List of Sovereign States By Date of Formation - Sortable List

Sortable List

In this list, "date of last subordination" refers to the last date of control by an external government. In some cases this is the same as the date of independence marking decolonization or dissolution of a political union. In other cases, a sovereign state submitted to foreign military occupation or political subjugation for a period of time and later regained its independence.

Dates refer to de facto rule or occupation of the major territory, whether or not legitimized by international recognition.

In a union such as Czechoslovakia, the Soviet Union, or the Kalmar Union, one of the constituents can be considered the dominant power – generally where the seat of government was located. The United Kingdom is a particularly complicated case. If England is viewed as the dominant member, then history can be traced from Roman conquest, Saxon invasions, 10th century unification, and 1066 Norman Conquest before the union of England and Scotland in 1707. However, if viewed from a Scottish perspective, an unbroken history of sovereignty can be traced from 843 unification through 1707 union with England (with a brief annexation by England 1657–1660). Some Scots view the 1707 union as a ceding of sovereignty to England.