Which Country has spent the longest Time not under Occupation

[say1988]

MADAGASCAR

Besides the obvious French, there is always the Allies in WWII.

 

[Verbose]

Hey, together with our Karelian brothers we burned down your capitol back in 1187!
But then we hardly stayed for 6 months either, so I guess you can keep the honor of victory.

I am aware this Estonian attack and destruction of Sigtuna in 1187 is a piece of Estonian national mythology.

Couple of problems though:

First of all, Sigtuna wasn't destroyed. There is nothing in the archaeological record indicating any kind of interruption or destruction. The town didn't actually decline until the 14th c., for entirely different reasons (Black Death etc.).

What the medieval chroniclers seem to be in agreement is that Sigtuna was attacked by pirates in 1187, some of them also making the claim it was destroyed.

However, the oldest chronicle is the Minor Brothers of Visby, Gotland, i.e. the Franciscans. They however didn't arrive in Sweden until about 1230, half a century after the purported event.

Worse, the chronicle doesn't mention any kind of nationality, just that Sigtuna was burned/destroyed by "pagani", pagans.

They could have been Estonians. Since the Swedish king had set off campaigning against the Estonians in 1185-86, the assumption brings a rather nice closure of the "reap what you sow" kind. But it's also narrative logic rather than solid evidence.

Then there is the Skänninge Chronicle, kept by a monk at the local convent, who
in 1255 made the observation that Sigtuna had been destroyed in an attack in 1187, but failed to mention how, why or by whom exactly.

The clearest attribution is to Karlieans in the Erik's Chronicle from 1320. No mention of Estonians though. Otoh by the 14th c. Estonia was no longer a spot for Swedish military activity the way Karelia seems to have been:

Swerige haffde mykin vadha
aff karelom ok mykin onadha
The foro aff haffuit oc vp i mäle
bade i lugne ok swa i äle
alt hemelika jnnan swia skär
ok optast ä mz stylda här
en tyma fiöl them en then luna
at the brändo wp sightuna
Ok brändo thz swa alt i röther
at then stadhin fik ey än böther
Jon erchebiscop wart ther slägen
tess war mangin hedin fäghen
at them crisno gik swa illa i hand
thz gledde karela ok rytza land

None of it is actually saying it might not have been the Estonians doing the dirty on Sigtuna in 1187, just that we don't actually know for sure. Some pagans did it according to the oldest source. They might have been Karelian, or Estonian, or something else, Kurlanders seem to be the third runner up.

And the problem remains that the town wasn't actually destroyed of course. Attacked, possibly pillaged, possibly ransomed, perhaps, but neither occupied or destroyed, at least going by the archaeological evidence.

 

[cardgame]

Besides the obvious French, there is always the Allies in WWII.

What about Yemen/Oran?

 

[Tee Kay]

What about Yemen/Oran?

Ottoman Empire until 1918.

 

[Dachs]

What about Yemen/Oran?

Oran belongs to Algeria.

 

[say1988]

I assume he means Oman (beside Yemen)

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

Oman was occupied by the British, as was Yemen.

 

[Masada]

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Iraq.

 

[aronnax]

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Iraq.

Maybe the list of highly obvious nations that were occupied was starting to end.

 

[jeafl]

Do the Normans still occupy England?

 

[civ_king]

What about China? all of their "conquerers" in effect were absorbed and became Chinese!

 

[Dachs]

2) A country is considered occupied once the occupation period last at least 6 months
3) A country is considered occupied when it fulfills either or both of these points (Severity of points is debatable, etc - is losing Siberia equivalent to losing Russia's 10 largest cities? ).
I) When a nation loses 25% of ground land is lost
II) When a nation loses a significant/important part regardless of size (Example - if the entire Eastern shore of America, measuring 25 km in is very small in percentage of land compared to all of USA, but contains many important cities, New York, Boston, Miami Etc)

What about China? all of their "conquerers" in effect were absorbed and became Chinese!

 

[Flying Pig]

What about China? all of their "conquerers" in effect were absorbed and became Chinese!

What about us?

 

[cardgame]

What about us?

Albion?

I'm sure the Ottomans or the Italians occupied it sometime fairly recently.

 

[Flying Pig]

The British (Albion is an old word for Great Britain)

 

[civ_king]

facepalm, forgot about those guys, also it doesn't seem extremely severe

 

[Dachs]

facepalm, forgot about those guys, also it doesn't seem extremely severe

Well, it fits aronnax's arbitrary criteria.

 

[Quildavyr]

I saw some posts about Turkey.I dont think Turkey or the nation fit to Aronnax Criteria.Lets examine;

Turkey in Middle East;
Invaded for a long time by Chinese,Mongols etc..
Turkey in west middle east;
Invaded by Mongols
Turkey as Seldschuk State;
Invaded by Mongols
Turkey as Anatolian Seldschuk State;
Mongols again
Turkey as Ottoman Empire;
French,British,Italians,Greeks..
Turkey as Turkey,I mean after declaration of republic;
None.

Anyway couldnt be on that list,I guess.

But as nation,being a nomadic nation wins

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

It would be, but its for less than 90 years, and thus not really a contender.

 

[Chieftess]

When was Turkey invaded by the Chinese?