"No nation is older than 250"

I believe the ottoman empire (1299–1922) would like a word.

England would like a word. It formed in 927 AD. That means it is 1,098 years old.
- After the parliaments of England and Scotland agreed, the two countries joined in political union, to create the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707 -- wikipedia
  
  England and the UK are not one and the same thing (as should be clear from the wikipedia snippet you copied)

i think the first poster misunderstood a quote and I can't reproduce it anymore either. it was something about no empire lasted more then 250 years? or no government form or something among these lines? it was not about the country disapearing in name or anything, but that it damatically changes in one way or another like completly changing the form of government
- I remember it as most empires collapse before or around 250 years. If I remember the quote correctly it mentioned most not all, and empire not nation or country.
- Even that's a very obvious fallacy though
  
  Depends on the condition being measured. I've heard similar claims about democracies. I know the OG democracy in Athens Greece lasted about 250 years. I'm not aware of another democracy that existed longer than the US .. But I'm not an expert in the field, so i welcome examples of longer lived democracies.

Who did the US get independence from, buddy?
- The Kingdom of Great Britain, which ceased to exist in 1800 and lasted less than a century.
  
  Use the same definition (unchanged political institutions) and tell me how long the Roman Empire lasted.
- Well there’s that… but these people are free from the restraints of logic.
  
  They think of countries as dynasties or times of uninterrupted, peaceful transitions of power. Britain has changed dynasties and government types over the years. It's semantics.

There's a certain irony that there are a couple of cases of "my local pub is older than your entire country" in the country in question. For example the White Horse Tavern in Newport, RI.

Wait till these people find out about Japan.
- And fucking China.
  
  I used to be in the record business, and worked for a time for a Chinese record company who was releasing indigenous folk and classical music.
  Western music traces back about 1000-1200 years, while Chinese music has an unbroken written musical tradition going back several thousands of years.
  
  China gets a bit fuzzier in between dynasties and revolutions. But there are definitely multiple post-Unification dynasties that lasted longer than 250 years.
- I mean sure they've still got a royal line, but the royal family wasn't always in power. Like is it fair to say that the Tokugawa government is the same as the meiji restoration government, is the same as the modern government?
  
  Like is it fair to say that the Tokugawa government is the same as the meiji restoration government, is the same as the modern government?
  The Edo Period alone spanned 268 years. The Heian Period nearly made it to 400.
  Even if you evaluate these as distinct, they individually outstip the US.

Egypt, anyone?
- I once read that we are closer to Cleopatra's time than Cleopatra was to the building of the pyramids. Weve got 250 years under our belts, while Egypt had thousands.

While the US is pretty old as a state, most societies have a direct continuation from one state to the next. It's not like when France overthrew its monarchy they stopped being France or seeing themselves as French. So they may see their continuous history as much older than the current state, with the Kingdom of France going back to 987.
The US doesn't have a continuous history prior to 1776 because they mostly come from Britain but they denounce their British heritage and they settled in NA but also denounce the heritage of the local peoples there. So the average American sees their entire history as starting at 1776, maybe a little bit further back to include the initial colonies and that's about it.
- It’s not like when France overthrew its monarchy they stopped being France or seeing themselves as French.
  They didn't even stop being a monarch (for very long). I think they're on something like their Fifth Republic at this point, because they keep going back and doing Bourbon Restorations, cause some of them cannot stop being monarchists no matter how hard they try.
  Monarchists are like the fucking hydra. Chop off a thousand heads and you somehow get two thousand more monarchists in their place. It's bananas.
  
