Timeline of the introduction of radio in countries

A map showing when radio broadcasting was introduced in each country.

1910s, 1st half, or earlier (33)

1920s, 2nd half (53)

1930s (56)

1940s (35)

1950s (27)

1960s or later (17)

No data

This is a list of when the first radio broadcasts to the public occurred in the mentioned countries and territories. Non-public field tests and closed circuit demonstrations are not referred to; neither are license dates or dates of the official opening.

Basis for each entry is the time of introduction. Listed are independent countries, dependent territories and territories within a country only if they became independent later or if it is a large country and there is a vast time difference with the introduction in different parts.

Each entry comprises: the flag linked to the country or territory, the name of the country or territory and, in parentheses, the designation of the radio station (either by call sign or by name, linked to a main article), its city and some additional information.

## History

[edit]

### 1910s and 1920s

[edit]

Year  | Countries and territories

|

1916  |  United States (2XG New York City; 8MK Detroit > WWJ & 8XK Pittsburgh > KDKA 1920)
1919  |  Netherlands (PCGG The Hague; HDO Hilversum 1923)
1920  |  Argentina (LOR Buenos Aires),  Canada (XWA Montreal > 9AM > CFCF)
1921  |  Australia (2CM Sydney),  France (R. Tour Eiffel, Paris),  Mexico (TND Monterrey)
1922  |  Brazil (SPE Rio de Janeiro),[1] Cuba (2LC Havana, followed by PWX),  New Zealand (R. Dunedin > 4AB),  Paraguay (CXZ-27 Asunción; ZP1 1926),  Philippines (KZKZ Manila),  Puerto Rico (WKAQ San Juan),  United Kingdom (2MT Writtle;[2] 2LO London),  Uruguay (CW90A R. Paradizábal, Montevideo;[3] CWOA 1927),  Victoria (R. Melbourne)
1923  |  Belgium (R. Bruxelles),  Chile (CBC R. Chilena Santiago),  Czechoslovakia (Radiojournal, Prague),  Germany (Funk-Stunde, Berlin),  British Raj (2FV R. Club Bombay > IBC 1927),  Shanghai (XRO Shanghai),  South Africa (JB Johannesburg),  Switzerland (2HB Lausanne)[4]
1924  |  Austria (RAVAG, Vienna),  Dominican Republic (HIH Santo Domingo; HIX 1928),[5] Italy (IRO Rome URI),  Luxemburg (R. Luxembourg),  Newfoundland (8WMC St. John's > VOWR),  Singapore (1SE AWSM > ZHI 1933),[6] Soviet Union (Moscow: RA1 Komintern, RA2 MGSPS),  Spain (EAJ2 Madrid, EAJ1 Barcelona),  YU: Serbia (R. Belgrade; Rakovica 1924),  South Australia (R. Adelaide)
1925  |  Afghanistan (R. Kabul),  Algeria (8DB Algiers),  Byelorussian SSR (RA18 Minsk),  Ceylon (Colombo R.),  Denmark (Statsradiofonien, Copenhagen),  Dutch East Indies (BRX, Batavia > NIROM),[7] Hungary (Magyar Telefonhírmondó és Rádió Rt., Budapest; wired Hírmondó 1893),  Japan (JOAK Tokyo),  Kwantung (JQAK Dairen),  Latvia (Radiofon Riga),  Norway (Kringkastingsselskapet, Oslo),  Peru (OAX Lima),  Portugal (P1AA Lisbon),  Sweden (Radiotjänst, Stockholm),  Ukrainian SSR (RA21 Kharkov),  Western Australia (R. Perth)
1926  |  Armenian SSR (RA49 Yerevan),  Azerbaijan SSR (RA45 Baku),  Burma (2HZ R. Club Rangoon),  China (XOH Harbin;  XKM Nanjing 1928;  XNCR Yan'an 1940);  CZ: Slovakia (Radiojournal, Bratislava),  Danzig (Landessender Danzig),  Egypt (R. Farouk et al., Cairo),[8] El Salvador (AQM San Salvador),  Estonia (R. Ringhääling, Tallinn),  Finland (Yle, Helsinki; 3NB Tampere 1924),  Georgian SSR (RA27 Tbilisi),  Iceland (H.f. Útvarp, Reykjavík),  Ireland (2RN Dublin),  Lithuania (Lietuvos radijas, Kaunas),  Poland (Polskie R., Warsaw),  Venezuela (AYRE Caracas),  YU: Croatia (R. Zagreb)
1927  |  Bolivia (CPX La Paz; CP1AA 1922),  Costa Rica (TI4NRH Heredia),  Kenya (VQ7LO Nairobi),  Korea, South (JODK Keijo),  Turkey (İstanbul Radyosu),  Turkmen SSR (RA6 Ashgabat),  Uzbek SSR (RA27 Tashkent)[9]
1928  |  Greece (Thessaloniki; YRE 1938),  Honduras (HRB La Voz del Trópico, Tegucigalpa),  Hong Kong (GOW),  Morocco (R. Maroc),  Pakistan (YMCA, Lahore; Karachi 1926),[10] Rumania (R. Bukarest),  Taiwan under Japanese rule (JFAK Taihoku),  Thailand (4PJ Bangkok),  VT: Tonkin (R. Sindex, Haiphong),  YU: Slovenia (R. Ljubljana),  Tasmania (R. Hobart),  Baja California (XEY/R. Mexicali)
1929  |  Colombia (HJN Bogotá),[11] Ecuador (El Prado, Riobamba),  Réunion (R. Saint-Denis),  Queensland (R. Brisbane)

