(KTXL) — Would you be surprised to know there are several supercentenarians — someone who has reached the age of 110 — living around the world?
The longest human lifespan documented was a French woman named Jeanne Calment, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. Calment was born on Feb. 21, 1875 — about 14 years before the Eiffel Tower was built — and died on Aug. 4, 1997, at 122 years old and 164 days.
Before her death in February 2024, Edith “Edie” Ceccarelli was America’s oldest living person and believed to be the oldest Californian ever at 116 years old.
As of Feb. 28, 2024, these are the five oldest living people documented in the world, according to rankings from the Gerontology Research Group.
No. 5: Elizabeth Francis (Texas, 114)
Born in Louisiana on July 25, 1909, Elizabeth Francis is currently the oldest living American at 114 years old, 7 months and 3 days old. She’s the last remaining American who was born in the first decade of the 1900s.
She moved to Houston, Texas, as a child, where she was raised by her aunt.
Her sister, Bertha Johnson, lived to the age of 106 before passing away in 2011, and Francis’ only daughter, Dorothy Williams, is 94 years old, according to LongeviQuest, an organization that tracks human longevity. Francis currently shares a home with Williams in Houston.
At her 114th birthday celebration in July 2023, Francis was presented with a plaque honoring her status as the oldest living Texan.
No. 4: Juan Vicente Perez Mora (Venezuela, 114)
Venezuela native Juan Vicente Perez Mora is the fourth-oldest person, second-oldest Latin American, and oldest living man in the world at 114 years and 277 days old.
According to LongeviQuest, Perez Mora was born in El Cobre, Táchira, Venezuela, on May 27, 1909, and has outlived his eight older brothers and one younger sister. He currently resides in San Jose de Bolivar, Táchira.
He became Valenzuela’s first documented male supercentenarian in May 2019 on his 110th birthday. In June 2022, Perez became the last known surviving man born in the first decade of the 1900s.
On his 114th birthday, he was presented with a trophy honoring his status as the world’s oldest living man.
No. 3: Inah Canabarro Lucas (Brazil, 115)
Inah Canabarro Lucas is the oldest living person in Brazil and in Latin America, and the third-oldest in the world at 115 years and 263 days old.
Born on June 8, 1908, in Sao Francisco do Assis, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, Canabarro Lucas is the oldest validated living nun in the world. She got that distinction in January 2023.
She currently lives in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul.
According to LongeviQuest, she moved to Montevideo, Uruguay in 1928, where she became a nun, and returned to Brazil in 1930. Canabarro Lucas taught Portuguese and math in a Rio de Janeiro neighborhood when she moved back.
In January 2021, she was one of the oldest people in the world to receive the COVID-19 vaccine at 112 years old. She later contracted the virus and was hospitalized in October 2022, but was able to recover, making her one of the oldest known survivors of the disease.
No. 2: Tomiko Itooka (Japan, 115)
The oldest living person in Japan is Tomiko Itooka, who is 115 years and 263 days old.
Itooka was born on May 23, 1908, in Osaka, City, Osaka Prefecture, as the second-oldest and eldest daughter of three siblings, according to LongveiQuest.
After her husband died in 1979, Itooka climbed Mount Nijo and Mount Ontake, the latter of which she did twice.
She officially became the oldest living person in Japan in December 2023 and recently became the second-oldest in the world after the death of Ceccarelli.
No. 1: Maria Branyas Morera (Spain, 116)
The oldest living documented person in the world is American-born Maria Branyas Morera, who currently resides in Spain.
As of Feb. 28, Branyas Morera is 116 years and 361 days old and officially became the world’s oldest living person in January 2023.
Branyas Morera was born on March 4, 1907, in San Francisco, where her family emigrated in October 1906, according to LongeviQuest. She is the oldest person born in California and the oldest validated person to ever live in Spain.
Branyas Morera and her family traveled to New Orleans and later departed for Olot, Catalonia, Spain, in May 1915.
The supercentenarian still lives in Olot, Catalonia, where she has resided at a care home since she was 93 years old. As of August 2019, Branyas Morera has 11 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.
In April 2020, Branyas Morera, who was 113 at the time, tested positive for COVID-19. She successfully recovered, becoming the oldest recorded survivor of the virus until 2021.