  Royalty was like dandelions. No matter how many heads you chopped off, the roots were still there underground, waiting to spring up again.
  It seemed to be a chronic disease. It was as if even the most intelligent person had this little blank spot in their heads where someone had written: "Kings. What a good idea." Whoever had created humanity had left in a major design flaw. It was its tendency to bend at the knees.
  ― Terry Pratchett, Feet of Clay
  
  Well it's the 5th republic as of the constitutional reform of 1958. And the 4th republic was founded in the aftermath of WW2 and Germany dissolving the French government. The 3rd republic was founded after the 2nd Empire collapsed during the Franco-Prussian War in 1870. The 2nd Empire was founded when Louis Napoleon Boneparte crowned himself emperor in 1852 and dissolved the 2nd republic. The 2nd republic was founded in 1848 after Napoleon (the other Napoleons uncle) was defeated at Waterloo ending the 1st Empire of Napoleon which lasted from 1804 to 1815 (with a brief holiday to Elba). The 1st republic was founded in the revolution of 1792 (the one with the heads being chopped off) until Napoleon seized power in a coup.
  There has in fact only been one period of bourbon restoration in 1815. But since then and the 2nd Empire there has been little to no appetite for monarchy to return in France beyond a few crazed loonies.
- I am sorry, but walking property of French feudals wasn't part of French nation.
  That aside, kingly blood from year 987 has, due to arithmetics of human procreation, gotten into most people from European countries by now. So technically a modern Frenchman can associate with a king of France from 1000 years ago, if they want that. Just doesn't make much sense.
  XIX century romanticism is the problem. Everyone has learned of their nation's long and mythologized history because of that. Everyone believes that, which to an extent makes that real. Sibelius' music, Goethe's poetry, Vasnetsov's paintings, whatever. Strong aesthetic and symbolic. While German national-socialists kinda made too much of this distasteful, they've also made new things that came before them seem old and good. And by comparison more real.
  If we do direct continuations, the US can do that with England.
- Even more than that, the nations of rhe western hemisphere have an unusual history, because they have an actual recorded starting point. Many countries have a history that goes back to before recorded history, fading into myth.
  But in 1492, more or less, suddenly there was this brand new land mass to settle, and the major western powers immediately started to claim it. A new population developed over many generations, for well over 200 years, with no real connections to Europe, other than political, and that distant rule began to chafe. Eventually they revolted and established a brand new nation, something that was a nearly non-existent concept to nations that had been established since before recorded time.
  The European powers be like "What are you talking about, starting your own country? That's not how it's done." And the Colonies be like "Yeah? Watch us."
  As an American, its wild to see things in other countries that are hundreds, or even thousands of years old, when almost nothing in America is older than about 300 years.
  
  Man, you should try being an aussie. We're simultaneously a glint in Britain's eye and old as balls
  My country is technically 124 years old, i live walking distance from a goddamn seven thousand year old farm
  
  There is stuff older than 300 years but they mostly were destroyed by the settlers
- So the average American sees their entire history as starting at 1776
  Well yeah. That's kind of the way words work. Of course there was history before that with England. Which had history before them from France, German, Rome, etc. If we, US people, are talking about before 1776 with the colonies, that time is generally referred to as "Colonial History"
  When the French stopped being a monarchy, it's gov't changed, the rules of law changed, it was effectively a different country. If a group of friends play football, then the next time they play basketball, they are playing different sports. Same people though.
- While the state of France goes back to the Franks under king Childerich in the late 400s, the modern nation of France evolved during the French revolution and the Napoleonic era.
  The very idea of "nation" as a political entity build upon ethnicity instead of loyality to a ruler is younger than 250 years, so technically the claim that the US is one of the oldest, if not the oldest nation in the world is correct. I doubt though that the person OP quoted is aware of the meaning of the word nation other than a synonym for country.
- I'd give as start dates for France either the kingdom of Clovis or the treaty of Verdun of 843. 987 was just a dynastic switch: different ruling dynasty, but it was the same country before and after imo.

Rome lasted for 2,000 years because I consider the Byzantines as true Romans.
- So did they, "byzantine empire" is a modern conceit
- Depending on who you ask, some might even say that Rome still IS
  ROMA INVICTA
  
  There is an island in the Aegean where they identified as Roman until 1912

France, Switzerland, england, bavaria, brandenburg, vatican, spain, netherlands, denmark, sweden, portugal
I could go on and on
- A ha ha ha ha Sweden is fouded in 1994 🤣😂 ouch my stomach hurts! What the hell 😁 I mean at least make it 1894 or something.
  I don't remember anything special in 94?? Maybe we got a borglig regering? But with that logic the USA is only some months old lol.
- San Marino
- vatican
  I'll spot you at least a few of these. But the Vatican was incorporated in 1929 precisely because they needed to delineate between the Italian city of Rome and the Bishopry of the Catholic Church. Italy wasn't a fully unified country until about a decade earlier.
  
