These are some of the oldest presidents in history, from Malaysia to the Dominican Republic

(CNN Spanish) --

Joe Biden, who turns 80 this Sunday, holds the Guinness record for the oldest person to be elected as president of the United States.

Rivers of ink have flowed about his age, but the truth is that throughout history, outside the borders of the North American country, there have been much older leaders.

Upon reaching the presidency, Biden surpassed his immediate predecessor, Donald Trump, by this mark, who had held the Guinness record for the oldest elected president of the United States when he came to the White House at the age of 70.

Much is said about the advanced age of the Democrat, but the truth is that decades ago Biden made history for the exact opposite, his youth.

At the age of 29, he became a US senator, the sixth youngest in the country's history.

Outside the United States, many presidents have been well over the age of 80 in power, in several cases with decades-long governments that are not considered democratic.

Here we review five of them.

mahathir mohamad

When he was sworn in as Malaysia's prime minister in 2018, Mohamad became the oldest world leader.

He was then 92 years old and was returning to politics a decade and a half after retiring and after having governed the Asian country for 2,022 years (1981-2003).

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shimon peres

Shimon Peres, former Israeli president and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize along with Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin, spent 90 years as president of the Middle Eastern country.

Peres, born in 1923 and died in 2016, won the 2007 presidential election after a long political career and held office for seven years, until 2014.

Robert Mugabe

In 2013, Robert Mugabe was sworn in for his seventh term as Zimbabwe's president at the age of 89, entering the ranking of the oldest rulers.

(Mugabe resigned in 2017, well past 90, after nearly four decades in power and died at 95 in 2019.)

Joaquin Balaguer

Latin America also has figures among the old presidents, such as the Dominican Joaquín Balaguer, whom Guinness mentions as the oldest president.

Balaguer was president of the Central American island in three periods (1960-1962, 1966-1978 and 1986-1996) and left the presidency at the age of 89 after having ruled for more than 23 years.

Girma Wolde-Giorgis

The Ethiopian Girma Wolde-Giorgis, who ruled the country from 2001 to 2013, also exceeded 88 years in office, a figure he shares with the Italian Giorgio Napolitano, former president of the European country.

This list leaves out kings or emperors.

Adding this category would highlight the figure of Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain, who died in 2022 at the age of 96 after more than 70 years in office.

We would also have to count the late King of Saudi Arabia Abudlá, who died after the age of 90.