The 10 Greatest Countries in the History of the World
Yeah, we're childish. But these are exactly the kinds of questions that pop into our head all the time -- especially as Cathy is forcing us to watch Extra or somesuch.
So we decided to put this list together and welcome your input. Here are the ground rules:
1. By "countries," we mean current countries based on current boundaries.
2. Any past accomplishments are credited to the current country; modern Iraq, for example, gets credit for Mesopotamia.
3. Seminal achievements score the biggest points; however, some points are deducted for long periods of backwardness.
4. For our descriptions, our own commentary is mixed with direct pulls from Wikipedia in most cases; we didn't demarcate which was which so it would be easier to read. Just assume it's all borrowed if you'd like.
OK, here we go -- the Top 10, starting with the greatest country in the history of the world:
1. Italy. What can we say? Ancient Rome created what we now call "Western society" -- including our laws, our culture and our religion. After Rome fell and Europe spent 1,000 years in darkness, Italy reclaimed it with the Renaissance. To create a civilization is achievement enough -- but to save it 10 centuries later is truly remarkable.
2. United Kingdom. The dominant industrial and maritime power of the 19th century, the United Kingdom is often credited with being the nation that "created the modern world", by playing a leading role in developing Western ideas of property, capitalism, and parliamentary democracy as well as making significant contributions to literature, the arts, and science and technology. At its zenith, the British Empire stretched over one-quarter of the Earth's surface and encompassed a third of its population.
3. United States. The U.S. is, by any measure, the wealthiest, most powerful and most influential country in the history of the world. Only its brief lifespan keeps it from topping the list. Buoyed by victories in World War I and World War II as the only major power not devastated, and especially after the collapse of the Soviet Union following the Cold War, the U.S. has emerged as the world's sole superpower.
4. China. The once and future superpower. China was one of the earliest centers of human civilization. It has one of the world's longest periods of mostly uninterrupted civilization and one of the world's longest continuously used written language systems. Today, it is the likely successor to the United States as the most powerful country in the world.
5. Greece. Regarded as the cradle of western civilization and being the birthplace of modern democracy, Western philosophy, the Olympic Games, Western Literature, Political Science and drama, including both tragedy and comedy, Greece has a very long and remarkably rich history during which its culture has proven to be especially influential in Europe, Northern Africa and the Middle East. Today, Greece is a developed nation, member of the European Union since 1981 and a member of the Eurozone since 2001.
6. Egypt. The regularity and richness of the annual Nile River flood, coupled with semi-isolation provided by deserts to the east and west, allowed for the development of one of the world's great civilizations. A unified kingdom was founded circa 3200 BC by King Narmer, and a series of dynasties ruled in Egypt for the next three millennia. The last native dynasty, known as the Thirtieth Dynasty, fell to the Persians in 343 BC who dug the predecessor of the Suez canal and connected the Red Sea to the Mediterranean. Later, Egypt fell to the Greeks, Romans, and Byzantines. It was the Muslim Arabs who introduced Islam and the Arabic language in the seventh century to the Egyptians, who gradually adopted both. Unfortunately, it's been pretty much downhill since then.
7. Iraq. The Republic of Iraq sits on land that is historically known as Mesopotamia, which was home to some of the world's first civilizations, including the Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian, and Assyrian. These civilizations produced some of the first writing, science, mathematics, law and philosophy in the world, making the region the center of what is commonly called the "Cradle of Civilization". Downhill since then.
8. India. The first known permanent settlements appeared over 9,000 years ago, and gradually developed into the Indus Valley Civilisation, a centre of important trade routes and vast empires. India has long played a major role in human history. Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Ayyavazhi, and Sikhism -- all have their origins in India.
9. Iran. Iran (formerly Persia) has been inhabited by human beings since pre-historic times, centuries before the earliest civilizations arose in nearby Mesopotamia. Following the Islamic conquest of Persia, the country was at the heart of the Islamic Golden Age, especially during the 9th to 11th centuries.
10. Chad.Michel Brunet's 2002 discovery places the origins of humanity here, about six million years ago. Where in Africa life began remains a mystery -- until Brunet, Kenya and Ethiopia were the best theories -- but we'll give Chad credit for being our best guess at the moment.
By our measure, Russia, Japan, France, Germany and a few others just missed out. OK -- who did we miss?
Update: Check out our newest, in honor of Independence Day -- "The 10 Best and Worst Days in the History of the United States."