  It was a fully unified country way before 1929, unless you are counting Alto Adige and Trieste as conditio sine qua non to have a fully unified Italy, which I wouldn't.
  As for the Vatican situation, the Italian kingdom completely conquered and annexed the papal state in 1870 (Breccia di Porta Pia).
  In 1929 the Pope formed an alliance with Mussolini to get a state in exchange for the approval of the fascist government from the Church (and other stuff, but that's the gist of it)
- Arguably, I believe America is the oldest constitutional nation.
  
  Even british constitutionalism is older
  
  well that ended pretty recently unfortunately
  
  That would be San Marino.
  
  San Marino had a constitution in 1600, was a republic a lot longer than that, and it's still an independent republic. So it's very arguable
  
  most other countries still have their constitution though
- Anything outside of Europe?
  
  Japan, tibet, mongolia, iran, ethiopia, mali, kongo, thailand
- I feel this isn't quite the same though. When a country has a complete change in politics/ruling of the nation, then it really isn't the same country anymore. (French Revolution ending in 1799 shouldn't be still considered the same country, even though the name is the same. England still allowed the royal family to have power over the people and politics until 1957 so wasn't a "full" democracy, Bavaria I became part of Germany in 1949, etc....) The US has for its entire time listed has always been an elected government that followed the constitution, meaning it's been the same country.
  
  Total rubbish. In the 1700s only landowners could vote. Truly universal suffrage wasn't enshrined until 1965, so by your reckoning America is only 60 years old.
  Changes of government don't mean an entirely new country, there's continuity like how France refers to the 1st republic or the current 5th republic. It's still France.
  
  So you mean the usa never modernise? Checks out...
  
  You are basing that on the Constitution, which has changed considerably over America's history.
  
  You're talking about "a country", the guy in the OP talks about "a nation". Pretty vast difference between the two.
  
  You're entirely right but Bavaria became a part of Germany in 1871.

You guys think it's bad reading all this online?
Try living here...
- I bet outside of the US they have a very different perspective of what it's like living here right now.
  Specifically, the fact that things like some of our largest protests ever aren't even being covered inside the states. There are huge public displays thousands and thousands of people being completely ignored by media. I wonder what else we're not being allowed to see here.
  
  I've been saying this right from the beginning, but this is a war on information.
  Felon 45 and the right are going to do everything they possibly can to make sure word doesn't get out

Man, imagine being so fucking dense you literally ignore the nation that created yours, which is still around. Inglun? Wazzat?
- About 15 years ago, I got to go on a road trip across the states. 6 weeks, driving from east coast to west coast.
  On more than one occasion, when we were inevitably asked where we were from and dutifully replied "England.", we were met with utterly blank stares.
  "Uhhhhhhhh, Engerland?" "You mean New England? Never met anyone from there before..."
  "No, England. Old England. The original England, capital city, London. That England."
  "London? That's just north of here... I don't get it."
  I swear, the sheer ignorance and lack of basic understanding of the geography of our world was fucking staggering in some places. Not always the armpit of nowhere "towns" either.
  
  I got asked what state New Zealand was in. I felt my American tour had been worth it at that point.
  
  I have had exactly the same experience. "Where's England?".... "Errrrmmm, Europe...?"
  You know the language you're speaking? It's from there.
  
  I'm not saying this didn't happen. But as an American myself, I find this bizarre. I was born and raised in Texas, and I can't recall ever meeting someone who didn't know what England is. Though I guess if you are visiting from England, the topic is more likely to come up.
  I'm also convinced that every country has absolute morons within their populations. Our American morons are just louder than most.
  
