The Oldest People in the World: Ranking of Long-Livers

For centuries, humanity has tried to solve the riddle of longevity. After all, if you believe the Bible, before the Flood people lived up to 900 years. And Methuselah lived to be 969 years old.

However, scientists still do not know why this or that person becomes a super-long-liver. Some of these lucky ones drink, smoke and indulge in “various bad excesses” all their lives, while others adhere to a strict diet and lead a healthy lifestyle. We do not know the answer to this question either. But we do know how old is the oldest person in the world.

The oldest living person

The oldest person on Earth is currently a Japanese resident, Kane Tanaka. According to the latest data from the Guinness Book of Records website, this woman is the oldest inhabitant of Earth. Her age already crossed for 117 years old, A January 2, 2021 She is about to turn 118 years old.

Kane Tanaka
Kane Tanaka

Kane Tanaka's life is a vivid proof that at any age you should not give up. At 103, she was diagnosed with cancer (colon cancer), but the woman successfully overcame the disease and continues to enjoy life. She is sure that the secret to longevity lies in hope, family support, proper diet and sleep.

The previous record holder for longevity, Nabi Tajima, lived for 117 years and 260 days, and died in 2018.

And the title the oldest man in the world among living men in February 2020, passed to the British Robertat WeightonatHis documented date of birth is March 29, 1908, and he has already celebrated his 112th birthday.

Robert Weighton died in his sleep on May 28, 2020 from cancer.

Just imagine that per year, ToWhen he was born, Theodore Roosevelt was the President of the United States, The Tunguska meteorite fell in Siberia, «Titanic» haven't even started yetinali buildsь. 

Robert Weighton
Robert Weighton

At one time Weighton managed to work as an engineer and a teacher, visited in Taiwan, Japan and Canada, and now lives in nursing home city Alton. He has two sons, a daughter, 10 grandchildren and 25 great-grandchildren. The long-liver goes grocery shopping himself, and his walker proudly bears a sign: 111. He drinks alcohol only in special cases, does not smoke and does not eat rede meatOAs for any special diet, Robert doesn't have one. Weighton No.  

 "I have done nothing to deserve or reach this age. I am just one of the lucky ones.", - he once said the oldest living man on earthAnd he recommended only one thing to those who want to live to his age. Don't die!   

Robert Weighton

Before him, the oldest person in the world was Masadzo Nonaka, islander Hokkaido, who passed away in 2019, at the age of 113. 

Masazo Nonaka
Masazo Nonaka

He just missed his 113th birthday Chitetsu Watanabe, which at the beginning of this year was officially awarded the title of the world's oldest man by the Guinness Book of Records. He died quite recently, February 23, 2020 years, at the age of 112 years, 355 daysDuring life Watanabe said that the secret to longevity lies in don't get angry and smile more often. 

The oldest person who ever lived

On August 4, 1997, Jeanne Calment died in a nursing home in France. Of course, the Grim Reaper will come for us all, but he was in no hurry to get to Mrs. Calment. She died at the age of 122 years and 164 days, setting an official record for human longevity.

Jeanne Calment is the oldest person on the planet
Jeanne Kalman

Before her, the title of "the oldest person on the planet", according to the Guinness Book of Records, was held by the Japanese Shigechiyo Izumi, who was born on June 29, 1865 and died on February 21, 1986, at the age of 120 years and 237 days. It is interesting that both Kalman and Izumi did not deny themselves either drinking or smoking.

Unofficially, the oldest person on Earth was a Chinese man, Li Qingyun, presumably (since there are no documents confirming this) born in 1736 and died in 1933. Some sources even cite 1677 as Qingyun's date of birth. That is, at the time of his death he was 256 years old.

Li Qingyun – 256 years old
Li Qingyun

This man spent most of his life collecting medicinal herbs in the mountains of Sichuan and comprehending the secret of longevity. When Li was asked about the secret of his fantastically long life, he replied: "keep your heart quiet, sit like a turtle, walk as alert as a pigeon, and sleep like a dog." He also practiced qigong and drank an herbal infusion, the recipe for which has been lost.

List of the oldest inhabitants of the planet

This is what the top ten verified long-livers of the Earth look like, both those who are still alive and those who have already left this world.

  1. Jeanne Calment lived to be 122 years old.
  2. Sarah Knauss lived to be 119 years old.
  3. Lucy Hannah lived to be 117 years old.
  4. Nabi Tajima lived to be 117 years old.
  5. Marie Louise Meyer lived to be 117 years old.
  6. Violet Brown lived to be 117 years old.
  7. Emma Morano lived to be 117 years old.
  8. Misao Okawa lived to be 117 years old.
  9. Kane Tanaka - 117 years old, alive. 
  10. Chiyo Miyako lived to be 117 years old.

There is not a single man in the top 10 long-livers, because the oldest verified long-livers (Jiroemon Kimura) lived 116 years and 54 days.

How long can a person theoretically live?

According to the Bible, a person can theoretically live to the age of Methuselah - 969 years. According to Li Qingyun, one can live over 250 years.

Methuselah - 969 years old

But Ian Vij, an expert on aging at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, doubts that we will ever see long-lived people like Jeanne Calment again. Human life expectancy has increased over the past few decades. But now, Vij believes, we have reached the upper limit of human longevity, and humans will not reach 115 years.

Dr Vij and his graduate students published evidence for this pessimistic prediction in the journal Nature in 2016.

Jan Vijg

The scientists analyzed how many people of different ages were alive in a given year. They then compared the numbers from year to year to calculate how fast the population was growing in each age range. The fastest-growing group of society was the elderly. In France, for example, in the 1920s, the fastest-growing group was 85-year-old women. By the 1990s, the fastest-growing group of French women was 102. If that trend had continued, the fastest-growing group today might well be 110-year-olds. Instead, growth has slowed and appears to have stalled.

Dr. Vij and his students examined data from 40 countries and found the same general trend. The scientists believed that the reason was that humans had finally reached the upper limit of their longevity.

With rare exceptions like Mrs. Kalman, humans don’t live past 115. That “wall” is evident among the longest-lived people on Earth, too. “When you look at the second supercentenarian, and then the third, fourth, and fifth, the trend is always the same,” Dr. Vidge said. In the researchers’ graph, Mrs. Kalman is an anomaly. Vidge’s team calculated how likely it is that anyone will outlive her, given current trends. The verdict: virtually no one.