yup i Google that too. pretty interesting reading actually. for example France came out of small kingdom hundreds of years after 843.
but i was talking more about culture and unity. that doesn't go back thousands of years, specially unity. otherwise we could argue that France culture goes back to 20,000 years ago because of some cave paintings.
semp
San Marino has 1719 years of culture and unity within it's borders. If it didn't have unity and a thriving culture such a small country would not have survived as long as they have.
Even assuming that the paleolithic era (assuming you are referring to the cave paintings at Lascaux) produced anything remotely close to countries is ludicrous. It wasn't until the advent of agriculture that nomadic tribes settled areas, formed early governments and territorial boundaries, But let me check Google really fast.
Yup, Agriculture started in the middle east circa 10,000 BC (makes sense) and shortly there after in other parts of the world. I would assume that Europe would have been in the later group due to the abundance of animals. It was at this point that the banding nomadic tribes created settlements, worked the land and formed small governments. Even with the advent of agriculture, settlements and governments (crude form of the word) settlements were no more than a nomadic tribe remaining stationary to work the land and hunt the wildlife for self preservation.
So no, one could not argue that France goes back 20,000 years, at least not argue it with any semblance of intelligence.
