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The following 1list shows the first club in each of Rotary's geographic regions and countries based on current boundaries.  The date following club name is the admission (charter) date into Rotary.  Another club might have been first in a particular region, but due to boundary changes it is no longer in that geographic region.   Also, when some of  these clubs were admitted, they were not the first club in a geographic region, but became so when their portion gained independence. [  ] indicates the original name of the geographic region and/or city on the charter.  Club names are the names of the current clubs as some have changed over time.  

If your club's history is missing, please send your history today from our "Comment" page. www.historycomment.org Please include the link to your website history page and a contact for confirmation. Also see the RI Archives Terminated Clubs file.

TRANSLATIONS www.historytranslation.org (and every page of RGHF can be translated, using the Google Tool above. Once you translate this page, every page there after will be translated)

Chinese  French German Spanish Swedish Presidents' themes in multiple languages The history of  RGHF in multiple languages District Histories in multiple languages First Clubs of Countries in multiple languages Regional histories in multiple languages
Rotary Year/RIP
 Region & Club Charter Inactive

Readmitted

 Notes
1905 USA Chicago   23 Feb 05     ROTARY/One
1906          
1907          
1908          
1909          
1910-11 Paul P. Harris          
1911-12 Paul P. Harris Canada, Winnipeg 13 Apr 12      
1912-13 Glenn C. Mead England, London 1 Aug 12      
Scotland, Glasgow 1 Apr 13      
Ireland, Dublin 1 May 13      
N. Ireland, Belfast 1 May 13      
1913-14 Russell F. Greiner          
         
1915-16 Allen D. Albert Cuba, Havana 1 Jun 16 31 Jan 79    
Hawaii – Honolulu 1 Jun 16     USA Statehood 21 Aug 59
1916-17 Arch C. Klumph          
1917-18 E. Leslie Pidgeon Wales – Cardiff 1 Nov 17      
Puerto Rico – San Juan 1 Jun 18      
1918-19 John Poole France – Allied Rotary Club of France       forerunner of Paris Club
Uruguay – Montevideo  ESP & EN 1 Feb 19     2Tree
Philippines – Manila 1 Jun 19      
1919-20 Albert S. Adams China – Shanghai  1 Oct 19 31 Dec 43

27 Mar 46-

15 Oct 51

 2Tree Provisional Jun 01 
Panama – Panama City 1 Nov 19     2Tree
India – Calcutta 1 Jan 20     2Tree
Argentina – Buenos Aires (ESP) 1 Apr 20     2Tree
1920-21 Estes Snedecor Spain – Madrid (ESP & EN) 1 Jan 21 19 Jan 40 6 Jun 77 2Tree
Australia – Melbourne 1 Apr 21     2Tree
France – Paris 1 Apr 21      
Japan – Tokyo 1 Apr 21     2Tree
Mexico – Ciudad de Mexico 1 Apr 21     2Tree
New Zealand – Wellington 1 May 21     2Tree
1921-22 Crawford McCullough S Africa – Johannesburg 1 Jul 21      
Newfoundland – St. John's 1 Jan 22     Province of Canada 31 March 1949
Norway – Oslo 1 Jun 22      
Peru – Lima 1 Jun 22     2Tree
Denmark – Copenhagen (DA) 3 Aug 22      
Netherlands, The – Amsterdam 29 Jan 23      
Brazil – Rio de Janeiro  28 Feb 23     2Tree
Channel Islands – Guernsey 3 Mar 23     [British Isles]
1923-24 Guy Gundaker 3 Belgium – Ostende (FR) 29 Aug 23      
Italy – Milano (IT) (EN) 20 Dec 23      
Isle of Man – Douglas 2 Jan 24     [British Isles]
Bermuda – Hamilton  15 Mar 24      
Chile – Valparaiso 15 May 24     2Tree
Switzerland – Zurich 23 May 24      
1924-25 Everett W. Hill Alaska – Ketchikan 22 Apr 25     Statehood 3 January 1959
Guatemala – Ciudad de Guatemala 11 May 25      
1925-26 Donald A. Adams Austria – Vienna 19 Oct 25      
4 Czech Republic – Praha 1 Nov 25 24 Jan 49 8 Jun 90 [Prague, Czechoslovakia]
Portugal – Lisbon 23 Jan 26    
4 Hungary – Budapest 20 Feb 26 30 Jun 42 1 Jun 89  
Sweden – Stockholm 20 Feb 26     2Tree
1926-27 Harry H. Rogers Colombia – Bogotá 13 Jan 27     2Tree
Finland – Helsinki-Helsingfors 26 Jan 27     2Tree  Also Rotary in Finland 26-49
Costa Rica – San Jose   8 Mar 27     (history needed)
El Salvador – San Salvador   15 Apr 27     (history needed)
1927-28 Arthur H. Sapp Ecuador – Guayaquil 13 Jul 27      
Bolivia – La Paz 12 Aug 27      
Germany – Hamburg 8 Oct 27      
Korea - Seoul 10 Nov 27 31 Dec 40 15 Mar 49 [Keijo, Chosen, Japan]
Pakistan – Lahore 7 Dec 27     [India]
Paraguay – Asuncion 16 Jan 28     (history needed)
Indonesia – Yogyakarta 12 Apr 28 31 Dec 43 Jogjakarta, Indonesia 31 July 1957- 27 April 1961 readmitted 7 December 1970; Djokjakarta, Java, -  [Netherlands East Indies]