### 1930s

[edit]

Year  | Countries and territories

|

1930  |  Bermuda (TJW Hamilton),[12] Bulgaria (Rodno R., Sofia),  Guatemala (TGW La Voz de Guatemala, Guatemala City),  Malaysia (KLAWS, Kuala Lumpur),  Saint Pierre and Miquelon (R. Club),  Tunisia (Tunis Kasbah),  VT: Cochinchina (FZS Saigon),  Australia ( Australian Capital Territory (R. Canberra))
1931  |  Kazakh ASSR (RV60 Alma-Ata),  Madagascar (R. Tananarive),  Samoa (5ZA Apia),  Tajik SSR (RV47 Stalinabad),  Vatican City (Vatican R.),  Puebla (XHTM/R. Puebla)
1932  |  Southern Rhodesia (ZEA Salisbury),  Nord (FBKI R. Lille)
1933  |  Curaçao (CUROM Willemstad),  Macau (CQN/CRY-9),  Mozambique (LM Radio, Lourenço Marques),  Panama (HPJ5 R. Tembleque, Panama City),  Spanish Morocco (EAJ-21 Melilla)
1934  |  French Polynesia (FO8AA R. Club Oceanien, Papeete),  Lebanon (R. East),  Mongolia (R. Ulaanbaatar),  Nicaragua (YNLF Managua),  Tenerife (EAJ-43 R. Club Tenerife, Santa Cruz),  Australia ( Northern Territory (R. Darwin))
1935  |  British Guiana (VP3BG Georgetown > ZFY),  Dutch Guiana (AVROS, Paramaribo),  Ethiopia (R. Addis Ababa),  Fiji (ZJV Suva),  French Equatorial Africa [AEF]/Congo (R. Club Brazzaville),  Haiti (HHK Port-au-Prince),  Hyderabad (VUV Deccan R.),  Leeward Islands (VP2LO Caribbean Broadcasting Service, Basseterre > ZIZ),  Malta (Radju Malta, Valletta),  Mysore (VU7MC Ākāśavāṇī),  Papua (4PM Port Moresby)[13]
1936  |  Bahamas (ZNS Nassau),  Botswana (ZNB Mafeking),  Iraq (R. Baghdad),  Korea, North (JBBK Heijō),  Las Palmas (EAJ-50 R. Las Palmas),  Palestine (PBS, Jerusalem/Ramallah),  Tyva (R. Kyzyl),[14] Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (R. Kingstown, Kingstown)
1937  |  Angola (CR6AA Lobito),[15] Belgian Congo (OQ2AA R. Léo, Léopoldville),  British Honduras (ZIK-2 Belize),  Guadeloupe (R. Guadeloupe),  Martinique (R. Martinique),  New Caledonia (FK8AA Nouméa)
1938  |  Albania (R. Tirana),  Kirghiz SSR (RV6 Frunze; wired earlier),  Libya (ITR Tripoli),  Liechtenstein (R. Liechtenstein),  Saint Lucia (R. Castries),  Italian East Africa (R. Mogadiscio, wired and experimental 1951),  Bas-Rhin (FBGT R. Strasbourg)
1939  |  Andorra (R. Andorra),  Antigua and Barbuda (R. St. John's, Windward Islands),  Bangladesh (All India Radio, Dhaka),  Baroda (Baroda),  French West Africa [AOF]/Senegal (R. AOF, Dakar),  Jamaica (VP5PZ Kingston),[16] Rhône (FBRF R. Lyon),  Kaliningrad Oblast (R. Kaliningrad)

