Oldest People

The longest unambiguously documented lifespan is that of Jeanne Calment of France (1875–1997), who was aged 122 years. She met Vincent van Gogh when aged 14. This led to her being noticed by the media in 1988, at age 113. Subsequent investigation found that her life was documented in the records of her native city of Arles beyond reasonable question. More evidence for the Calment case has been produced than for any other supercentenarian case, which makes her case a gold standard among the oldest people recordholders. This is contrasted with the now-disputed claim of age 120 for the oldest man ever, Shigechiyo Izumi. While this case is currently still recognized by Guinness World Records, the Japanese authorities have hinted that his age was not certain. This claim was accepted in 1978, but subsequent additional research (as early as 1984) has raised doubt as to whether his birth date was confused with that of a brother who died at a young age.

Currently (since the death of Yone Minagawa on 13 August, 2007), the oldest living person is 114-year-old Edna Parker of the U.S., born on 20 April, 1893. Parker and Maria de Jesus are the only validated people born in 1893 who are still alive.

Oldest living people
The following is a list of the people who have held the title of oldest recognized person in the world since 1955 (the year Guinness Records began). This list does not reflect the original lists, but is instead retroactive – for example, the Betsy Baker case was not verified until the 2000s.

The longest consecutive time with the title of World's Oldest Person held was by Shigechiyo Izumi of Japan for 3384 days from November 16, 1976 to February 21, 1986. The shortest consecutive time was by Emma Tillman of the United States for 4 days from January 24, 2007 to January 28, 2007. The average length of time served as World's Oldest Person for the 36 people following Betsy Baker (not including the current serving person, Edna Parker) has been approximately 525.5 days. The country with the most people on the list is the United States with 12, followed by the United Kingdom with 9, and Japan with 6.

Oldest living men (since 1961)
Note: Guinness World Records has only maintained the category of 'oldest living man' intermittently over the years, not establishing it permanently until the year 2000. Persons listed prior to 2000 may be based on an historical reconstruction.

The longest consecutive time with the title of "World's Oldest Man" held was by Shigechiyo Izumi of Japan for 4367 days from March 9, 1974 to February 21, 1986. The shortest consecutive time was by Henri Pérignon of France for 8 days from June 10, 1990 to June 18, 1990. The country with the most people on the list is the United States with 9, followed by Japan with 4, and the United Kingdom with 3.

Oldest people currently living (top 10)
''Please note that 90% of supercentenarians are women. Though this list is currently all female, there have been males in the top 10 as recently as January 2007. Moreover, that particular male was the oldest person in the world.''

Emigrant records (oldest first)
Note: listed for countries where an emigrant lived longer than any lifelong resident

Gerontology and the verification of age claims
Gerontology involves the tracking of the longest-lived proven individuals as the bio-markers of the human life span. The study of gerontology is usually credited to Michel Eugène Chevreul, a French chemist who died in 1889, aged 102. In the early years of the twenty first century gerontology is benefiting from the improvements in record-keeping in the industrialized world from the latter part of the nineteenth century. As a result, verification standards have evolved and multiple independent documentary confirmations of birth-date are now required to substantiate a claim, rather than evidence deriving only from the claimant. For claims that have not been satisfactorily confirmed by Guinness World Records, considered the authority, see longevity claims.

Current trends in the lifespans of the oldest humans
The population and lifespans of the world's oldest people are continually increasing due to improvements in health care and lifestyle during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and the increasing world population. Additionally, better record-keeping, both 100+ years ago and today, is increasing the percentage of the world's population whose age can be tracked and verified. This increase has been matched by efforts to harness this data. While in 1837 the oldest verified person was aged 108 years, it is now no longer unheard of for individuals, especially females, to have lived 110 years and more. The term supercentenarian has been coined to describe this emerging population group.