This is a list of oldest people by nation. It includes the individual(s), for each given country, who are reported to have had the longest lifespan. Such records can only be determined to the extent that the given country's records are reliable. Comprehensive birth registration largely came into being in the 20th century; reliable records are therefore fragmentary. The earliest comprehensive recordkeeping systems arose in Europe, in countries such as Sweden and the Netherlands. England and Wales in the United Kingdom organised a central recordkeeping system in 1837 which was made compulsory by 1874.
This list comprises the longest-lived individuals, by country, but only to the extent that their lifespans have been reliably established. Records for both males and females are noted, where known. Similarly, those born in one country who emigrated to another are identified insofar as that information is available. If more than one individual is listed for a given country and gender, it is the result of disputed reports, alternative reports, or a lack of sufficient documentary evidence to make a clear determination. Nations are listed in alphabetical order. Some listed nations were once European colonies (i.e. French Algeria, Spanish Morocco) with the result that their record-keeping systems are more analogous to those of 20th-century Europe than to those of their geographic neighbours.
- For a global overview, see the table of national longevity recordholders and the separate lists of living national longevity recordholders and oldest people by U.S. state.
Read more about List Of Oldest People By Nation: Verified National Longevity Recordholders
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“Thirty—the promise of a decade of loneliness, a thinning list of single men to know, a thinning brief-case of enthusiasm, thinning hair.”
—F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896–1940)
“Hey, you dress up our town very nicely. You don’t look out the Chamber of Commerce is going to list you in their publicity with the local attractions.”
—Robert M. Fresco, and Jack Arnold. Dr. Matt Hastings (John Agar)
“Had I represented twenty thousand voters in Michigan, that political editor would not have known nor cared whether I was the oldest or the youngest daughter of Methuselah, or whether my bonnet came from the Ark or from Worth’s.”
—Susan B. Anthony (1820–1906)
“I don’t have any doubts that there will be a place for progressive white people in this country in the future. I think the paranoia common among white people is very unfounded. I have always organized my life so that I could focus on political work. That’s all I want to do, and that’s all that makes me happy.”
—Hettie V., South African white anti-apartheid activist and feminist. As quoted in Lives of Courage, ch. 21, by Diana E. H. Russell (1989)
“Methinks I see in my mind a noble and puissant nation rousing herself like a strong man after sleep, and shaking her invincible locks. Methinks I see her as an eagle mewing her mighty youth, and kindling her undazzled eyes at the full midday beam.”
—John Milton (1608–1674)