What is the oldest country in the world? Depending on who you ask, you’ll get a variety of responses. Some might say it’s a country like China or Greece, where you can visit ancient cities that date all the way back to the second, third, even fifth millennium BCE. But borders and cultures have always shifted—and will continue to to shift—throughout history, and as a result, most of our present-day nations are actually quite young.

For example: Today’s Russia was born out of the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991; its current constitution is only 20 years old. Modern Iran—officially the Islamic Republic of Iran—is turning just 45 next year; it wasn’t a republic until 1979, after the Iranian Revolution. And sure, Rome itself was founded in 753 BCE, but the Republic of Italy, as we know it today, was founded in 1946.