  I wonder what i would get if i say my region
  
  The first part is believable, you are talking straight out of your ass for the second. No one, not even the most inbred, hillbilly, hicks, would think "USA" when they hear "London".
  And before anyone starts with "well there are lots of stupid people in the world, I can see this happening" no you fucking can't. Because NO ONE would associate London with the US rather than the UK.

the u.s. is 'young', relative to the world stage, this is true; but its constitution is among the oldest in the world.. and it is starting to show its age.
- Yeah, this is a misunderstanding among conservatives. Our legal system and government structure is woefully outdated, but our country is really young.
  It's like a teen athlete being really proud that he has the oldest sneakers of all the competitors.
  
  Worse, it's like a teen athlete being really proud that he has the world record for best stickballer, so he drops out of school to play stickball full time.
  Then when everybody else wants to play an actual sport with actual rules where people wear helmets and don't die, suddenly the teen starts starts swinging his stick through people's windows and at people's heads.
- It was "showing its age" a not long after it was made. Two years later the French based their first written constution on the US one. Then other nations followed suit over the years and wanted their own, and they already thought the French one was the better option as a starting point.
  
  In fairness, given that the French are currently on their fifth attempt at a republic, the other nations were arguably wrong.
- Because other countries modernize it. Well America worships it as a god. Even though it has been changed before.
- Constitutionalism is a new idea. Pioneered by America. Of course America will have the oldest until it collapses.
  
  England? If we talk about nations that became part of other nations, venice, lots of former city states in germany are even older

It probably has a more stable foundation too!

Holy fuck. I can't tell if they are a troll or not. Reading that is infuriatingly stupid. No wonder America is in the shemozzle it is now, this idiocy and lack of critical thinking is far too common over there!
- That's by design. The Republican Party has actively, deliberately suppressed the teaching of Critical Thinking in schools.
- Pleak times for being a troll. Nobody understands anymore if you are only dumb or provoking.

I've also heard the right say that America is the best and youngest country. Like they seriously think they are the most recent country to be formed.
They also think that America is #1 despite being the "youngest" makes them even extra good.
- Americans don't have the mental capacity to look beyond their borders.
  
  Only a few do, usually CEOs looking to exploit more people
  
  Unless they're looking to conquer their closest (ex) ally, of course.

This isn't a facepalm. As any red-blooded American knows, the only country worth mentioning is America. Since all countries of note were founded after America, this OP is correct.
- LoL. There was a comment today from somebody (in Canada) that mentioned "the time in Canada" as if there weren't multiple provinces in different time zones.
  Self-centered exceptionalism isn't just an American thing, though they may be louder about it in many cases.
  
  When it comes to self-centered exceptionalism, USA is #1!
- So, Ireland is of note, but England isn't?
  
  Culturally, Ireland is of great importance to the US. From the humble shamrock shake, all the way up to Lucky Charms, we owe a lot of debt to Ireland.
  Meanwhile, we'll never forgive England for the Boston Tea Party. Look at how few Americans drink tea to this day and you'll see the level of contempt.
  
  I grieve for the death of sarcasm.

So, yeah, that first person is a dumb-ass, but that second comment doesn't really prove anything. I live in a 400 year-old town in this 250 year-old country,
- Yeah, we have bars in the USA that predate the founding of the country as well. White Horse Tavern in Newport, Rhode Island had been operating since 1673.
  
  Yeah, I'm in Massachusetts, and you can drive to any town on the North Shore and find houses with plaques dating them to the late-sixteen or early-seventeen hundreds. They're not even landmarks, they're just someone's house.
  
  Jean Lafitte in Exile. Oldest gay bar in the US, formed long before the US existed.
- The Roman Empire lasted for 1000 years. Ancient Egypt lasted 3100 years. Sumer lasted 4000 years. 250 years is a piss in the ocean near those.
- The first statement is just so stupid, the second is just a dunk because it didn't need to be rebutted.

'In the UK, 100 kilometers is a long way. In the USA, 100 years is a long time.'
- In the UK we have to ask what that is in miles.
  
  About 62-63, not really that many.

