From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a list of all present countries of Europe, sorted by their date of independence or creation.
Note: List is still incomplete.
| Date of Independence |
Country |
Mode of creation and predecessors |
| 301 |
San Marino |
S: Roman Empire [1] |
| 681 |
Bulgaria |
M: Bulgars and Slavic tribes |
| 812 |
Serbia |
M: Serbs formed their first unified state under the Vlastimirovic dynasty by 812 |
| 843 |
France |
D: Frankish Kingdom |
| 843 |
Scotland |
M: Dál Riata and the Pictish kingdom (forming the Kingdom of Scotland) |
| 860 |
Russia |
M: emerged as Novgorod principality ruled by Rurik who further extended his power to Kievan Rus in the area populated by East Slavic and local Finno-Ugric tribes |
| 872 |
Norway |
M: Several small kingdoms [2] |
| 9th century |
Ukraine as Kyivan Rus |
M: East slavic tribes [3] |
| 927 |
England |
M: Wessex and other kingdoms of the Heptarchy (forming the Kingdom of England) |
| 950 |
Denmark |
M |
| 966 |
Poland |
M: State of the Polans and surrounding lands [4] |
| 10th century |
Sweden |
M: Viking Göter and Svear tribes [5] |
| 1001 |
Hungary |
M: St. Stephen unifies country |
| 1008 |
Georgia |
M: First unified Georgian Kingdom |
| 1139 |
Portugal |
S: Kingdom of Leon |
| 1042 |
Serbian land as Duklja |
M: State of the Serbs officially unified under the Vojislavljević Dynasty after they defeated the Byzantine Army in the Battle of Bar |
| 1190 |
Serbia as Rascia |
M: State of the Serbs [6] |
| 1278 |
Andorra |
S: France |
| 1297 |
Monaco |
S: Genoa |
| 1330 |
Romanian Land as Wallachia |
M: Several small tribes |
| 1499 |
Switzerland |
S: Holy Roman Empire |
| 1512 |
Spain |
M: Castile and Aragon |
| 1523 |
Sweden |
S: Kalmar Union [7] |
| 1581 |
Netherlands |
S: Spain |
| 1707 |
Great Britain |
M: England and Scotland |
| 1801 |
United Kingdom |
M: Great Britain and Ireland |
| 1806 |
Liechtenstein |
D: Holy Roman Empire [8] |
| 1806 |
Luxembourg |
D: Holy Roman Empire [9] |
| 1814 |
Norway |
S: Kalmar Union [10] |
| 1817 |
Serbia |
S: Ottoman Empire |
| 1828 |
Greece |
S: Ottoman Empire |
| 1830 |
Belgium |
S: Netherlands |
| 1861 |
Italy |
M: Modena and Reggio, Parma, Sardinia, Tuscany, Two Sicilies [11] |
| 1878 |
Romania |
M: Moldavia and Wallachia (unified in 1859) |
| 1905 |
Norway |
S: Personal union with Sweden |
| 1908 |
Bulgaria |
S: Ottoman Empire |
| 1912 |
Albania |
S: Ottoman Empire |
| 1917 |
Finland |
S: Russia |
| 1918 |
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes |
S: Austria-Hungary; M: Serbia, Montenegro |
| 1918 |
Hungary |
S: Austria-Hungary |
| 1918 |
Austria |
S: Austria-Hungary |
| 1918 |
Iceland |
S: Denmark (until 1944 under Danish protectorate) |
| 1918 |
Poland |
S: Austria-Hungary, Germany and Russia |
| 1918 |
Lithuania |
S: Soviet Union |
| 1918 |
Latvia |
S: Soviet Union |
| 1918 |
Estonia |
S: Soviet Union |
| 1918 |
Romania |
M: Romania, Transylvania, Bucovina, Basarabia and Banat |
| 1918 |
Armenia |
D: Russia |
| 1918 |
Ukraine |
D: Russia |
| 1920 |
Republic of Ireland |
S: United Kingdom |
| 1923 |
Turkey |
Ottoman Empire |
| 1929 |
Vatican State |
S: Italy |
| 1944 |
Iceland |
S: Denmark |
| 1949 |
Federal Republic of Germany |
S: Occupied Nazi Germany (reunified with East Germany through annexation in 1990) |
| 1960 |
Cyprus |
S: United Kingdom |
| 1964 |
Malta |
S: United Kingdom |
| 1991 |
Armenia |
D: Soviet Union |
| 1991 |
Azerbaijan |
D: Soviet Union |
| 1991 |
Belarus |
D: Soviet Union |
| 1991 |
Croatia |
D: Yugoslavia |
| 1991 |
Republic of Macedonia |
D: Yugoslavia |
| 1991 |
Georgia |
D: Soviet Union |
| 1991 |
Moldova |
D: Soviet Union |
| 1991 |
Ukraine |
D: Soviet Union |
| 1991 |
Russia |
D: Soviet Union |
| 1991 |
Slovenia |
D: Yugoslavia |
| 1992 |
Bosnia and Herzegovina |
D: Yugoslavia |
| 1993 |
Czech Republic |
D: Czechoslovakia |
| 1993 |
Slovakia |
D: Czechoslovakia |
| 2006 |
Montenegro |
D: Serbia & Montenegro |
| 2006 |
Serbia |
D: Serbia & Montenegro |
| 2008 |
Kosovo |
S: Serbia |
[edit] Explanations
A country can come into existence either by:
- splitting off from one existing country (marked by S in the table), or
- through the merging of several existing countries (M).
- A special case of a split-off is when a federal country dissolves by dividing up into its constituent states (D).
The date of independence of a country is often arguable; independence cannot be defined precisely. Also, whether something is a newly founded country, or whether it is the same as a previously existing one, is often arguable. In general, if a new political entity has mostly the same area as one of its predecessors, it will be considered as the same country as the predecessor.
Times of temporary dependence may present problems. If the dependence on another country is short and the country survives it without major changes in its area and constitution, such as a period of occupation during a war, it will be ignored. Otherwise, the country will be considered a new creation.
This list presents an attempt to give a simple view of a certain aspect of European history. Oversimplifications are unavoidable.