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Technorati tags: U.K., Italy, Iran, Iraq
posted by Scott Baradell at
6:00 AM
238 Comments:
You've rightly included the United Kingdom in your list, but of course it is made up of separate countries, a principality and some islands. So, I would vote for England (i.e. not Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales etc.) We gave the world warm beer, Monty Python (apart from the American guy) and Shakespeare which is pretty much all you need for a happy life. Of course, your mileage may vary!
But since I am also half-Dutch, I would have to mention Holland. Bourgeois Democracy may not be terribly hip, but the Dutch did it first and they have a very practical, reasonable and tolerant approach to life. Also, think of all those wonderful paintings: Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Vermeer.
It's a nice idea to try to think about what makes a country good without getting hyped and patriotic. Good for you. It's something we Brits feel embarassed about but shoudl do more often.
By
Matthew Stibbe, at 6/10/2006
You missed Israel, Scott. Were it not for Israel -- Jerusalem in particular -- Western (JudeoChristian) Civilization and Islamic Civilization would not be the same as they are today. Whether that's a good thing or not, I don't know.
By
Kirk, at 6/10/2006
Yeah, they probably should bump out Iran. But then again, the spread of Christianity and Islam was driven by forces in Europe and the Arab world. If not for Christianity's embrace of non-Jews, it might have been dismissed as just another Middle Eastern cult.
By
SB, at 6/10/2006
Where the fark is Spain? They were Britian before Britain was cool.
By
Anonymous, at 6/10/2006
The Spanish and Dutch were both big maritime powers that preceded the the Brits, but the Brits did it better.
The Spaniards also lose points for the Inquisition, and the Dutch lose points for colonizing South Africa -- making them effectively responsible for apartheid.
By
SB, at 6/10/2006
What about the Vatican? They've had a lot of influence on western culture.
By
Anonymous, at 6/10/2006
You missed Detroit. The great nation of Detroit gave us cars and NBA championships. Lost it's luster this year with a poor showing against Shaq daddy and his little puppet Wade. Been downhill ever since. (LOL)
By
Casually Me, at 6/10/2006
Lot's of technological advances linked to certain countries has been greatly left out...
Honestly, this list is a pipedream by someone, who by my guess, only has taken general history classes and read some news articles.
By
Anonymous, at 6/10/2006
I would have added under India that it is the world's largest democracy, and that it is quickly positioning itself to become a superpower in the IT age, where knowledge and information have become the dominant industry. Conversely, one of the main reasons for the US's decline as a superpower is a failure to embrace the information age, since we're still paying homage to the telco gods.
By
Dave Chakrabarti, at 6/10/2006
And where is Portugal? At one point in time they 'owned' two thirds of the known world, were the first to sail around Africa, and so many other things. The Brits didn't do it better then Portugal. They would have remained a world power had the retarded king of the time not spent all the money on building a castle encrusted with gold.
By
Anonymous, at 6/10/2006
this list is a pipedream by someone, who by my guess, only has taken general history classes and read some news articles.
Actually, I mainly just watch pay-per-view.
By
SB, at 6/10/2006
Yes, I read your ground rules. But attributing part of Italy's greatness to Rome is like attributing the greatness of the United States to Hopi Indians from 2000 years ago. Ancient Rome does not share a religion, language, political system, economy or military custom with Italy. In short, they are two entirely different cultures. I don't think that simply sharing a geographic area should identify different cultures from different periods under different political states as being from one "country". You wouldn't chalk up American, British and Canadian activity in France during WWII as greatness on the part of France, would you?
I only write all this because I think what you've done is a cool idea. I'd like to see what would happen with slightly different, more exacting ground rules.
By
Feline Nursery, at 6/10/2006
What, no Canada?? Get out, eh?!
By
Anonymous, at 6/10/2006
You missed CANADA, we stand way above the US when it comes to human rights, and the care of our own peoples.
The fact you missed Canada states that you picked most of these out of your a**
By
John G, at 6/10/2006
John G: Watch the tough talk; we can come up there and take your silly little country over anytime we want.
By
SB, at 6/10/2006
Also, you've got to dump Chad. Female literacy is 12%. Male life expectancy is 43 years. 20% of children die before age 5. The watchdog group Transparency International ranked them the 4th most corrupt nation out of 145 nations in 2004. I've never been, but it sounds like a pretty suck ass country. At the very least, not one of the top ten. I don't believe that a country should only be judged in terms of "What have you done for me lately", but you're citing events of 6 million years ago.
By
Feline Nursery, at 6/10/2006
John G: You're right, Canada does stand way above the United States, not only latitudinally but on alphabetized lists of countries as well.