Remember the time we stumbled on an old local church with an American coworker. Yes dude, that thing was over 500 years old when Columbus discovered your continent, allegedly.
- Columbus didn't even travel to north america, he went to middle- and south america :D
  
  And he didn't discover shit. He was a bloody wanker and we should all just forget about him
  
  Everything north of the Darien Gap is considered NA.

There's a restaurant near me that's been in business since 1472.
They went bankrupt in 2023. Weird kind of feel.
- Man, the final owner of the business must have some interesting feelings being the one that drove it into the ground after 550 years.
  
  They survived the Black Plague and the Spanish Flu, but Covid did them in.
  
  ~~Didn't realise we're living in 2225 already, damn~~
  Edit: math no longer adds up to 2225 ad after op edited year to 1472 ad.
- My court house and my apartment building are older than America xD
  
  Some American buildings are older than America xD
- The Hudson Bay Company was founded in 1670 and went bankrupt this year. To think a company that indirectly formed an entirely new culture 300 years ago is now going under is wild to me.
  
  I think it's a shame. It did some awful things in its early years, and it was mismanaged lately. But, I wish there had been a way to allow it to continue to exist as a business, even if it was just a single store and more museum than business. Who knows, maybe it could have had a renaissance at some point. Now it's just something in the history books as one of the longest-lived companies.
  
  HBC was effectively a "country" for a good chunk of time as well. It had full autonomous control of the land, it's own 'government', provided public services, policing, and it's own military.

Even ignoring how obviously wrong this is about how old other countries are, America turns 250 in 2026 not 2025 lol
- I know this not because I paid attention in history class, but because I played Fallout 76 where the vault dwellers celebrate America's Tricentennial before leaving the vault and find it a wasteland.
  
  Bicentennial Quarters anyone? 1776-1976.
  Be right back, those kids are on my lawn again.
- They're not being precise with their language, but their point is largely true. What they really mean is that the US has the oldest still active Constitution in the world. The UK has existed in a continuous government for far longer, but they don't have a written Constitution like the US does.
  Yeah, it's easy to shit on Americans about being ignorant of history. But this person's point is largely true. The US has had the same constitution in effect for nearly 250 years. It is the oldest written constitution on Earth still in effect. Most nations have revolutions or complete rewrites of their foundational legal documents long before they reach this point.
  And this is also why the US has such political instability right now. We have a Constitution that was written for the needs of 250 years ago. It was formed from a series of compromises that made sense in the politics of 250 years ago. At this point, we really should scrap it entirely and start from scratch. Having the world's oldest Constitution really isn't something worth bragging over; it just means you're running obsolete software.
  
  What they really mean is that the US has the oldest still active Constitution in the world. The UK has existed in a continuous government for far longer, but they don’t have a written Constitution like the US does.
  Even if that is what they meant, and even if the UK doesn't count for whatever reason, this would still be incorrect. The constitution of San Marino dates from 1600.
  
  I'm all for giving people the benefit of doubt, but no. They don't "really mean" that, otherwise they would have written "constitution" somewhere, and not wrote "has had" when they mean "currently active".
  It's possible they misremembered someone who had a point, true, but they do not.
  
  Does a constitution define what a nation is?
  
  And this is not even true as there have been change. Black people where a quarter of a person at one point. Women couldn't vote. So to say the US has had the same law for 250 years is also bullshit.
  
  The UK dates back to 1801, when the parliaments of Scotland and Ireland were abolished and the UK Parliament established.
- There's a difference between turning 250 and the 250th year, the latter being what was referenced. One year after a baby is born, they "turn one" for their first birthday; but the moment they're born, it's their first year since we don't start counts on zero (yes, I know, unless you're a computer—insert canned laughter).
  You're right that America would turn 250 in 2026, but OP's meme is correct in that they started the count on one, inclusively.

Bro he could've done a single online search and disproved himself in literal seconds.
- Freedom of expression has morphed into freedom of stupidity.
  
  freedom to flaunt stupidity even.

Yea there are a few buildings in my area that have been there for more than 250 years.