### 1940s

[edit]

Year  | Countries and territories

|

1940  |  Bahrain (R. Bahrain > Arabic 1955),  Gold Coast (ZOY Accra; wired 1935),  Iran (R. Tehran),  Aden South Yemen (ZNR Aden R. > 1954),  Sudan (R. Omdurman)
1941  |  AEF: French Cameroons (R. Douala),  Northern Rhodesia (R. Lusaka),  Palau (JRAK Koror),  Xinjiang (R. Dihua; wired 1935),[17] YU: Macedonia (R. Skoplje),  Cape Verde (R. Praia),  Gironde (FBXE R. Bordeaux),  Veneto (R. Veneto)
1942  |  American Samoa (WVUV Leone),  Falkland Islands (Falklands R.),  Greenland (Grønlands R., Godthåb),  Syria (R. Damas)
1943  |  British Somaliland (R. Hargeisa),  French Somaliland (R. Djibouti),  Monaco (R. Monte Carlo),  Travancore (Thiruvananthapuram),  Tatar ASSR (R. Kazan),  Crimean ASSR (R. Simfeopol)
1944  |  Gilbert and Ellice Islands (WXLF Tarawa),  Guam (WXLI Agana),  New Hebrides (WVUR Espiritu Santo),  Solomon Islands (WVUQ Guadalcanal),  Northern Mariana Islands (WXLD Saipan),  YU: Montenegro (R. Cetinje),  Sardinia (R. Sardinia)
1945  |  YU: Bosnia and Herzegovina (R. Sarajevo),  YU: Kosovo (R. Pristina),  YU: Vietnam (Voice of Vietnam),  Haute-Garonne (FBGJ R. Toulouse)
1946  |  Cambodia (R. Cambodge),  Spanish Guinea (R. Atlántica, Fernando Póo),  Yemen (Sana'a R. > 1955),  Marshall Islands (R. Majuro),  Puy-de-Dôme (FBKU R. Clermont-Ferrand),  Umbria (R. Umbria)
1947  |  Portuguese Guinea (CMQ Bissau),  Trinidad and Tobago (R. Trinidad, Port of Spain),  Federated States of Micronesia (R. Palikir; wired 1939),  Ille-et-Vilaine (FBWP R. Rennes),  Tuscany (R. Tuscany)
1948  |  Portuguese India (R. Goa),  Nigeria (R. Nigeria; wired 1935),[18] Cher (FBTF R. Bourges)
1949  |  AOF: Ivory Coast (R. Abidjan),  South West Africa (SABC via sw),  Saudi Arabia (R. Mecca, Jeddah),  Karakalpak ASSR Karakalpak Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (R. Nukus),  Calvados (FBGQ R. Caen)

### 1950s

[edit]