By
Feline Nursery, at 6/10/2006
yeah, see canada can be all those things because they are protected by the U.S. Canada is the trustafarian of countries. It's ability to be all socialist and moral comes from the security and trade that daddy/U.S. provides. of course your natural resources help too. canada: gold card hippy with big boobs. should be on the license plates.
By
Zervas, at 6/10/2006
if you're going to make spain lose points for the inquisition u have to knock the UK or england down as well. the english killed over 100,000 in the inquisitions compared to the meer couple thousand or less than the spanish.
By
splashngo, at 6/10/2006
I'd have to put the US as # 1. There is no country that has had a direct impact on every person on the planet for over 100 years. The US has directly touched more lives than Jesus, Buddha and Mohamed combined.
Short list: electrical grid, electric light, digital computer, transistor, airplane, telephone, internet, petroleum, assembly line, modern stock market, credit cards, cell phone, TV, telegraph, machine gun, atomic energy, atomic bomb, elevator, sky scrapper, air conditioning, modern central heating…
No other society is close to the contribution the US has made to humanity.
By
Anonymous, at 6/10/2006
If you knock out Italy on the Hopi Indian technicality, then you could probably make an argument for Romania being the sad remnents of the Roman civilization.
And Canada is about 2 thousand years from being in this list. But, you know, give us time.
By
Anonymous, at 6/10/2006
I think India could be pushed up a few notches. Remember Calculus was invented there two hundred years before Newton.
By
Anonymous, at 6/10/2006
...Not to mention space travel, creative destruction, Hollywood, Madison Ave, Levis, Coca-Cola, the golden arches, superdrugs (legal and non), modern farming, the McCormick harvester, the trans-continental railroad, the Panama canal (ditto?), the Model T, the Constitution, checks and balances, the cel phone, the telegraph, the Hoover Dam, pop culture, ...
...and this list STILL isn't exhaustive!
By
PSGInfinity, at 6/10/2006
Casually Me brings up a good point: where is Detroit on the list? Detroit has long been the driving force of music in the world: motown, techno, Madonna, Eminem, and most of all Kid Rock. Detroit is so well off that it can spare to have all these empty buildings all over.
But seriously, Israel should be on there. I don't see why it wouldn't be.
By
swarms, at 6/10/2006
-Germany and France have continuously been powerful since the fall of Rome
-Spain, again: Spanish isn't the second most widely-spoken language in the world because it's easy to use or anything like that.
-The European Low Countries and Netherlands should go on if you're looking for a per-capita thing... No one else has ever been so disproportionately powerful for their size.
-Ethiopia/Abyssinia was counted among Rome, Persia, and China as one of the most powerful empires around in the 4th century, back when it controlled all the way over to Yemen. They were the only African country to resist European colonialization. Not even China can say that. It's quite possibly the longest-lasting independent civilized country ever. Humanity started right nearby; Abyssinia is one of the longest continuously inhabited places in the world. If you want to put Chad, Abyssinia is 10x better. And they might have the Ark of the Covenant.
-Turkey (Anatolia) was home to the Hittite empire (probably the first civilization to use Iron), Hellenistic Seleucid empire, Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire, and Ottoman Empire. Who else has had four distinct empires??
By
RanDomino, at 6/10/2006
"Yes, I read your ground rules. But attributing part of Italy's greatness to Rome is like attributing the greatness of the United States to Hopi Indians from 2000 years ago. Ancient Rome does not share a religion, language, political system, economy or military custom with Italy. In short, they are two entirely different cultures"
Not at all. Roman culture was the biggest influence on all of postclassical Western Europe, and while it certainly changed over the years, the culture evovled from the classical Empire into Italian city-states. Latin spawned or influenced the major postclassical languages and Catholicism was the official religion of Rome for some time.
By
Anonymous, at 6/10/2006
Australia!
By
Anonymous, at 6/10/2006
I think Chad was included for affirmative action reasons.
By
Anonymous, at 6/10/2006
"I'd have to put the US as # 1. There is no country that has had a direct impact on every person on the planet for over 100 years.'
Yes, but it is supposed to be a good influence.
/eh?
By
Anonymous, at 6/10/2006
I would think that China would lose points for harvesting organs for sale on the black market.
But whatever.
By
Anonymous, at 6/10/2006
To the guy that wanted to separate the UK in to its consituents..
Fine, therefore you'll have to disregard the minor achievements by scots.
1) TV
2) Antibiotics
3) Modern Science methods
4) Shipbuilding which enabled the empire.
5) Hatred of self centred, self important english w+nkers
I rest my case m'lord.
By
Anonymous, at 6/10/2006
To the Scot:
Don't forget Braveheart -- that was awesome.
