Morocco was the first country to recognize the United States after its Declaration of Independence.
Morocco implicitly recognized the United States in 1777, when Sultan Mohammed III opened Moroccan ports to American ships and offered them protection. This action occurred while the Revolutionary War was still underway and before the United States had secured a peace treaty with Great Britain.
The distinction between implicit and formal recognition matters. Morocco formally confirmed its relationship with the United States through the Treaty of Peace and Friendship, signed on June 23, 1786. The treaty is widely regarded as the oldest unbroken treaty relationship in United States history.
France is often named in this context because it became the first major European power to recognize the United States through treaties of alliance and amity in 1778. The Netherlands recognized the United States in 1782. Morocco’s earlier port policy, however, places it first on lists of countries recognizing the new nation.