 
1928-29 I. B. Tom Sutton Greece – Athinai 30 Jan 29     [Athens]
Israel – Jerusalem 11 Mar 29     [Palestine]
Egypt – Cairo 11 Mar 29     [United Arab Republic]
4 Yugoslavia - Belgrade 8 Apr 29 31 Dec 41 1 May 92 Yugoslavia, Federal Republic of
Nicaragua – Managua 16 May 29     (history needed)
4 Romania – Bucuresti 20 May 29 31 Dec 41 1 May 92 [Bucharest]
Honduras – Tegucigalpa 4 Jun 29     (history needed)
1929-30 M. Eugene Newsom Sri Lanka – Colombo 24 Aug 29      
Belize – Belize  12 Sep 29 4 Jun 30 31 Jul 57 [British Honduras]
Luxembourg – Luxembourg 24 Sep 29      
Burma – Thayetmo 30 Sep 29 31 Dec 43    
Burma – Rangoon 27 Nov 29 31 Jan 79    
Malaysia – Seremban 4 Dec 29     [Federated Malay States]
Algeria – Algiers   19 May 30 1 Jan 80 2 May 92  
Morocco – Casablanca  (FR) 19 May 30    
Zimbabwe – Harare 27 Jun 30     [Southern Rhodesia – Salisbury]
1930-31 Almon E. Roth 4 Estonia – Tallinn 2 Aug 30 10 Oct 40 1 Mar 91 2Tree
Singapore – Singapore 11 Aug 30     [Singapore, Strait Settlements, Malaysia]
Kenya – Nairobi 11 Sep 30      
Thailand – Bangkok  ไทย 28 Nov 30     [Siam]
Hong Kong – Hong Kong 20 Feb 31      
Poland – Warsaw  (En)  (Po)   19 Mar 31 10 Oct 40 1 Jun 89  
Taiwan – Taipei 中文 28 Apr 31 31 Dec 43 11 Jun 48 [Taihoku, Formosa, Japan]
1931-32 Sydney W. Pascall Lebanon – Beyrouth  2 Feb 32     [Beirut]
4 Danzig, Free City of   1931-32     inactive during WWII; now Gdansk, Poland (history needed)
4 Latvia – Riga 7 Apr 33 10 Oct 40 1 Feb 92  
4 Bulgaria – Sofia 25 May 33 7 Apr 41 1 Oct 91 Also see an article on early history in Bulgaria
1933-34 John Nelson

4 Lithuania – Vilnius

 14 Nov 34 6 Nov 92   [Kaunas, Lituania was first club in country from 14 November, 1934-10 October 1940, but was not the first club to be granted re-admittance in the 1990s]
Iceland – Reykjavik   31 May 35    
1934-35 Robert E. Lee Hill Tunisia – Tunis Doyen   14 Feb 36 30 Jan 60 11 Sep 69 (history needed)
1935-36 Ed. R. Johnson Fiji – Suva 26 Mar 36      
Sarawak - Kuching  10 Jun 36     State of Malaysia since 1965
1936-37 Will R. Manier, Jr. Netherlands Antilles – Curacao  2 Apr 37      
Monaco – Monaco  +Fr 3 Jun 37      Incomplete
1937-38 Maurice Duperrey Venezuela – Caracas 8 Oct 37     (history needed)
Syria – Damascus 26 Jan 38 24 Jan 69    
Bangladesh – Dhaka    26 Feb 38     [India]
Sudan – Khartoum 27 Jun 38     (history needed)
1938-39 George C. Hager Cyprus – Nicosia 22 Aug 38      
Aruba – Aruba 10 Dec 38     [Netherlands Antilles]
1939-40 Walter D. Head Senegal – Dakar 10 Jul 39     [French West Africa]
Guam – Guam 30 Aug 39      
1940-41 Armando Pereira          
1941-42 Tom J. Davis          
1942-43 Fernando Carbajal Dominican Republic – Santo Domingo 18 Feb 43      
1943-44 Charles L. Wheeler          
1944-45 Richard H. Wells          
1945-46 T. A. Warren          
1946-47 Richard C. Hedke Macau - Macau 16 Jun 47      
1947-48 S. Kendrick Guernsey Åland Islands – Mariehamn 13 Nov 47     [now part of Finland]
1948-49 Angus S. Mitchell Taiwan - Taipei 
Tanzania – Dar-es-Salaam   

