Timeline of the introduction of radio in countries

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.

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

  1920s, 1st half, or earlier (33)

  1920s, 2nd half (53)

  1930s (56)

  1940s (35)

  1950s (27)

  1960s or later (17)

  No data

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

1910s and 1920s

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)
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)
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)
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)
1929	Colombia (HJN Bogotá),[11]  Ecuador (El Prado, Riobamba), Réunion (R. Saint-Denis)

1930s

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)
1931	Kazakh ASSR (RV60 Alma-Ata),  Madagascar (R. Tananarive),  Samoa (5ZA Apia), Tajik SSR (RV47 Stalinabad),  Vatican City (Vatican R.)
1932	Southern Rhodesia (ZEA Salisbury)
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),  Mongolia (R. Ulaanbaatar),  Nicaragua (YNLF Managua), Tenerife (EAJ-43 R. Club Tenerife, Santa Cruz)
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), Greater Lebanon (R. Levant),  Libya (ITR Tripoli),  Liechtenstein (R. Liechtenstein),  Saint Lucia (R. Castries),  Italian East Africa (R. Mogadiscio)
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]

1940s

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)
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)
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)
1945	YU: Bosnia and Herzegovina (R. Sarajevo), YU: Kosovo (R. Pristina), YU: Vietnam (Voice of Vietnam)
1946	Cambodia (R. Cambodge), Spanish Guinea (R. Atlántica, Fernando Póo),  Yemen (Sana'a R. > 1955)
1947	Portuguese Guinea (CMQ Bissau),  Trinidad and Tobago (R. Trinidad, Port of Spain)
1948	Portuguese India (R. Goa),  Nigeria (R. Nigeria; wired 1935)[18]
1949	AOF: Ivory Coast (R. Abidjan),  South West Africa (SABC via sw),  Saudi Arabia (R. Mecca, Jeddah)

1950s

Year	Countries and territories
1950	Liberia (ELBC Monrovia),  Tibet (R. Lhasa),[19]  U.S. Virgin Islands (WSTA Charlotte Amalie)
1951	French Guiana (R. Cayenne),  Kuwait (R. Kuwait), Laos (RNL, Vientiane),    Nepal (R. Nepal, Kathmandu),  Tanganyika (Sauti ya Dar es Salaam),  Zanzibar (Sauti ya Unguja)[20]
1953	Cyprus (CyBS, Nicosia; BBC 1948), AOF: French Dahomey (R. Cotonou), AOF: French Guinea (R. Conakry), AOF: French Togoland (R. Lomé)
1954	Sarawak (R. Sarawak, Kuching),  Windward Islands (WIBS, St. George's, Grenada)[21]
1955	AEF: Chad (R. Tchad, Fort Lamy),  North Borneo (R. Sabah, Jesselton), Sierra Leone (SLBS, Freetown; wired 1934)
1956	Jordan (Radio Jordan)
1957	Brunei (RTB), AOF: French West Africa (R. Soudan, Bamako), AOF: Mauritania (R. Mauritanie, Saint-Louis, Senegal)
1958	AEF: Ubangi-Shari (R. Bangui),  Gibraltar (R. Gibraltar), AOF: Niger (R. Niger, Niamey),  Uganda (UBS, Kampala)
1959	AOF: Upper Volta (R. Haute Volta, Ouagadougou), AEF: Gabon (R. Gabon, Libreville), Jeju Island (R. Jeju, Jeju-si)

1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s

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)
1962	Gambia (R. Gambia, Bakau), Maldives (Malé R.)
1963	Barbados (R. Barbados; wired 1935)
1964	Lesotho (R. Lesotho, Maseru),  Malawi (MBC, Blantyre)
1965	Swaziland (SBS, Mbabane), Trucial States (Voice of the Coast, Sharjah)
1966	Kosovo (R. Pristina; wired 1945)
1967	Saint Helena (Radio Saint Helena)
1968	Nauru (NBS)
1969	Anguilla (R. Anguilla, The Valley)
1970	Oman (R. Sultanate of Oman, Muscat)
1971	Corsica (R. Corsica, Corsica)
1973	Bhutan (Radio NYAB, Thimphu)
1975	Tuvalu (Radio Tuvalu)[23]
1983	Eritrea (Radio Asmara, Asmara)
1984	Norfolk Island (Radio Norfolk Island, Kingston)
1993	San Marino (R. San Marino)

See also

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

References

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

• 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)