By
SB, at 6/10/2006
What, no love for Sudan? Sudan has held a Human Rights seat on the UN Security Council even while being at perpetual civil war since its independence in 1956. If this were not enough, the Darfur region of Sudan was being investigated for ethnic cleansing atrocities even while being reelected to this security council seat. Did I mention that crucifixion is still one of the preferred methods of execution there? It's amazing that this nation is in the UN, much less not on your list. You should be ashamed.
Otherwise, great list!
By
Bobby, at 6/10/2006
Short list: electrical grid, electric light, digital computer, transistor, airplane, telephone, internet, petroleum, assembly line, modern stock market, credit cards, cell phone, TV, telegraph, machine gun, atomic energy, atomic bomb, elevator, sky scrapper, air conditioning, modern central heating…
A couple of problems there, skipper. The inventor of the telephone was Canadian, not American. The invention of the "internet" did, indeed, happen when two computers were linked in a U.S college. The World Wide Web that actually encompasses the internet, however, was invented by CERN in Geneva.
As for all the Americans coming out saying the U.S. should be #1, I'm guessing none of those people were history majors...
By
Anonymous, at 6/10/2006
Perhaps Turkey. The Ottomans were a great empire.
Iran I would put on the list for the Parthians as well.
And I think Russia should be on the list, probably over India.
By
Strabo the Lesser, at 6/10/2006
Iran: Don't forget the Parthians as well. They were a rival to rome in their day.
Turkey: The ottomans were great in their day.
Mongolia: The Khanate should be #1 on the list. Comprising everything between Vietnam and the edge of the Hungarian border, it was the largest empire ever.
By
Strabo the Lesser, at 6/10/2006
You've got Iran completely wrong...BAGHDAD was the center of Islamis civlization. You give other civilizations, notably the British, credit for lands and peoples they conquered. You accurately note that Iran was conquered by the Arabs, but then invert the relative power structure. I think it's important to recognize the imprint of Arabs on Persians, and not vice-versa; after all, Iranians are the only Indo-European people using an ARABIC alphabet! The Turks are Muslim, but they use a modified Roman script. Farsi, in constrast, is a modified Arabic script. "Downhill" after Babylon? Get it right -- Iraq went downhill after Baghdad's sack by the Mongols in 1258 (at the same time, the Mongols were dominating Iran).
On that note, why no mention of the Mongols or the Japanese? Iranians should be off, and the Mongols added. I think they left much more of an imprint on the world than most. And having Mongolia on the list would be cool, too.
By
Smarter than you, at 6/10/2006
self defacing humor is the best type, keep up the good work SB.
By
splashngo, at 6/10/2006
At one time or another nearly every region on the planet has been home to a great civilization.
By
Anonymous, at 6/10/2006
The USG, United States Government carried out a systematic genocide against native americans during the 19th century. Over 100,000 Filipinos died during their insurrection against American rule, following the Spanish - American war. Hawaii was anexed illegally....the USG has done and created most of greatness through illegal use of force and breaking treaties. The USG routinely cripples UN reselutions because of the implications towards USG employees.
Rome and the slaves, the USG the slaves, no apologies and no resitution.
History is written by the victors their version of events is what prevails, however there are those who dissent and take note of the nasty tid bits of Victory.
Winning at all costs? is that what it comes down to be the best...Norway was ranked the best place to live on Earth by a UN Study, the United States 6th.
The reason I am critizing the USG so much is that their is too much blind support.
The industrial revolution began in the US after plans for a cotton gin were stolen and brought to the US.
Same way China has stole so much from the USG and is funding their economic revolution. The Chinese now have nuclear warheads similar to US W-88 warheads because of the security breaches at Los Alamos.
This is the way it goes from Empire to Empire, I rather have the Republic of the United States of America anyday over anything else on this planet, it is just such a terrible shame our nation once again has been hi-jacked by corporations and people who do not hold the consitution and American values dear to their hearts but more so the abberation of money.
You could very much state and show the struggle of the American people has been against coporations and corrupt minds. The Boston Tea party targeted a corporations tea and policy, (the coporation influenced the king)...much how the Telcos want to charge you for using the internet at the same speed as you are using it now....
By
transformerofcultures, at 6/10/2006
idiots !
By
Anonymous, at 6/10/2006
What about Poland? Poland was a cultural center centuries ago. Jagellonian University (1364) was one of Europe's first, and the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth proved to be one of history's strongest and most culturally fruitful. There have been many influential Poles in many fields, from Copernicus to Pope JP II. In recent times, Poland showed an impressive rebound from its communist government to become a dynamic EU member.