Year  | Countries and territories

|

1950  |  Liberia (ELBC Monrovia),  Tibet (R. Lhasa),[19] U.S. Virgin Islands (WSTA Charlotte Amalie),  Loire-Atlantique (FBJL R. Nantes),  Sakhalin Oblast (R. Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk)
1951  |  French Guiana (R. Cayenne),  Italian Somaliland (R. Mogadishu; wired 1938),  Kuwait (R. Kuwait),  Laos (RNL, Vientiane),  Nepal (R. Nepal, Kathmandu),  Tanganyika (Sauti ya Dar es Salaam),  Zanzibar (Sauti ya Unguja)[20]
1952  |  Sarthe (FBYF R. Le Mans)
1953  |  Cyprus (CyBS, Nicosia; BBC 1948),  AOF: French Dahomey (R. Cotonou),  AOF: French Guinea (R. Conakry),  AOF: French Togoland (R. Lomé),  Friuli-Venezia Giulia (R. Friuli-Venezia Giulia)
1954  |  Sarawak (R. Sarawak, Kuching),  Windward Islands (WIBS, St. George's, Grenada),[21] Calabria (R. Calabria)
1955  |  AEF: Chad (R. Tchad, Fort Lamy),  North Borneo (R. Sabah, Jesselton),  Sierra Leone (SLBS, Freetown; wired 1934),  Alpes-Maritimes (FBVZ R. Nice)
1956  |  Jordan (Radio Jordan),  Côte-d'Or (FBDO R. Dijon),  Aruba (R. Oranjestad; wired 1937)
1957  |  Brunei (RTB),  AOF: French West Africa (R. Soudan, Bamako),  AOF: Mauritania (R. Mauritanie, Saint-Louis, Senegal),  Chile ( Easter Island (R. Hanga Roa)),  Meurthe-et-Moselle (FBNH R. Nancy)
1958  |  AEF: Ubangi-Shari (R. Bangui),  Gibraltar (R. Gibraltar),  AOF: Niger (R. Niger, Niamey),  Uganda (UBS, Kampala),  Haute-Vienne (FBTG R. Limoges)
1959  |  AOF: Upper Volta (R. Haute Volta, Ouagadougou),  AEF: Gabon (R. Gabon, Libreville),  Jeju Island (R. Jeju, Jeju-si),  Somme (FBSP R. Amiens)

### 1960s

[edit]

Year  | Countries and territories

|

1960  |  New Guinea (VL9BR Rabaul),  Ruanda-Urundi (R. Usumbura)
1961  |  Comoros (R. Comores, Moroni),  Spanish Sahara (EAJ-202/203 R. Sahara, El Aaiún),[22] Tonga (ZCO Nukuʻalofa),  Antarctica ( McMurdo Station (R. McMurdo))
1962  |  Gambia (R. Gambia, Bakau),  Maldives (Malé R.)
1963  |  Barbados (R. Barbados; wired 1935),  Tristan da Cunha (R. Edinburgh of the Seven Seas)
1964  |  Lesotho (R. Lesotho, Maseru),  Malawi (MBC, Blantyre),  Pohnpei (R. Kolonia)
1965  |  Swaziland (SBS, Mbabane),  Trucial States (Voice of the Coast, Sharjah)
1966  |  Kosovo (R. Pristina; wired 1945)
1967  |  Saint Helena (Radio Saint Helena),  Sabah (R. Kota Kinabalu)
1968  |  Nauru (NBS),  Abkhaz ASSR (Radio Sokhumi)
1969  |  Anguilla (R. Anguilla, The Valley),  Northern Cyprus (North Nicosia Radio)

### 1970s

[edit]

Year  | Countries and territories

|

1970  |  Oman (R. Sultanate of Oman, Muscat),  Azores (R. Ponta Delgada)
1971  |  Corsica (R. Corsica, Corsica),  Venda (R. Thohoyandou)
1972  |  Saint Barthélemy (R. Gustavia),  Nakhichevan ASSR (R. Nakhchivan)
1973  |  Bhutan (Radio NYAB, Thimphu),  Chuuk (Radio Weno)
1974  |  Niue (R. Alofi),  Transkei (R. Umtata)
1975  |  Tuvalu (Radio Tuvalu),[23] KwaZulu (R. Pietermaritzburg)
1976  |  Bophuthatswana (R. Mamabatho, shutdown 1993)
1977  |  Yap (R. Colonia)
1978  |  YU: Republika Srpska (R. Sarajevo, wired 1945)
1979  |  German-speaking Community (German Speaking Radio),  Ciskei (R. Bisho)

### 1980s

[edit]

Year  | Countries and territories

|

1980  |  Ceuta (R. Ceuta),  Lebowa (R. Lebowa)
1981  |  Transnistria (R. Tiraspol),  KaNgwane (R. Louieville)
1982  |  Melilla (R. Melilla),  Gazankulu (R. Giyani),  Kosrae (R. Tofol)
1983  |  Eritrea (Radio Asmara, Asmara),  Gagauzia (R. Comrat)
1984  |  Norfolk Island (Radio Norfolk Island, Kingston),  QwaQwa (R. Phuthaditjhaba)
1985  |  Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (R. Stepanakert)
1986  |  South Ossetia (R. Tskhinvali)
1987  |  Akrotiri and Dhekelia (R. Akrotiri and R. Dhekelia),  Sint Maarten (R. Philipsburg)
1988  |  Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (R. Sarajevo, wired 1945)
1989  |  Montserrat (R. Plymouth)