I dunno, I'm pretty sure Japan is older.
- Depends what you define as nation. Modern day Japan is only 157 years old since the Meiji Restoration started in 1868.
  Like the US will still exist after the American empire collapses but sure as hell not in it’s current form.
  
  Then the US can only count since the civil war 🤷‍♂️ Or maybe since Hawaii's invasion (1959).
  
  You could argue that modern Japan only exists since WWII. The major changes required after losing in WWII majorly changed the country.
  You could also argue that the US is a new nation since the Civil War, so it's 160ish years old. If you ignore the civil war, what about when various states were added? Does the fact they were added gradually rather than all at once mean it's the same country? It's hard to argue that a country that was founded on the idea that all land-owning white males should get to vote is really the same as one that in 2022 believed that any citizen of any race or sex over the age of 18 should get a vote. Though, I suppose in some ways 2025 USA is showing it's still the same country as 1776 USA.
  It's all pretty arbitrary though. What defines the start and end of a country? Does changing names count? Does changing borders? How radically does a government have to change to mean it's a new country? How radically do founding documents need to be changed? I guess it's the Country of Theseus. When is it no longer the same one?
  
  I don't consider different eras as different nations though. I think that's splitting too many hairs. I see a nation as a country that is generally united and governed by a leading entity.
  Going back to the Japan example, I would consider them a nation when all the clans were united under one rule. Same with UK, India, Thailand etc.
  
  It's going to be turned into a Dave and busters.

It is wild to me how Americans forget that they built their "nation" upon the genocide of earlier (first) nations, which were there for thousands of years.
- Not really. The logic is attempting to draw a distinction between nations, kingdoms, and tribes, among other things, with emphasis on continuity in governance. So France isn't the same nation between the Revolution and the Napoleonic Empire, or after a dynasty change.
  The interjection is pointless towards their argument because it doesn't understand the "logic" and is wrong in its own way.
  His problem is that, as a truly stupid person, he isn't aware that the point he is trying to make is one reserved specifically for democracies, not nations, and is still wrong. The Roman Republic lasted for 482 years, just to start with the most famous "democratic" example, and Japan's government could be argued to have lasted 2,600 years depending on how much credit you want to give the mythological founding of their imperial family.
  Further, the modern form of the United Kingdom government was founded in 1707. There have been changes, obviously, especially in the power balance between Lords and Commons, but the Acts of Union created what is indisputably a modern concept of nation and government.
  
  Confederations of indigenous tribes qualify as nations by any reasonable definition. Most were democracies. Some still exist as sovereign democratic nations today.
  
  The UK was founded in 1707. The British crown family is even older than that.
- Genocide has been a frequent practice for thousands of years, ever since the standard social unit was the tribe and one tribe would massacre another. Whole populations have been "put to the sword". The Americas are probably the largest single area, but if you really knew your history it would seem just as wild that Europeans and others around the world have forgotten about this.
  
  Not as frequent as you claim. Many empires conquered foreign lands without genocide.
  
  Americans were straight up humane in their genocide vs. historical examples. Hell, I'd say Israel is doing worse today, not even pretending to make treaties, move people about, nothing.

Does this person not understand how dates work?
- This person doesn't understand how books work. Calendars & history? doubt....
- I assume they are talking about the US government being one of the longest running continuous systems of government.
  
  Even that isnt true.
  If we talk overall after 0 AD then the HRE would probably take the reign If overall with no time, egypts, inka and romans probably will top that(i have no idea how old the inkas are)
  
  Let us never change! /s

The 250 year thing is basically complete BS

Even if this were true, this would be anthropic reasoning, which is always suspect. The belief that the present, the here and now, cannot be exceptional will always overlook examples where it is exceptional.
We live in interesting times.

China: lol, lmao
- China, also: your dynasty is closing in on 300 years, huh? Good luck!
- "lol" —Mao
  
  Laughing out loud my ass off
- The nation which hasn't existed as it currently is for even 100 years yet (and is already falling apart)?
  China didn't just lose who they used to be, they deliberately murdered their old nation.
- The People's Republic of China will be 76 years old this October.
  The OP is wrong because there are a few existing nations older than 250 years, but there aren't many of them. As far as countries go, the United States is over the hill.
  