1 Oct 48
25 Jan 49

   

Now China
[Tanganyika]
1949-50 Percy Hodgson          
1950-51 Arthur Lagueux          
1951-52 Frank E. Spain China - Nanking   24 Jan 52    
1952-53 H.J. Brunnier
 		 Sabah - Kota Kinabalu   24 Nov 52   State of Malaysia since 1965
Vietnam – Saigon   23 Jan 53 31 Jan 79   (history needed)
Namibia – Windhoek 31 Mar 53     [South West Africa] (history needed)
Zambia – Ndola 22 Jun 53     [Northern Rhodesia]
Suriname – Paramaribo 21 Jul 53      
Brunei – Belait 11 May 54 15 Apr 57 22 May 65 originally Belait District
Turkey – Ankara (Tur) 23 Mar 55       
Democratic Republic of Congo – Kinshasa 13 Apr 55     [Leopoldville, Belgian Congo; Leopoldville, Zaire] (history needed)
Malawi – Blantyre 30 May 55     [Blantyre-Limbe, Nyasaland](history needed)
Ethiopia – Addis Ababa 1 Jun 55     (history needed)
Angola – Luanda 23 Sep 55       (history needed)
Iraq – Baghdad 11 Jan 56 26 May 59   (history needed)
Netherlands New Guinea 1955-56     now part of Indonesia (history needed)
Swaziland – Manzini   25 Jan 56     [Bremersdrop, Swaziland]history needed
Burundi – Bujumbura 1 Mar 56     [Usumbura, Ruanda-Urundi](history needed)
Jordan – Amman 13 Apr 56      
Iran – Tehran   20 May 56 11 Nov 82   (history needed)
Cote d'Ivorie – Abidjan 11 Jun 56     [Ivory Coast](history needed)
1956-57 Gian Paolo Lang Cambodia – Phnom-Penh   15 Apr 57 26 Feb 77  1 May 95 (history needed)
Cameroun – Douala  17 Apr 57    
Central African Republic – Bangui 17 Apr 57     (history needed)
Liechtenstein – Liechtenstein 10 May 57      
Uganda – Kampala   20 May 57      
Guadeloupe – Pointe-a-Pitre (FR) 28 May 57     (French West Indies)
1957-58 Charles G. Tennent Martinique, Fort-de-France Nov 1957     (history needed)
Belize – Belize  7 Jul 57     [British Honduras]
Trinidad & Tobago – Port of Spain 10 Aug 57     [British West Indies]
Papua New Guinea – Port Moresby 19 Sep 57     [Papua]
Virgin Islands – St. Thomas 2 Oct 57     [Charotte Amalie, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands](history needed)
Chad – N’Djamena, Chari-Baguirmi 5 Dec 57     [French Equatorial Africa - Fort-Lamy](history needed)
Eritrea – Asmara  18 Dec 57 31 Mar 79 24 Sep 97  
Congo, Republic of the – Brazzaville 6 Jan 58     [French Equatorial Africa](history needed)
Laos – Vientiane   14 Jun 58 31 Jan 79   (history needed)
French Guiana – Cayenne   17 Jun 58     (history needed)
1958-59 Clifford A. Randall Ghana – Accra 24 Oct 58     (history needed)
Madagascar – Antananarivo 30 Oct 58     [Tananarive, Malagasy](history needed)
Nepal – Kathmandu 13 Apr 59      
Guyana – Georgetown  20 May 59     [British Guiana]
Jamaica – Kingston  18 Jun 59     [West Indies Federation]
Ryukyu Islands 1959-60     (history needed)
French Polynesia – Papeete, Tahiti (FR) 22 Jul 59      
San Marino – San Marino   18 Mar 60      
Yemen – Aden 24 May 60 30 Mar 72   (history needed)
1960-61
Gabon – Libreville 18 Nov 60     (history needed)
Reunion – Saint-Denis 17 Feb 61      
Somalia – Mogadiscio 17 Feb 61 15 Sep 72   (history needed)
Nigeria – Kano 28 Apr 61      
