranean world. Sudan was the largest African country, with an area that represented more than eight per cent of the continent until the secession of South Sudan in 2011.
Egypt
Egypt is considered a cradle of civilisation in the world and has one of the longest histories of any country. Evidence of rock carvings along the Nile terraces and in desert oases points to habitation as far as the 10th Millenium BC. Early tribal peoples migrated to the Nile River, developing a settled agricultural economy and a more centralised society as of 8,000BC.
But documented history of Egypt’s heritage can be traced to its ancient era of 6,000 BC, when various groups of hunter-gatherers settled in the Nile River Valley. However, Egypt’s first dynasty is dated to c.3100 BCE. When upper and lower Egypt were unified into a single kingdom by King Menes. The unification led to a series of dynasties that ruled Egypt for the next three millennia.
Ancient Egypt saw some of the earliest developments of writing, agriculture, urbanisation, art, organised religion, and central government. Iconic monuments such as the Giza Necropolis and its Great Sphinx, as well as the ruins of Memphis, Thebes, Karnak, and the Valley of the Kings, point to evidence of its development. Also, Egypt was an early and important centre of Christianity but was largely Islamised in the seventh century and remains a predominantly Sunni Muslim country with a significant Christian minority.
Modern Egypt dates back to 1922, when it gained independence from the British Empire.
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Eritrea
Many persons may be surprised by the appearance of Eritrea on this list. However, human remains – known as Madam Buya – found in the country have been dated to one million years old, and anthropological research indicates that the area may contain significant records related to the evolution of humans. The skeleton is said to provide a link between earlier hominids and the earliest anatomically modern humans.
During research, tools found in the Barka Valley indicate that they are from the 8,000 BC era, appearing to offer the first concrete evidence of human settlement in the area. Furthermore, excavations in and near Agordat in central Eritrea unearthed the remains of an ancient pre-Aksumite civilization, known as the Gash Group, which occurred between 2500 and 1500 BC. Also, excavations at Sembel found evidence of an ancient pre-Aksumite civilization in greater Asmara, specifically the Ona urban culture, with artefacts discovered at the site dating back to 800 BC and 400 BC.
The Kingdom of Aksum, covering much of modern-day Eritrea and northern Ethiopia, was established during the first or second century AD. Modern-day Eritrea is a result of the incorporation of independent, distinct kingdoms. In 1962, the government of Ethiopia formally annexed Eritrea after it annulled its agreement with the Eritrean parliament. Eritrea gained independence from its Ethiopian neighbours in 1993.
Ethiopia
Ethiopia is one of the oldest countries, not just in Africa but in the world. As archaeological discoveries firmly established, human life has existed in Ethiopia for millions of years. Ethiopia is said to date back to the period of the Hominid era. It is believed that anatomically modern humans emerged from modern-day Ethiopia and set out to the Near East and elsewhere in the Middle Paleolithic period.
Skeletal fragments belonging to Australopithecus afarensis, an apelike creature that may have been the ancestor of modern humans, were found in the area and are thought to be about 3.4-2.9 million years old.
However, communities began to be established, and Ethiopia developed as a country in 980 BCE when the Kingdom of D’mt extended its realm over the northern region of Ethiopia and parts of what is known today as Eritrea. The Kingdom of Aksum maintained a unified civilisation – located in the northern part of the modern state – in the region for 900 years. The present territory of Ethiopia was consolidated during the 19th and 20th centuries when European powers encroached on the country’s land. Ethiopia defended itself against foreign invasions in the 19th century, preserving its sovereignty.
It was one of the first independent nations to sign the Charter of the United Nations, and it provided moral and material support to the decolonisation of Africa and the growth of Pan-African cooperation. It is, therefore, no surprise that the country has headquartered the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) and its successor, the African Union (AU), since its establishment in 1963.
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Oldest countries in the world
China
China officially celebrates its founding year as 221 BCE, but many dynasties have come and gone since the modern-state establishment circa 2070 BC. The first-known Chinese dynasty was the Xia Dynasty, which lasted from 2070 BCE to 1600 BCE.
However, written records only emerged in the following dynasty, the Shang Dynasty, which ruled China from the 17th century BC to the 11th century BC. The Shang Dynasty is considered the longest-ruling period for any dynasty in the world. China’s dynasty history ended in 1912 when the Qing Dynasty was deposed, and a republic was established.
China is one of the world’s oldest and most refined civilizations.
India
India formed one of the world’s earliest urban civilisations. The Indian region existed from around 5,000-6,000 years ago, but evidence suggested that the human form of existence began around 3300 BCE when the Indus Valley Civilisation began. However, its peoples joined together to form a civilisation in roughly 1500 BCE when they started the Vedic Civilisation, which laid out the foundations of Hinduism practised in the modern state of India today.
The country passed through different dynasties following the end of the Vedic period, and these powerful dynasties ruled India for the next three millennia. Modern-day India was founded in 1947, following its independence from the British Empire.
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Greece
Early evidence of modern habitation was discovered in Greece, which has been inhabited by modern western civilisation and developed revolutionary concepts since 4,000 BCE. Its capital city, Athens, was the first known to have adopted the democratic system of government.
Greece’s old customs and traditions are one of the oldest in the world, and its art, culture, science, literature, law-making, politicos, and many other technological advances have greatly influenced and made a remarkable impact on other countries of the world. Many monuments from ancient Greece still stand in some form today.
Ancient Greece was followed by Roman Greece, Byzantine Greece, and Ottoman Greece, with the modern Greece period starting in 1821 after the Greek Revolution.
Egypt
Egypt is considered a cradle of civilisation in the world and has one of the longest histories of any country. Evidence of rock carvings along the Nile terraces and in desert oases points to habitation as far as the 10th Millenium BC. Early tribal peoples migrated to the Nile River, developing a settled agricultural economy and a more centralised society as of 8,000BC.
But documented history of Egypt’s heritage can be traced to its ancient era of 6,000 BC, when various groups of hunter-gatherers settled in the Nile River Valley.
Ethiopia
Ethiopia is one of the oldest countries, not just in Africa, but in the world. As archaeological discoveries firmly established, human life has existed in Ethiopia for millions of years. Ethiopia is said to date back to the period of the Hominid era. It is believed that anatomically modern humans emerged from modern-day Ethiopia and set out to the Near East and elsewhere in the Middle Paleolithic period.
Skeletal fragments belonging to Australopithecus afarensis, an apelike creature that may have been the ancestor of modern humans, were found in the area and are thought to be about 3.4-2.9 million years old. However, communities began to be established. Ethiopia developed as a country in 980 BCE when the Kingdom of D’mt extended its realm over the northern region of Ethiopia and parts of what is known today as Eritrea. The people of this kingdom developed irrigation schemes, used ploughs, grew millet, and made iron tools and weapons.
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