We know so many countries in the world which proclaim to be as old as the civilization itself, and are existent even today. But very few people know that there were several countries which came into existence and lasted for few days or hours only. The present list goes back to history pages and find out the ephemeral existence of some of those short-lived nations in the world…

1. The Republic of Crimea

Crimea was a very modern, yet just a short-lived nation. It declared its independence from Ukraine, which continues to claim it as the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. A revolution that ousted Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014, sparked a political crisis in Crimea. The political upheaval initially manifested as demonstrations against the new interim Ukrainian government, escalated rapidly. And on March 17th of 2014, the Republic of Crimea unilaterally declared its independence from Ukraine. The Republic of Crimea was recognized quickly by the Russian Federation and its allies, while Ukrainian authorities continued to insist that Crimea was still just a province of Ukraine. During its short existence, the Republic of Crimea switched its time zone to Moscow time, seized Ukrainian state property, and adopted the Russian Rule as its official currency. The governing body of the Republic of Crimea, which was the Crimean State Council, decided that its final act would be a formal request to become a federal subject of Russia, and this request was almost immediately granted. Thus, the official existence of the country ceased automatically.

2. Faroe Islands

After the end of the Second World War, Denmark was liberated from German occupation. And it was unclear what was going to happen to far-flung provinces of the Kingdom of Denmark, which, at the time, included Greenland, Iceland, as well as the Faroe Islands. The residents of Faroe Islands took matters into their own hands by voting 50.74% in favor of independence from Denmark. That referendum stood for a whole two days. But the declaration was later annulled by the Danish King, Christian X. Later, a compromise was reached, and it was determined that the Faroe Islands would be granted home rules. In this way, for a brief time, two days to be exact, the Island was fully independent.

3. Somaliland

The state of Somaliland existed for just five days in 1960. What happened was that the protectorate of British Somaliland was granted independence as part of the United Kingdom’s decolonization program. During these five days, Somaliland even received recognition from countries including China, France, Israel and the Soviet Union. Queen Elizabeth the second, even sent a letter of congratulations stating, “I, my government, and my people, in the United Kingdom ” wish you well on this day of independence. “I look forward to a continuing and enduring friendship between our two countries.” However, just five days later, Somaliland, voluntarily united with the rest of Somalia, and as a result, ceased to officially exist.

4. Carpatho-Ukraine

Carpatho-Ukraine was another short-lived nation which was an autonomous region within Czechoslovakia from late 1938 to March 15, 1939. It declared itself as an independent republic just after Nazi Germany annexed the western-most portion of Czechoslovakia. The self-proclaimed Carpatho-Ukraine government was headed by President Avgustyn Ivanovych Voloshyn, who could not get enough time to set his new foundation’s affairs in order. Consequently, law and order broke down almost immediately in this newly born state, and Carpatho-Ukraine came to an abrupt end after less than 24 hours when Hungary annexed it on March 16, 1939.

5. East Timor

East Timor was another short-lived country which declared independence from Portugal in 1975, but would persist for just a mere nine days. A military coup in Lisbon that same year caused the Portuguese empire to fall into disarray. Seeing this opportunity, the revolutionary front for an independent East Timor, seized power. However, Indonesia feared that East Timor was too sympathetic to communist ideas and quickly invaded with untold brutality. East Timor fought on for a little over a week, but was eventually forced to capitulate, bringing a brief, but not permanent, end to the idea of independence for East Timor.

6. The Republic of Kuwait

The Republic of Kuwait existed for just 24 days in the year 1990. The Republic of Kuwait was created in the aftermath of Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990. It was a puppet state of the Ba’athist Iraq, and as a result, it was also a Ba’athist state. The Republic of Kuwait was led by Prime Minister Alaa Hussein Ali, who unfortunately, did not have much time to distinguish himself as the leader of this short-lived nation. However, he is noted for accepting and even granting, full citizenship to non-Kuwaiti Arabs who had come to Kuwait before the fall of its monarchy. He also created a national holiday known as the ‘Day of the Call’, which was to celebrate Iraq’s liberation of the Kuwaiti people. The Republic of Kuwait received only international condemnation and the only country that ever recognized it was its occupier Iraq, and after the conclusion of the First Gulf War, the Republic of Kuwait was dissolved.

7. California Republic

The California Republic was a short-lived and unrecognized nation that had total military control over most of the modern-day state of California. The Republic of California which would only exist for the better part of 25 days, was founded in the spirit of revolution and gun power. Before this, however, California was merely a province of the first Mexican empire. During the later years of the Mexican empire, many Americans had illegally immigrated to California. The Mexican government was very wary of the ever-increasing numbers of American illegals, and passed laws banning undocumented Americans from owning or even renting property. As a result, the American settlers decided that they should seize California for themselves and launched the famous Bear Revolt. The revolt was extremely successful and even a new flag was commissioned for the republic, which bore the now-iconic California grizzly bear. Unfortunately, however, for the rebels, most of their time was spent distributing flags rather than governing. And after the forces from the United States Navy arrived, the California Republic immediately surrendered and it became a territory of the United State of America.