Russia/Soviet Union should be on this list. There was so much innovation to come out of Russia/CCCP, culturally, artistically, politically. I would hedge a bet their star will rise again in coming years.
By
ubiquitous!, at 6/10/2006
What about Poland? Poland was a cultural center centuries ago. Jagellonian University (1364) was one of Europe's first, and the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth proved to be one of history's strongest and most culturally fruitful. There have been many influential Poles in many fields, from Copernicus to Pope JP II. In recent times, Poland showed an impressive rebound from its communist government to become a dynamic EU member.
Russia/Soviet Union should be on this list. There was so much innovation to come out of Russia/CCCP, culturally, artistically, politically. I would hedge a bet their star will rise again in coming years.
By
Anonymous, at 6/10/2006
Chad? How very PC of you to add such a fine nation to your list.
By
Anonymous, at 6/10/2006
Okay, so what research is this based on?
By
Mirko, at 6/10/2006
"Research"? Um, could I have the word origin, please?
By
SB, at 6/10/2006
I'd say the list was fairly accurate. If we put yhe US as #1 it's due to the fact that we got our workforce from India, our tax laws from Egypt, our fascism from Italy and our gall from Israel.
By
Anonymous, at 6/10/2006
You borrowed several paragraphs from Wikipedia. You should have acknowledged that, otherwise it becomes plagiarism.
By
Anonymous, at 6/10/2006
You borrowed several paragraphs from Wikipedia. You should have acknowledged that, otherwise it becomes plagiarism.
I believe I acknowledged that with great specificity:
"For our descriptions, our own commentary is mixed with direct pulls from Wikipedia in most cases; we didn't demarcate which was which so it would be easier to read. Just assume it's all borrowed if you'd like."
By
SB, at 6/10/2006
the U.S. is Canada's geological bitch. We're bigger, we're on top and if you look at Ontario, we're pounding you in the ass!
By
Anonymous, at 6/10/2006
I tend to agree on leaving out Japan. The culture of the Japanese civilization is undoubtedly great in many ways, but for much of history this greatness has existed in isolation. We do start to see some cultural influence leaving Japan at some point in the 18th century in the form of art, but Japan has only had a large impact on the world as a whole for slightly less time than the USA. Furthermore, they easily lose out to the USA in influence as the spread of Japanese culture is mostly passive where as the USA takes an active role in influencing the global society.
I'd like to qualify that this opinion does come from a full fledged Otaku!
By
KazeKaizokuSama, at 6/10/2006
I'm surprised at the choice to omit France. Though their history has been largely militaristic, through the 9th to 20th centuries they've held off some frightening forces, and discovered a lot of new places to conquer.. err.. I mean colonize.
Perhaps I give the more modern times more credit, especially understanding the events of the Napoleonic and World wars.
Spain were similarly responsible for so much discovery and bringing together - it was perhaps only their blind stupidity/faith in religion that caused them to wage a war which without, we might now all be speaking Spanish.
By
Zero, at 6/10/2006
Ubiquitious already said it, but he said it in a non-humorous way, so I'll say it again...
(in the words of a "great" president, lol)
You forgot about Poland!
By
Anonymous, at 6/10/2006
Maybe you are forgetting that Canada has one of the best health care systems. Also we kicked USA's Ass in every war in the 1800's and we still have those same guns in use today. LOL
By
Darrin, at 6/10/2006
GERMANY GAVE US EINSTEN, KANT, WEBER, MARX, FREUD, NIECHE, AND MANY MANY OTHERS. THEY HELPED CREATE ROCKETRY, SOCIOLOGY, ADVANCED PHYSICS, THE DIESEL ENGINE, THE ELECTRON MICROSCOPE, THE FIRST REAL TANK, THEY WERE THE FIRST FULLY LITERATE CONTRY, AND THEY HAD COUNTLESS OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS.
By
Anonymous, at 6/10/2006
GERMANY GAVE US EINSTEN, KANT, WEBER, MARX, FREUD, NIECHE, AND MANY MANY OTHERS. THEY HELPED CREATE ROCKETRY, SOCIOLOGY, ADVANCED PHYSICS, THE DIESEL ENGINE, THE ELECTRON MICROSCOPE, THE FIRST REAL TANK, THEY WERE THE FIRST FULLY LITERATE CONTRY, AND THEY HAD COUNTLESS OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS.
By
Anonymous, at 6/10/2006
Hmmm. Let's see. Is there anything that Germany did that might cause us to deduct, say, 1000 points?
Nope, can't think of anything.
By
SB, at 6/10/2006
right on darren
canada is way cool
cool in a way america should
have turned out
but never did.
