Timeline of the introduction of radio in countries

Summary

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 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)
1923   Belgium (R. Bruxelles),   Chile (CBC R. Chilena Santiago),   Czechoslovakia (Radiojournal, Prague),   Germany (Funk-Stunde, Berlin),   India (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),   Luxembourg (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),   Yugoslavia: 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)
1928   Greece (Thessaloniki; YRE 1938),   Honduras (HRB La Voz del Trópico, Tegucigalpa),   Hong Kong (GOW),   Morocco (R. Maroc),   Pakistan (YMCA, Lahore; Karachi 1926),[9]   Rumania (R. Bukarest),   Taiwan (JFAK Taihoku),   Thailand (4PJ Bangkok),   Vietnam: Tonkin (R. Sindex, Haiphong),   YU: Slovenia (R. Ljubljana)
1929   Colombia (HJN Bogotá),[10]   Ecuador (El Prado, Riobamba),   Réunion (R. Saint-Denis)

1930s edit

Year Countries and territories
1930   Bermuda (TJW Hamilton),[11]   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),   Vietnam: Cochinchina (FZS Saigon)
1931   Kazakh SSR (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)[12]
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)[13]
1937   Angola (CR6AA Lobito),[14]   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),   Lebanon (R. Levant),   Libya (ITR Tripoli),   Liechtenstein (R. Liechtenstein),   Italian Somaliland (R. Mogadiscio)
1939   Andorra (R. Andorra),   Bangladesh (All India Radio, Dhaka),   Baroda (Baroda),   French West Africa [AOF]/Senegal (R. AOF, Dakar),   Jamaica (VP5PZ Kingston)[15]

1940s edit

Year Countries and territories
1940   Bahrain (R. Bahrain > Arabic 1955),   Gold Coast (ZOY Accra; wired 1935),   Iran (R. Tehran),   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),[16]   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)[17]
1949   AOF: Ivory Coast (R. Abidjan),   South West Africa (SABC via sw),   Saudi Arabia (R. Mecca, Jeddah)

1950s edit

Year Countries and territories
1950   Liberia (ELBC Monrovia),   Tibet (R. Lhasa),[18]   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)[19]
1953   Cyprus (CyBS, Nicosia; BBC 1948),   AOF: 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)[20]
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 Sudan (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)

1960s, 1970s and 1990s 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),[21]   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)
1967   Saint Helena (Radio Saint Helena)
1968   Nauru (NBS)
1969   Anguilla (R. Anguilla, The Valley)
1970   Oman (R. Sultanate of Oman, Muscat)
1973   Bhutan (Radio NYAB, Thimphu)
1975   Tuvalu (Radio Tuvalu)[22]
1993   San Marino (R. San Marino)

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. ^ Karachi in Pakistan (Wavescan update, 2010)
  10. ^ "Radio Nacional, 80 años registrando la historia de Colombia". Señal Memoria (in Spanish). Bogotá: RTVC. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  11. ^ Mediumwave broadcasting in Bermuda (Wavescan, 2009)
  12. ^ Port Moresby on Shortwave (Wavescan, 2009)
  13. ^ Тувинскому радио - 70 лет
  14. ^ Radio em Angola
  15. ^ History of Radio Jamaica Ltd.
  16. ^ 胡少红. 民国时期不同治疆思想下的新闻事业 (2014)
  17. ^ Adejunmobi, Jonathan Adegoke. The development of radio broadcasting in Nigeria, West Africa p. 45 (1974)
  18. ^ Richardson, Irene. History of Tibetan and exile radio (2009)
  19. ^ Sturmer, Martin. The media history of Tanzania (2008)
  20. ^ The Grenada Revolution Online: Radio
  21. ^ Montes Fernández, Francisco José. Breve historia de Radio Sahara (2013)
  22. ^ 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)

See also edit