Which country is the oldest surviving republic in the world?

San Marino is widely regarded as the world’s oldest surviving republic, traditionally founded in AD 301.

According to tradition, the state was established by Marinus, a Christian stonemason from the island of Rab who settled on Mount Titano. The traditional founding date is 3 September 301, although the surviving documentary evidence is later.

San Marino preserved its independent institutions through centuries of political change in the Italian Peninsula. Its constitution is not contained in one single modern document; instead, its constitutional system developed through statutes and historic legal texts.

The country is a landlocked microstate surrounded by Italy. It has two heads of state, called captains regent, who serve six-month terms. San Marino’s ancient republican tradition is therefore a historical claim about continuous state institutions, not simply a claim that it was the first republic ever created.