By
davEy, at 6/10/2006
I dont know those lederhosen kind of suck, and oh yea that holocaust thing, but other than that I can't think of anything meritting a 1000 point deduction my friend!
By
Anonymous, at 6/10/2006
What, no love for Sudan? Sudan has held a Human Rights seat on the UN Security Council even while being at perpetual civil war since its independence in 1956. If this were not enough, the Darfur region of Sudan was being investigated for ethnic cleansing atrocities even while being reelected to this security council seat.
There's no such thing as a "Human Rights seat on the UN Security Council." The Security Council is made up of the Permanent Members and a handful of other member states from the General Assembly, the latter of which are rotated through, not elected. Get it right.
By
Anonymous, at 6/11/2006
Sorry, the 10 non-permanent members are elected, for 2-year terms, but there's still no such thing as a "Human Rights seat on the Security Council." They might have a seat on the Human Rights Committee - there are dozens of U.N. Committees - but what you said simply doesn't exist.
"Ten other members (other than the 5 permanent members of the United States, the French Republic, the United Kingdom, the People's Republic of China, and the Russian Federation) are elected by the General Assembly for 2-year terms starting on January 1, with five replaced each year. The members are chosen by regional groups and confirmed by the United Nations General Assembly. The African bloc chooses three members; the Latin American, Asian, and Western European and Others blocs choose two members each; and the Eastern European bloc chooses one member. Also, one of these members is an Arab country, alternately from the Asian or African bloc. [1]
The current (2006) elected members are:
Argentina (L. America)
Republic of the Congo (Africa)
Denmark (W. Europe)
Ghana (Africa)
Greece (W. Europe)
Japan (Asia)
Peru (L. America)
Qatar (Asia, Arab)
Slovakia (E. Europe)
Tanzania (Africa)"
By
Anonymous, at 6/11/2006
Iran was the center of Persian empire whereas Mesopotamia/Iraq was the center of Moorish culture (later to become Arabic). Turkey over Chad would make sense. Someone cracked about how Holland and other European countried have have the highest impact-to-geographical area ratio of any country. Israel tops any of them
By
Anonymous, at 6/11/2006
This list was WAY eurocentric. As great as Rome was, it influenced the lives of fewer people than ancient China (which I would rank #1). USA and UK belong on the list but maybe not at #2,#3. The other thing was that Arab states get underrecognized. The region was after all the birthplace of largescale agriculture, also by your the rules of inheritance, Turkey probably deserves as spot as the Ottoman succesors. Also, Greece should have superceded rome, as a huge portion of Roman culture was bastardized Greek culture and the Greeks made a much greater contribution to art and philosophy (they also get Alexander's empire). Oh, and what about Mongolia, only the most militarily effective nation EVER who spawned the Mughals, the Yuan dynasty, a Persian regime and even influenced Eastern Europe and were the geographical predecessors of Russia?
Mainly I think its important to remember that for most of the last 4000 years the majority of humans have been in what is today China and that until about 1650 China was only sporadically challenged as the leader in any of the following fields: population, technology, productivity, military might, seafaring and bureacratic sophistication. There was a time just 600 years ago when your #4 had a STANDING ARMY 3/4ths as big as the entire population of your #2 and a population almost 100 times as large. So overall, I'd say too Eurocentric. I think the top 3 should be the most influential from Europe, the Mid-east and the far-east respectively. I'd say: #1:China (most innovative, populous and powerful for most of history), #2:UK (global dominion and credit for some of American culture, also 1st on earth to industrialize), #3: it's tough to pinpoint one mid-east nation as supreme (Iran/Persia or Turkey/Ottoman), so maybe I'd substitute Greece (foundation of western theatre, philosphy, credit for much roman culture, great accomplishments a LONG time ago).
By
Anonymous, at 6/11/2006
This list was WAY eurocentric...
The other thing was that Arab states get underrecognized.
The list has 3 European countries and 3 Middle Eastern countries.
By
SB, at 6/11/2006
While this list is eurocentric, world culture today is heavily based off of the Western world. Currently nations such as China are following capitalistic ideals, which originated through the expanisitionist policies of Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries. If this list is attempting to rate how influential societies have been towards today's culture, then Western Europe cannot be emphasized enough.
By
Anonymous, at 6/11/2006
To the anonymous German: If Germany is so wonderful, why did most of your heroes emigrate? And coming from 'THE FIRST FULLY LITERATE CONTRY' why can't you spell their names correctly?