### 1990s

[edit]

Year  | Countries and territories

|

1992  |  Tokelau (R. Nukunonu)
1993  |  San Marino (R. San Marino)
1994  |  Collectivity of Saint Martin (R. Marigot)
1995  |  Somaliland (R. Hargeisa; wired 1944)
1996  |  Saba Department (R. The Bottom)
1997  |  Southern Provinces (R. Laayoune)
1999  |  Pitcairn Islands (R. Adamstown)

### 2000s

[edit]

Year  | Countries and territories

|

2000  |  Netherlands ( Bonaire (R. Kralendijk))
2002  |  Cocos (Keeling) Islands (R. West Island)
2004  |  South Sudan (R. Juba)
2006  |  Donetsk People's Republic (R. Donetsk)
2007  |  Luhansk People's Republic (R. Luhansk)
2008  |  Sint Eustatius (R. Oranjestad)

### 2010s

[edit]

Year  | Countries and territories

|

2012  |  Chinland (R. Chinland)
2015  |  Puntland (R. Puntland)

## See also

[edit]

* History of radio
* Table of years in radio
* List of oldest radio stations
* Timeline of the introduction of television in countries

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Ferraretto, Luiz Artur. De 1919 a 1923, os primeiros momentos do rádio no Brasil (2014)
2. ^ Marconi Books - 2MT Writtle
3. ^ CW90A - 90th Anniversary of the Uruguayan Radio Broadcasting
4. ^ Radio-Geschichte Schweiz
5. ^ Roorda, Eric Paul. Historical Dictionary of the Dominican Republic, p. 187, at Google Books (2016)
6. ^ Lin, Chua Ai. The Story of Singapore Radio (1924-41) (2016)
7. ^ Eighty Years of Radio in Indonesia (Wavescan, 2003)
8. ^ Abdel Rahman, Haidi M. K. Women, Regional Radio and Development p. 30 (2010)
9. ^ "Радио в Узбекистане". Archived from the original on 2016-03-29. Retrieved 2016-03-19.
10. ^ Karachi in Pakistan (Wavescan update, 2010)
11. ^ "Radio Nacional, 80 años registrando la historia de Colombia". Señal Memoria (in Spanish). Bogotá: RTVC. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
12. ^ Mediumwave broadcasting in Bermuda (Wavescan, 2009)
13. ^ Port Moresby on Shortwave (Wavescan, 2009)
14. ^ Тувинскому радио - 70 лет
15. ^ Radio em Angola
16. ^ History of Radio Jamaica Ltd.
17. ^ 胡少红. 民国时期不同治疆思想下的新闻事业 (2014)
18. ^ Adejunmobi, Jonathan Adegoke. The development of radio broadcasting in Nigeria, West Africa p. 45 (1974)
19. ^ Richardson, Irene. History of Tibetan and exile radio (2009)
20. ^ Sturmer, Martin. The media history of Tanzania (2008)
21. ^ The Grenada Revolution Online: Radio
22. ^ Montes Fernández, Francisco José. Breve historia de Radio Sahara (2013)
23. ^ Commonwealth Broadcasting Association (1988). Handbook - Commonwealth Broadcasting Association.

## Bibliography

[edit]

* Blin, Bernard. Milestones in radio: the first half century (1895–1945). The UNESCO courier (February 1997), p. 16–21
* Radio Review/Radio Listeners Guide (1925–1929), Broadcasting Yearbook (1935–2010), World Radio TV Handbook (1947–)
* Berg, Jerome S. The early shortwave stations: a broadcasting history through 1945 (2013)
* radioheritage.net
* worldradiomap.com (Europe, Americas, Asia, Oceania)
* Europe: Broadcasting abroad (1934); The media in Europe at Google Books (2004)
* Africa: Head, Sydney W. Broadcasting in Africa: a continental survey of radio and television at Google Books (1974); Ziegler, Dhyana. Thunder and silence: the mass media in Africa, p. 160–182, at Google Books (1992)
* Arab world: Boyd, Douglas A. Broadcasting in the Arab world: a survey of radio and television in the Middle East at Google Books (1982)
* Asia: Sterling, Christopher H. Encyclopedia of radio. Asia (2004); Luthra, H. R. Indian broadcasting at Google Books (1986); McDaniel, Drew O. Broadcasting in the Malay world: radio, television, and video in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore at Google Books (1994)