Independence Day for Every Country on Earth

Of the 196 countries on Earth, the vast majority became independent after 1800. Only 20 were independent before the start of the 19th century—a mere 10%— and by 1900, only 49 or 25% of the countries of today were independent.

Countries by Independence Date

Here are all the countries in the world, listed in order from the oldest to the youngest. The independence dates are segmented by time period to make finding dates easier.

BC Era to 10th Century

660 BCE: Japan
221 BCE: China
301 CE: San Marino
843 CE: France
976 CE: Austria
10th Century CE: Denmark

1000 to 15th Century

1001: Hungary
1143: Portugal
1206: Mongolia
1238: Thailand
1278: Andorra
August 1, 1291: Switzerland
1419: Monaco
15th Century: Spain

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The World's Newest Countries Since 1990

By Matt Rosenberg

1500 to 1700s

1502: Iran
June 6, 1523: Sweden
January 23, 1579: The Netherlands
1650: Oman
May 1, 1707: The United Kingdom
January 23, 1719: Liechtenstein
1768: Nepal
July 4, 1776: The United States of America

The 1800s

January 1, 1804: Haiti
July 20, 1810: Colombia
September 16, 1810: Mexico
September 18, 1810: Chile
May 14, 1811: Paraguay
July 5, 1811: Venezuela
July 9, 1816: Argentina
July 28, 1821: Peru
September 15, 1821: Costa Rica
September 15, 1821: El Salvador
September 15, 1821: Guatemala
September 15, 1821: Honduras
September 15, 1821: Nicaragua
May 24, 1822: Ecuador
September 7, 1822: Brazil
August 6, 1825: Bolivia
August 25, 1825: Uruguay
1829: Greece
October 4, 1830: Belgium
1839: Luxembourg
February 27, 1844: The Dominican Republic
July 26, 1847: Liberia
March 17, 1861: Italy
July 1, 1867: Canada
January 18, 1871: Germany
May 9, 1877: Romania
March 3, 1878: Bulgaria
1896: Ethiopia
June 12, 1898: The Philippines

1901 to 1949

January 1, 1901: Australia
May 20, 1902: Cuba
November 3, 1903: Panama
June 7, 1905: Norway
September 26, 1907: New Zealand
May 31, 1910: South Africa
November 28, 1912: Albania
December 6, 1917: Finland
February 24, 1918: Estonia
November 11, 1918: Poland
December 1, 1918: Iceland
August 19, 1919: Afghanistan
December 6, 1921: Ireland
February 28, 1922: Egypt
October 29, 1923: Turkey
February 11, 1929: The Vatican City
September 23, 1932: Saudi Arabia
October 3, 1932: Iraq
November 22, 1943: Lebanon
August 15, 1945: North Korea
August 15, 1945: South Korea
August 17, 1945: Indonesia
September 2, 1945: Vietnam
April 17, 1946: Syria
May 25, 1946: Jordan
August 14, 1947: Pakistan
August 15, 1947: India
January 4, 1948: Burma
February 4, 1948: Sri Lanka
May 14, 1948: Israel
July 19, 1949: Laos
August 8, 1949: Bhutan

1951 to 1960

December 24, 1951: Libya
November 9, 1953: Cambodia
January 1, 1956: Sudan
March 2, 1956: Morocco
March 20, 1956: Tunisia
March 6, 1957: Ghana
August 31, 1957: Malaysia
October 2, 1958: Guinea
January 1, 1960: Cameroon
April 4, 1960: Senegal
May 27, 1960: Togo
June 30, 1960: Republic of the Congo
July 1, 1960: Somalia
July 26, 1960: Madagascar
August 1, 1960: Benin
August 3, 1960: Niger
August 5, 1960: Burkina Faso
August 7, 1960: Côte d'Ivoire
August 11, 1960: Chad
August 13, 1960: Central African Republic
August 15, 1960: Democratic Republic of the Congo
August 16, 1960: Cyprus
August 17, 1960: Gabon
September 22, 1960: Mali
October 1, 1960: Nigeria
November 28, 1960: Mauritania

1961 to 1968

April 27, 1961: Sierra Leone
June 19, 1961: Kuwait
January 1, 1962: Samoa
July 1, 1962: Burundi
July 1, 1962: Rwanda
July 5, 1962: Algeria
August 6, 1962: Jamaica
August 31, 1962: Trinidad and Tobago
October 9, 1962: Uganda
December 12, 1963: Kenya
April 26, 1964: Tanzania
July 6, 1964: Malawi
September 21, 1964: Malta
October 24, 1964: Zambia
February 18, 1965: The Gambia
July 26, 1965: The Maldives
August 9, 1965: Singapore
May 26, 1966: Guyana
September 30, 1966: Botswana
October 4, 1966: Lesotho
November 30, 1966: Barbados
January 31, 1968: Nauru
March 12, 1968: Mauritius
September 6, 1968: Swaziland
October 12, 1968: Equatorial Guinea

1970 to 1979

June 4, 1970: Tonga
October 10, 1970: Fiji
March 26, 1971: Bangladesh
August 15, 1971: Bahrain
September 3, 1971: Qatar
November 2, 1971: The United Arab Emirates
July 10, 1973: The Bahamas
September 24, 1973: Guinea-Bissau
February 7, 1974: Grenada
June 25, 1975: Mozambique
July 5, 1975: Cape Verde
July 6, 1975: Comoros
July 12, 1975: Sao Tome and Principe
September 16, 1975: Papua New Guinea
November 11, 1975: Angola
November 25, 1975: Suriname
June 29, 1976: Seychelles
June 27, 1977: Djibouti
July 7, 1978: The Solomon Islands
October 1, 1978: Tuvalu
November 3, 1978: Dominica
February 22, 1979: Saint Lucia
July 12, 1979: Kiribati
October 27, 1979: Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

1980 to Present

April 18, 1980: Zimbabwe
July 30, 1980: Vanuatu
January 11, 1981: Antigua and Barbuda
September 21, 1981: Belize
September 19, 1983: Saint Kitts and Nevis
January 1, 1984: Brunei
October 21, 1986: The Marshall Islands
November 3, 1986: The Federated States of Micronesia
March 11, 1990: Lithuania
March 21, 1990: Namibia
May 22, 1990: Yemen
April 9, 1991: Georgia
June 25, 1991: Croatia
June 25, 1991: Slovenia
August 21, 1991: Kyrgyzstan
August 24, 1991: Russia
August 25, 1991: Belarus
August 27, 1991: Moldova
August 30, 1991: Azerbaijan
September 1, 1991: Uzbekistan
September 6, 1991: Latvia
September 8, 1991: Macedonia
September 9, 1991: Tajikistan
September 21, 1991: Armenia
October 27, 1991: Turkmenistan
November 24, 1991: Ukraine
December 16, 1991: Kazakhstan
March 3, 1992: Bosnia and Herzegovina
January 1, 1993: The Czech Republic
January 1, 1993: Slovakia
May 24, 1993: Eritrea
October 1, 1994: Palau
May 20, 2002: East Timor
June 3, 2006: Montenegro
June 5, 2006: Serbia
February 17, 2008: Kosovo
July 9, 2011: South Sudan