By
Thingfish, at 6/11/2006
YOU LEFT OUT SOUTH AFRICA! .. Small we may be but we are responsible for a few things.. heart transplants, great wine, creepy crawlies lol, pronutro and last but not least.. nelson mandela, who was the only president capable of converting from apartheid to democracy without a war. :)
By
Anonymous, at 6/11/2006
I notice no one's disputing Greece's place on the list, and since the Romans got their architecture, their pantheon of dieties, their government, their record-keeping, their phalanx warfare and their foundation of philosophy and engineering from the Greeks, you can cross out Italy and give the credit to the Greece.
Unlike the Roman Empire/Italy, the Greeks are the same people speaking (almost) the exact same language they've spoken throughout their entire existence.
The Greeks were also singlehandly responsible for saving Western society from vanishing under Persian domination. If the Greeks hadn't fought the Persians at Themopylae and Plataea, none of us would have ever heard of democracy, freedom or hard science, and we'd probably all be worshipping Ahura Mazda.
Greece may not be significant nowadays, but we owe everything we have now to the Greeks.
By
Anonymous, at 6/11/2006
I am amazed that Switzerland was not mentioned here.
By
Anonymous, at 6/11/2006
I am amazed that Switzerland was not mentioned.
By
Anonymous, at 6/11/2006
I kinda like Earth. Earth created everything and is the best at everything.
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Archinimous the Wise, at 6/11/2006
Obviously...Freetonia
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Anonymous, at 6/11/2006
Canada should definately be on that list. Also, to those who think that we are protected by the States, we not in wars because we don't go over to Iraq and start wars.
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Anonymous, at 6/11/2006
the middle ages was not a period of darkness. during that time the modern idea of the university was formed, advances (especially in europe) grew by leaps and bounds in agriculture and war fare.
The idea of the middle ages as a period of darkness and regression for man is a bunch of enlightenment bullshit. While it may not have been a time of great scientific revolution, it was a time of innovation and growth for the common man in the arena that was most important to him.
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Anonymous, at 6/11/2006
"You missed CANADA, we stand way above the US when it comes to human rights, and the care of our own peoples.
The fact you missed Canada states that you picked most of these out of your a**"
The only category where Canada stands above the US is on a map. Other than that, they have very little influence on the world as a whole, either in history or today.
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Anonymous, at 6/11/2006
what, no Petoria?
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Anonymous, at 6/11/2006
The lack of Margaritaville on this list is disturbing
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Alex, at 6/11/2006
I just have to make a comment to the person who said the US should be #1. First off get your facts straight, that list you made of what the States contributed to the world is way off. The telephone was invented by a Canadian! and the internet is a European invention, you dumb Americans think everything evolves around you. This is why US is not number one. You are not educated. That is why on the UN's list of country's with the greatest standard of living United States is WAY down on the list, while Canada makes the top ten.
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Anonymous, at 6/11/2006
What about the incas and mayans?
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Anonymous, at 6/11/2006
Canada has been voted the best country to live in by the UN for many years now, and the fact that your not including them is just ignorant.
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Anonymous, at 6/11/2006
I think Chad is on the list because its assumed that HUMANS evolved there kinda makes it a top 10 nation. Everyone is missing that point.
Also is Canada still a part of the British Empire?
Anyways Im American and I will say that the more socialized parts of the world like the Nordic countries and Canada are far superior. I would rather live in a nation where everyone can goto college and not have to pay insanely high college loans. Where health care is cheap but costs less per resident then in America, or like in America where all of the Hospital equipment is made in Germany haha.
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Anonymous, at 6/11/2006
why does everyone put united kingdom!!! if it wasnt for england the uk wouldnt be on the list, so why not put england instead of the uk?
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Anonymous, at 6/11/2006
To anonymous
First, Bell was working and living in America, so we tend to count that as American. You're laughably wrong about the internet, which was invented by ARPA, a U.S. Dept. of Defense agency. You're thinking of the WWW Protocol, which was invented by a Brit.
And yes, everything would tend to revolve around a country with the largest economy, largest and best military, highest standard of living, highest per capita income (of all countries larger than principalities), and most influential culture...
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PSGInfinity, at 6/11/2006
Canada is a great country, but there is absolutely no way in hell that it belongs in the Top 10 when you're taking all of the civilizations in the history of the world into account. Canada would probobly be somewhere around 20th place. And regarding the telephone, A.G. Bell wasn't Canadian, he was born in Scotland and he lived in the US when he invented the telephone; and Europeans had nothing to do with the Internet, unless they were working for the US military in the 70s and 80s.
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Anonymous, at 6/11/2006
What about Latveria? There's never been a better leader than our beloved Dr. Doom.
Latveria boasts freedom from the racism that the Roma are greeted with in other countries.