Mali – Bamako 31 May 61      Incomplete 
Bahamas – Nassau  19 Jan 62      
Haiti – Port-au-Prince 22 Jan 62     (history needed)
New Caledonia – Noumea   26 Feb 62     (history needed)
Barbados – Barbados  7 Mar 62     [British West Indies]
Zanzibar 1961-62     (history needed)
Sierra Leone - Freetown   17 Mar 63     (history needed)
Liberia – Monrovia 25 Jan 64     (history needed)
Mozambique – Lourenco Marques 10 Jun 64 9 Nov 76   See Mozambique – Maputo, 1 June(history needed)
1964-65 Charles W. Pettengill Mauritius – Port Louis 9 Nov 64      
1965-66 Bahrain – Manama 13 Sep 65     (history needed)
Benin – Cotonou 9 Oct 65     [Dahomey](history needed)
Grand Cayman – Cayman Islands  8 Nov 65     [British West Indies]
Comoro Islands – Moroni 8 Dec 65     (history needed)
Gibraltar – Gibraltar 5 Apr 66     (history needed)
1966-67 Richard L. Evans Saint Lucia – St. Lucia   21 Jul 66   [British West Indies](history needed)
Rwanda – Kigali 14 Dec 66     (history needed)
1967-68 Luther H. Hodges Niger – Niamey 31 Jul 67      
Djibouti – Djibouti 16 Sep 67     [French Territory of the Afars & Issas]
Malta – Malta   6 Oct 67      
Republic of Sikkim 1967-68     now part of India(history needed)
British Virgin Islands – Tortola 5 Jan 68     (history needed)
Faroe Islands – Tórshavn   25 Jan 68     [Denmark](history needed)
Northern Marianas – Saipan  16 Feb 68     [USA Trust Territory of the Pacific]
Togo – Lome   16 Feb 68     (history needed)
Afghanistan – Kabul 8 Mar 68 31 Jan 79 28 Mar 03  
Tonga – Nuku'alofa 29 May 68     (history needed)
1968-69 Kyoshi Togasaki Grenada – Grenada 23 Aug 68     (history needed)
Libya – Tripoli 24 Aug 68 29 Oct 70    
Cook Islands – Rarotonga   5 Feb 69     (history needed)
Seychelles – Victoria 28 Apr 69     (Mahe)
1969-70 James F. Conway Saint Kitts-Nevis – St. Kitts  11 Jul 69     [West Indies Associated States]
American Samoa – Pago Pago 29 Oct 69      
Montserrat – Montserrat 23 May 70     [British West Indies](history needed)
1970-71 William E. Walk Samoa – Apia 28 Sep 70      
1971-72 Ernst G. Breitholtz Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 5 Aug 71     [British West Indies]
Botswana – Gaborone 16 Jan 72    
Vanuatu – Port-Vila 14 Jun 72     [New Hebrides]
1972-73 Roy D. Hickman Antigua and Barbuda – Antigua 10 Sep 72     [West Indies Associated States]
Norfolk Island – Norfolk Island 17 May 73      
1973-74 William C. Carter Dominica – Dominica 1 Jul 74     [British West Indies] (history needed)
1974-75 William R. Robbins          
1975-76 Ernesto Imbassahy de Mello          
1976-77 Robert Manchester II Republic of Transkei 1976-77     originally part of South Africa(history needed)
Lesotho – Maseru 18 May 77     (history needed)
1977-78 W. Jack Davis Andorra – Andorra 17 May 78      
United Arab Emirates – Dubai 9 Jun 78 1 Nov 87 3 Mar 02
Anguilla – Anguilla 15 Jun 78      
1978-79 Clem Renouf Mauritania – Nouakchott 31 Jan 79     (history needed)
1979-80 James L. Bomar, Jr. Gambia, The – Banjul 7 Aug 79      
Greenland – Nuuk 6 May 80     (history needed)
1980-81 Rolf Klärich          
         
