After all the options, it seems that China has the upper-edge taking all into account.
If you’re talking about which county has a governmental structure which has stayed in place the longest without discontinous change (i.e. conquest or a revolution), then I think the answer is England (starting with the Glorious Revolution of 1689), followed by the US (1789). Though I suppose some nitpickers might set the clock ticking on the US only in 1864, on account of that little disagreement between North and South.
(Of course, I’m ignoring the San Marinos and Andorras of the world … yes, I know, size discrimination)
If you define “nation” as a combination of geography and culture, not a government, I’d second the vote for China as the oldest. The cultural links to the ancient past in Eygpt and Persia have been shattered by the introduction of Islam if nothing else. (It remains to be seen whether the introduction of communism to China is a similar break with the past, or just a temporary phase like the reign of the monotheistic phaoah Ankenaten in Eygpt.)
What about Switzerland or Thailand? Any possibilities there?
Thailand is much younger than cultures like Japan and China. The Thai started organizing themselves into chieftancies along the Mekong in the 11th-12th century C.E… The kingdom of Ayyuthia itself dates to roughly the 13th. The present dynasty to the 18th century.
The first three cantons of Switzerland confederated about the same time ( 1291 C.E. ). But the nation of Switzerland wasn’t formerly declared until 1648 ( though it had obviously been a de facto independant state for centuries at that point ).
- Tamerlane
United Kingdom – dates in its present form to 1922, continuous government in the same general form since 1707. (“England” has not been an independent country since that date, when it merged with Scotland.)
Ireland – republic since 1947, independent under the same actual form of government though officially a dominion in the Commonwealth (ignored by the governments of the day) since 1922
Norway – independent 1907
Sweden – under the same form of government (constitutional monarchy, with five basic ground laws = constitutional documents dating from 1820s to 1980s) since about 1620
Finland – independent 1918
Belarus, Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania – independent 1991
Russia – part of Soviet Union until 1991
Poland – independent 1946; significant change in government 1989
Germany – reunited 1991
Netherlands – under current constitutional monarchy since 1815
Belgium – under current constitutional monarchy since 1830
Luxembourg – separated from Netherlands in 1889
France – adopted current constitution in 1958
Spain – constitutional monarchy since 1975
Italy – republic 1946
Switzerland – adopted current government about 1848
Austria – independent republic 1945
Czech Republic – separated from Czechoslovakia in 1991
Slovakia – separated from Czechoslovakia in 1991
Hungary – independent 1918, numerous changes in government with the most recent 1991
Romania – independent 1878, numerous changes in government with the most recent 1991
Bulgaria – independent 1878, numerous changes in government with the most recent 1991
Albania – independent 1945
Slovenia – independent 1991
Bosnia and Herzegovina – independent 1991
Croatia – independent 1991
Yugoslavia – under current form of government since 1945; area drastically reduced in 1991
Greece – adopted current form of government in 1967
Turkey – significant changes in government since overthrow of Ottoman Empire in 1922; date for most recent change not on hand
Syria – separated from United Arab Republic in 1961
Lebanon – independent under current government since 1941
Israel – independent under current government since 1948
Jordan – independent under current government since late 1940s
Iraq – numerous changes in government since independence ca. 1932
Iran – covered by Tamerlane above
Egypt – current form of government dates to 1956
Libya – several changes since independence in 1951
Tunisia – under current form of government since independence in 1956
Morocco – separated from Ottoman Empire in early 1800s; under French and Spanish protectorates between ca. 1890 and 1956; under current form of government since separation from Ottomans
Japan – U.S. occupation ended ca. 1953; constitutional monarchy (with numerous changes) since “time immemorial”
Australia – commonwealth established 1901
Canada – adopted new constitution in late 1900s; has been under same general form of government since 1867
U.S.A. – under same constitution and form of government since 1789
Brazil – under numerous constitutions and regimes since throwing out Emperors in 1889
China – People’s Republic in control of present territory 1949
India – became republic 1950
Pakistan – independent nation 1947, republic shortly thereafter
Siam – freed from Japanese occupation 1945
Burma – republic 1948; numerous changes in government since
Viet Nam – present government established in north in 1954, occupied whole country 1975
Cambodia – any opinions on whether it actually has a government?
(All of this leads me to conclude that I’m older than the present regimes of most of the countries on Earth!)
I’ll add that this was after the attempted conquest of Siam by Burma under the Toungoo dynasty. The Burmese sacked Ayutthia in 1767 and effectively terminated that kingdom, but the interregnum was very brief. I’m not sure it would be considered a material breach as the Burmese never really established firm control and by the 1770’s were in retreat.
- Tamerlane
Disagree :). Far as I know, Morocco was never formerly ( or even de facto ) a part of the Ottoman empire. They were the one area of North Africa that escaped vassalization. The current Alawi dynasty dates to 1640.
- Tamerlane
BTW, Ethiopia is ruled out by the Italian occupation 1935-41 and the drastic change in government in the early 1970s.
Here we go:
Tunisia was taken in 1574, but Ottoman attempts to impose suzerainty on Morocco were defeated. The Ottoman advance into Morocco was checked by the emergence of a strong Moroccan state and the restored balance of Power between the Ottomans and the Hapsburgs of Spain. The Hapsburg-Ottoman peace of 1580 allowed Morocco to exist as a buffer state between the great Mediterranean empires.
From A History of Islamic Civilizations by Ira Lapidus ( 1988, Cambridge University Press ), pg. 398.
- Tamerlane
Eh, I’d consider that a minor blip. Same dynasty and even king was restored to power afterwards.
But I have to agree this was pretty major break.
- Tamerlane
Arguing that the former was just a “minor blip” (per Tamerlane), is the latter really a disqualifier? After all, it was a country called Ethiopia that occupied the same territory both before and after the change in government–and is the OP asking which is the oldest country, or which is the oldest country with a continuous regime? (I should ask: does a radical change in regime make it a “new” country?)
My 5-yr old son is hanging over my shoulder insisting that I use a smilie. For him, I will now post my first (and last?) intentional smilie: 
Polycarp, aren’t you setting the bar kind of high for what constitutes the “same country”? I mean, France became a different country in 1958 with the cinquième république? If it wasn’t France before that, what was it, pâté de foie gras?
No. I identified nations by date of separate independence in my list, but also took into account the point made by brianmelendez in the second post to this thread:
Hence I had two or several dates for a number of nations – the point at which they became a separate nation, and the point from which they had the same general form of government. E.g., Switzerland – the Dreiwaldkantonen have been independent of other nations since 1291 (Noodles will no doubt link to his namesake in this regard) and were joined in the Confederatio Helvetica by other cantons in an ongoing process until 1815, but the current Federal structure with distinct cantons under a strong Federal government dates to only 1848 or so. The Knights of Malta have been around since the time of the Crusades, but having been in possession of Cyprus, Malta, St. Croix, and various other pieces of land and now occupying a villa in suburban Rome at the sufferance of the Italian government hardly makes them “a separate nation under the same government since 1097” (or whatever date is accurate).
I would say that that’s at most a change of borders, not a change of government. The northern states kept with the same government, both at the beginning and end of the war. And if changes of borders disqualify a country, then I think that we’re going to have a very difficult time finding any contenders.