  Its nonsense. China as a national and cultural entity is not 76 years old. Changing constitutions does not make it a different country, it is only americans who adhere to that belief system because their country didnt exist prior to their constitution.

Dumb people hear something, misunderstand it, and repeat an incorrect version with authority and without any critical thinking. I'm sure this person heard that the US is the oldest existing democracy. The next oldest, depending on the criteria you use, is probably Switzerland at 175+ years. But does this person really think that the US has existed longer than, say, the ancient Egyptians, the Ottomans, the Byzantines, etc.?
- The oldest existing democracy is Iceland depending on how you define democracy. But that was around 930 ad and had free men participating in making laws
  
  depending on how you define democracy.
  This part of your comment seems to be doing a lot of heavy lifting.
  According to the ancient manuscript Landnámabók, the settlement of Iceland began in 874 AD, when the Norwegian chieftain Ingólfr Arnarson became the island's first permanent settler.[15] In the following centuries, Norwegians, and to a lesser extent other Scandinavians, immigrated to Iceland, bringing with them thralls (i.e., slaves or serfs) of Gaelic origin. The island was governed as an independent commonwealth under the native parliament, the Althing, one of the world's oldest functioning legislative assemblies. After a period of civil strife, Iceland acceded to Norwegian rule in the 13th century. In 1397, Iceland followed Norway's integration into the Kalmar Union along with the kingdoms of Denmark and Sweden, coming under de facto Danish rule upon its dissolution in 1523. The Danish kingdom introduced Lutheranism by force in 1550,[16] and the Treaty of Kiel formally ceded Iceland to Denmark in 1814.
  Influenced by ideals of nationalism after the French Revolution, Iceland's struggle for independence took form and culminated in the Danish–Icelandic Act of Union in 1918, with the establishment of the Kingdom of Iceland, sharing through a personal union the incumbent monarch of Denmark. During the occupation of Denmark in World War II, Iceland voted overwhelmingly to become a republic in 1944, ending the remaining formal ties to Denmark. Although the Althing was suspended from 1799 to 1845, Iceland nevertheless has a claim to sustaining one of the world's longest-running parliaments. Until the 20th century, Iceland relied largely on subsistence fishing and agriculture. Industrialization of the fisheries and Marshall Plan aid after World War II brought prosperity, and Iceland became one of the world's wealthiest and most developed nations. In 1950, Iceland joined the Council of Europe.[17] In 1994 it became a part of the European Economic Area, further diversifying its economy into sectors such as finance, biotechnology, and manufacturing.
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iceland
  
  And how you define nation/country. You could say the Isle of Mann, but it probably doesn't meet the definition.
- Those are not nations in the modern sense. Modern Turkey and Egypt have only been around since after WWI. Byzantium hasn't been a nation since they were conquered by the Ottomans.
  
  The post doesn't say existing nations, it says there has never been one longer than 250 years.
- If a country has ethnic/lingual, racial, gender/sexual, or wealth requirements is it really a democracy?
  I'm not convinced that the USA was a democracy prior to 1964.
  
  When Greeks invented the term they stipulated only free men were able to vote. So depending on how you want to look at it, any country that allows free men to vote is a democracy. We've (modern people) just updated the terms of service to suit our current version of morality. We might decide our thinking outdated and misguided in the next 250 years and change things again. Hell we might even give trans people, women and people of colour equal rights to white men, you know, like legal protections and such. We might not try to suppress their votes... idk has anything actually changed since 1964 or did Americans just visit the moon?
  
  In that case there wasn't any democracy up until maybe 100 years ago (no clue what country first ticked all the boxes, or when)
- The US didnt become a democracy until the civil rights act in 1964.
- US is the oldest existing democracy
  It is not. Not a democracy, at least in its modern sense.
  
  It wasn't one back then either. Women and black people weren't allowed to vote from the start.