Due to technological advancements far beyond anything in any other nation, Latveria has managed to remain unfoulled by industrial pollutants. Because of Doom's many weapons and forces and his mere presence in Latveria, the country is considered a world superpower.
Hail Doom!
Doombot
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Anonymous, at 6/11/2006
You forgot DENMARK!
VIKINGS - FREEDOMFIGHTERS ;-)
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Anonymous, at 6/11/2006
You forgot DENMARK!
VIKINGS - FREEDOMFIGHTERS ;-)
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Anonymous, at 6/11/2006
What's the deal with all of these disgruntled Canucks claiming the greatness of their land? They only achieved sovereignty from Briatin less than a quarter century ago! And they still have the queen! And some people there think they are French, but really speak drawwwl
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wileycount, at 6/11/2006
Indus Valley civilization was centered in what is Pakistan today , and for all practical reasons Pakistan has shared all history of India except for last 60 years. Shouldn't Pakistan be mentioned when you say India.
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Hatim, at 6/11/2006
If this was called "Most influential countries in history" then it might have some small merit. Greatest though? The criteria is so loose and the ranking so arbitrary that it loses all worth.
Those of you bashing Canada and claiming any good it has done or created is just because of its proximity to the U.S. really need to educate yourselves on its history and values. I'm not sure if it should be on the list or not, but if it was such an incidental useless place without any power or influence then Canadian politics and its foreign policy would not have nearly as much impact as it does especially considering its relatively small population to its southern neighbour.
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Anonymous, at 6/11/2006
One word. Canada.
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Anonymous, at 6/11/2006
I think a much more interesting list would be which are the 10 Greatest Countries in the last 200 years or so.. because I find it unjust to credit modern day Iraq or Greece for their history hundreds of years ago because they have differed greatly since.
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Anonymous, at 6/11/2006
PSGInfinity:
You are assuming that bigger is better. The U.S. may have the largest military but that does not automatically equate to the best, nor does the U.S. have the highest standard of living.
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Anonymous, at 6/11/2006
Hatim:
Good point. Of course, you can credit the partitioning of India to the greatness (influence) of the Brits. That, or the stupidity of religious strife.
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SB, at 6/11/2006
This is coming from a Canadian. Canada is a great place to live. Truly fantastic.
Influential? No. But a great place to live.
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Anonymous, at 6/11/2006
If we are going to cause Spain to lose points for the inquisition, Italy should be much lower, since it was under the orders of Rome, (i.e the Vatican), that the inquisition took place at all, and STILL, to this day, not only maintains an office of the Inquisition, but in third-world countries where they hold sway today, they still kill dissenters.
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Mike Reed, at 6/11/2006
I think a much more interesting list would be which are the 10 Greatest Countries in the last 200 years or so.. because I find it unjust to credit modern day Iraq or Greece for their history hundreds of years ago because they have differed greatly since.
I guess we all know the greatest countries of the past two hundred years.
Part of the reason for the exercise is to remind us that many countries (places) -- including those we may currently consider our enemies -- have contributed greatly to the evolution and progress of mankind.
It occurred to me as I was starting the list that, damn -- could both Iraq and Iran, two "Axis of Evil" members, actually be two of the 10 greatest countries of all time?
In my mind, you can certainly argue that.
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SB, at 6/11/2006
Palestine has a lot of relegious history specially jeruslem where christians, jews, and muslims all beleive is a holy place....btw i am palestinian WOOT!!!
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Anonymous, at 6/11/2006
OO! OO! What about Anvilania? It gives us our anvils, and without them, we could never have worked our metals, not dropped them on unsuspecting cyotes or overweight hunters!
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Mike Reed, at 6/11/2006
How about suadi arabia and U.A.E., suadi arabia has a lot of islamic history abd contains the holy Mecca and is also full of oil. and U.A.E. is the fastest developing country in history and in dubai there is so much activity it's just amazing, it also has oil for our cars which we go zoom zoom in.
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Anonymous, at 6/11/2006
Speaking of overweight hunters, my little fat fingers sure have a hard time hitting these keys! Maybe an anvil would help?
Seriously, though, when it is considered that every country has succeeded by use of force, be it Rome, Greece, Assyria, Egypt, and the list goes on, it should in no way cause the U.S. to lose any place, just because our tender sensibilities are hurt by that fact. If we have used force at times, it has, in fact, made the world a better place, at least from a technological and economical standpoint. We may have lost our way from the original intent of the Founders, leaving the Christian foundations and "Government of the people, by the people, and for the people" behind, but it's still better than anywhere else, and I've been in a lot of other places!
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