What nation in the world has never been colonized, conquered, occupied, or governed by an external power -- at least not within the period of its recorded history? In other words, what nation has an uninterrupted history of autonomy? By "nation" I mean a people or a territory.

Thailand had a complicated history during WWII, making some concessions to the Japanese but remaining independent. However, it was conquered by Burma a couple of times in the 1500s and the 1700s.

Iceland?

NN, Iceland was occupied by first the British and then the Americans during WW II.

Geomancer,
Are you looking for the answer to your question?
Or do you already think you know the answer?
If you do, then I would suggest that your question should have been asked in trivia.
If the answer you are looking to hear is Goust, then I think you might find some disagreement with that.

Egypt, perhaps?

Egypt was conquered by Alexander the Great (a nice Macedonian boy), and ruled by the Ptolemy Dynasty (a nice Macedonian family) until the last Ptolomaic ruler Cleopatra (a nice Macedonian girl) fooled around was some Romans and lost Egypt to the Romans. In fact, after the Thirtieth Dynasty (Pharaonic rule, ended about 350 BCE), Egypt was not ruled by Egyptians until the 20th Century. Besides the Macedonians, there were Persians, Ottoman Turks, Romans, the Byzantine Empire, Muslim Arabs, Fatimids (from the present day Algerian-Tunisian area), the Ayyubid dynasty (Kurdish, founded by Sala ah-Din), the French under Napoleon, Albanians (Albanians???), and the English. It wasn't until the 1920s that Egyptians regained control of their own country, after over 2000 years.

Everybody ruled Egypt at one time or another. Greeks, Romans, the Ottoman Empire, Britain...

The United States was never conquered since it declared its independence in 1776. The continent was conquered by Europeans, of course, but the question uses the word 'nation'.

Unless we want to quibble about what constitutes a 'nation'. The montagnards of Viet Nam have never officially been 'conquered', but they live inside the geographic borders of Viet Nam, so practically speaking they're Vietnamese. There are lots of such groups in the world; Indian 'nations' in the Amazon basin , for example.

I think it's fair to ask Geomancer whether this nation is a member of the U.N. That might narrow it down. And yes, it does appear as if this is a trivia question.

Well? How about it? Is it the U.S.?

It was founded by colonies, but was never itself colonized.

It was never conquered.

It was never occupied.

It was never governed by an external power.

It has an uninterrupted history of autonomy.

It is a nation.

quote:

Originally posted by geomancer:
By "nation" I mean a people or a territory.

This makes the problem a little sticky. Many nations were at one time colonized, and that colonization may have involved conquering native people or territories.

The United States, since its formation under the Articles of Confederation and later under the Constitution, would fit the bill. Prior to victory in the American Revolution, it would not.

That's an interesting point, fuse. I think that it was a nation from the date it declared so, in 1776. The British tried to regain it, but failed.

You believe it could not claim to be a nation until its victory in 1783.

I suppose some would say the u.S. was not a nation until it adopted its Articles of Confederation in 1777 and ratified them in 1781, and until its Constitution was adopted in 1787, ratified 1n 1788, and began operations 1n 1789.

I agree the specialized definition of 'nation' is tricky. But we can speak of the people of the U.S. as 'a people', or we can speak of the U.S. as 'a territory'.

At any rate, I think the U.S qualifies now, for the reasons stated by faber.

But I think Dance Girl's hunch was right; geomancer is thinking of Goust.

The USA would be too easy an answer--if you date a nation from its political constitution, you would also have to accept Canada (independent nation since 1867), most nations of South America (independent since early 1800s), most nations of Africa (independent since 1960s), and East Timor (independent since 2002). But all of these nations started out as colonies or possessions of another nation.

I want to know if there is any nation, now independent and generally recognized as such, that has ALWAYS been independent, as far back as records exist. Never an outlying possession of the Roman, British, or other empire; never occupied in WWII; never subject to a foreign monarch.

(P.S.: Until its legal claims wind their way through the obscure bureaucracies of the French, European, and UN judicial systems, Goust will have to remain under the temporary authority of France.)

quote:

Goust will have to remain under the temporary authority of France

Quel dommage.

Since 1066 England would qualify.

China is a candidate, over the long term. Her first Emperor of all China came to power in 212 BC. He united the country but could not a main part claim to have been independent for a very long time, thousands of years, before then?

England qualifies since 1066 but the United Kingdom does not. (Wales lost her independence some 700 years ago and Scotland hers some 300). Adopting that reasoning, could not the same claim of continuity apply to the pre-united China?

I'm tempted to say The Vatican.

The Vatican's claim of uninterrupted self-rule dates from the Lateran Treaty of 1929. After the Italian takeover of the Papal States in 1870, the Holy See had no territorial sovereignty. (For all practical purposes, the Holy See is the Vatican/Vatican City.) If the Vatican counts, then so does Moldava, Uzbekistan, and scores of other nations who have enjoyed self-rule since their last constitution.

China only counts if we use the date of the last constitution. In 1271, Mongol leader Kublai Khan established the Yuan Dynasty, with the last remnant of the Song Dynasty falling to the Yuan in 1279. Thus, China was under Mongol rule for 8 years, with some of China being ruled by Mongols for even longer.

In my opinion, the question needs some definitions to be answered.

quote:

The Vatican's claim of uninterrupted self-rule dates from the Lateran Treaty of 1929.

Well, that seems to fit the parameters of the question.

No, not the papal states because the territory was owned by many peoples and nations before 1929, going back to pre-Roman times; and the people were not a people in the ethnic sense, but a completely artificial coming-together of a bunch of adult males only. (Some women work there, including some nuns, but they commute from Rome daily.)

See, I'm not sure of this point: the problem is not with the answers posted here, but with the question as it was stated:

"What nation in the world has never been colonized, conquered, occupied, or governed by an external power -- at least not within the period of its recorded history? In other words, what nation has an uninterrupted history of autonomy? By "nation" I mean a people or a territory."

First of all, the question "What people in the world have never been conquered or governed by an external power, or what territory has never been colonized or occupied in its recorded history?"

You see the odd effect using 'in other words' ("nation" means "people" or "territory" for the purpose of the question) has on the meaning of the question.

Let's take the second option first: "... what territory has never been colonized or occupied in its recorded history?"

Areas of Antarctica have all been 'claimed' by some country or other, but some areas have only been explored; no one, not even researchers, have colonized or occupied it. The same is true of areas of Greenland, areas of the Amazon Basin.

So the answer is: many, but the number is not known.

To the first question, ""What people in the world have never been conquered or governed by an external power ... in its recorded history?"

For that, you need to define 'people' for the purposes of this question.

Geo, do you mean

-- human beings making up a group or assembly or linked by a common interest(MW), or

-- a body of persons that are united by a common culture, tradition, or sense of kinship, that typically have common language, institutions, and beliefs, and that often constitute a politically organized group (MW), or

-- the body of enfranchised citizens of a state (MW) ?

If the first, then the Vatican would qualify.

If the second, then some of the as yet primitive and untouched tribes of the Amazon basin, or of parts of Micronesia, would qualify.

If the third, then the United States of America would qualify.

Or do you have an eccentric definition for "a people", as you had for 'nation' above?

And you haven't cleared up DanceGirl's question yet: do you think you know the answer, or are you looking for an answer?