My country is 900 years old and my people has inhabited these lands before the romans ever dreamed of set foot here.
That is plain ignorance.
- And how long has your current form of governance been in play? Money says not 250 years.
  
  That is not what defines its existence as a country though. If so then the US only dates to the 1990s with its latest constitutional amendment.
  
  Are we speaking of government or established nation with defined borders in the original post?
  As I understand it, it is refering to nation, not government.
  
  sure, but the person in the OP is foolishly conflating nations and states

Because the concept of a nation state is not much older, no? American Independence and French Revolution were among the first movements.
Isn't it kinda interesting, that the first nation is still a thing? France is in it's 5th iteration.
- The concept of countries, which is what this is about, are a lot older.

How many different countries has your pub survived?

Idiot

Colloseum: Am I joke to you?

I'm pretty sure the Scandinavian countries are older than counting years with four digits.
- Sweden has technically only existed since 1523 when we got our independance from Denmark. Norway has been under both Sweden and Denmark for numerous years until 1905 when the Swedish-Norwegian union ended. Denmark on the other hand has existed atleast since 863 as that is the first time it is mentioned. So it depends on how you count.
  
  Oh those fucking danes, must always beat us :-/ waves swedish flag 😥
  /jk
  🇸🇪❤️🇩🇰

brazil is 500 and something

To be fair, it's easier to manage a pub than a whole country.

c/shitamericanssay
- You can link to communities like this: !shitamericanssay@lemmy.world
  
  I wasn't aware there was one 😂

nation is a construct based on race and culture. nation is artificial, think it like a club. if you have a citizenship means you are included to nation but it doesnt mean to you are a part of race or culture. for more reading like there is a science branch called sociology!
- Social science. Nothing written there is accepted as facts.
  There's plenty of areas in this world where multi cultural people live with eachother and view eachother of the same nationality.
  USA is probably the best example of this, because it lacks an original culture.
  But I gotta admit, it's difficult to convince lots of diaspora that they are Belgian even though they are fucking born here lol
  
  you commented like you didn't read half of my comment, again "nation" is construct if you keep using as term "race" it will keep confusing too. humans understands on naming on classification if you always act relative or mix terms all around we cant have a conversation, i am not saying accept my "terms" but we need to have a base or fundamental to speak or understand each other

The beginning of egypt is further away to its end than today is from its end
- True but ancient Egypt wasn't one long running state; it was a bunch of different states that rose and fell not unlike China.

Honest to god thought this was a Trump quote or some shit. Like read it in his voice and everything.
Are we sure he hasn't said this?

if there weren't people dumb enough to genuinely believe that the earth is flat, then i would assume it was a troll post.
but here we are...

If I assume by the word "Pub" that they are in the UK, their country has only existed for 103 years. Obviously, that doesn't mean the end of the people, or the pubs, just the end of that system of government and/or territorial border.
There's no shame in it. Constitutions and bills of rights need to be updated as people become more enlightened and civilized. The US would certainly be better off if it had had more constitutional amendments over these 250 years. Maybe then it wouldn't need a revolution.
- If you're going to count every little border change, then the US is only 66 years old - Alaska and Hawaii joined in 1959. If you're going to count every little constitutional revision, then the US is only 33 - the 27th amendment was finally ratified only in 1992.
- Mate, the UK has existed for a touch over 103 years.
  
  Depends on what you are counting as the start and end of a country like ours. In our current state/make up of countries, it's 103 years, when the Irish Free State left in 1922.
  
  The UK of GB and NI is presumably what they're referring to. Whether or not you count changing territory and name as the beginning or end of a nation is subjective, I guess
  
  In its current form, since 1922. The UK was created in 1801, so is 25 years younger than the US.
- JFC American education system
  
  Reading through these comments it isn't just the American education system. There's seemingly very few people in here with the understanding that Country and Nation are not full synonyms. The former is primarily about the age of a central government while the latter is mostly about shared culture and language.
  So yes, the original tweet or whatever is ignorant but so are most of these comments...even the ones being made by non-Americans.
- England Wales and Scotland are countries which are a lot older. Your semantics isnt really reflective of the truth