1982-83 Hiroji Mukasa          
1983-84 William E. Skelton Burkina Faso – Ouagadougou 1 Jun 84     [Upper Volta] (history needed)
1984-85 Carlos Canseco          
1985-86 Edward F. Cadman Guinea – Conakry   26 Nov 85     (history needed)
1986-87 M. A. T. Caparas Solomon Islands – Honiara   27 Mar 87      
1987-88 Charles C. Keller Mayotte – Mayotte 11 Mar 88     (history needed)
Saint Pierre and Miquelon – Saint Pierre et Miquelon   23 Mar 89     (history needed)
Mozambique – Maputo 1 Jun 90     [First club -  Lourenco Marques, 10 Jun 64 until 9 Nov 76](history needed)
Soviet Union – Moscow 5 Jun 90     now Russia
Micronesia – Pohnpei 15 Jun 90     (history needed)
Slovenia – Ljubljana   1931/32 1941 29 Jun 90 (history needed)
4 Croatia – Zagreb 29 Apr 29 1941 1 Jan 91 [Originally part of Yugoslavia] (Missing)
4 Slovakia – Bratislava 1927 1939 1 Jan 91  
4 Albania – Tiranë 1 Mar 92     (history needed)
Cape Verde – Praia 1 Apr 92     (history needed)
Guinea Bissau – Bissau 1 Apr 92     (history needed)
Ukraine – Kiev 10 Apr 92     (history needed)
1992-93 Cliff Dochterman Sao Tome & Principe – Sao Tome 1 Dec 92     (history needed)
1993-94 Robert R. Barth Belarus – Minsk 20 May 94      incomplete
1994-95 William H. Huntley
 Mongolia – Ulaanbaatar 1 Jan 95      
Macedonia - Skopje 26 Aug 31 1941 1 Jun 95 Former Yugoslav Republic
1995-96 Herbert G. Brown Kazakhstan – Almaty 24 Jul 95      
Palau, Republic of – Palau 1 Oct 95     (history needed)
Turks and Caicos Islands – Providencials 1 May 96     (history needed)
Armenia – Yerevan 13 Nov 96     (history needed)
Antarctica – Base Marambio  13 May 97     Antarctica, Marambio
Georgia, Republic of – Tbilisi   3 Dec 97     (history needed)
Moldova, Rep. of – Chisinau 30 Apr 98      
1998-99 James L. Lacy Azerbaijan – Baku 7 May 99     (history needed)
Kyrgyzstan – Bishkek 13 Jan 99    
4 Bosnia-Herzegovina – Sarajevo 1931 1941 31 Aug 99 originally part of Yugoslavia
Liberia, Monrovia 08 Aug 00     (history needed)

2001-02 Richard D. King

 World's first eClub 04 Jan 02      
United Arab Emirates, Dubai 03 Mar 02 9 Jun 1978 1 Nov 1987
2002-03 Bhichai Rattakul Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of – Dili 20 Sep 02      
Afghanistan
23 Mar 03     (history needed)

2003-04 Jon Majiyagbe

          

2004-05 Glenn E. Estess, Sr.

Tajikistan, Dushanbe

05 Apr 05    
Equatorial Guinea, Malabo  16 May 05      

2005-06

Carl-Wilhelm Stenhammar

 Kosova, Peja 30 Jun 06      

2006-07 William B. Boyd

          

2007-08 Wilfrid J. Wilkinson

          

2008-09 DK Lee

 Kiribati, Kiritimati 11 Aug 08      

2009-10 John Kenny

          

2010-11 Ray Klinginsmith

          
2011-12        
2012-13        
Doug Rudman USA, Basil Lewis UK, Greg Barlow Malaysia, and Jack Selway USA

1 Based on a list originally compiled by Cyndi Beck of the Rotary International Archives on 14 November 2002.
 2 Friendship Trees, planted by Paul & Jean Harris during the 30's. They are shown, by continent, at friendshiptrees.org

3 This club was not the first club of Belgium but is recorded as a lower numbered club and thus first in the archives

4 Because of boundary changes resulting mostly from the second world war, some clubs appear in the various Balkan and Baltic lists under the name of their country at the time of inauguration, though subsequently they appear in a different country. One example is Cieszyn Zachodni founded in Poland in1932 but admitted as Cesky Tesin in Czechoslovakia, reverting to Cieszyn Zachodni, in Poland in May 1939. There are some cases of Rotary Clubs being labelled in more than one language. Thus, Timisoara in Romania is also shown in the RI files as Temesvar. The 'termination' list includes several such examples.