World’s oldest person, Nabi Tajima dies at 117

Nabi Tajima,  the World’s oldest person has died aged 117 the Associated Press reported.

At 117, Tajima was older than modern-day Australia, and everyone else known to live on the planet.

Tajima, born Aug. 4, 1900, in Araki, Japan, and recognised as the world’s oldest person, has passed on that mantle.

She died Saturday, having been hospitalized since January and was the last known person born in the 19th century.

She was living in the small island town of Kikai, the AP reported.

The title of “world’s oldest living person” is a remarkable, if fleeting, one.

Tajima claimed the distinction in September, when fellow 117-year-old Violet Brown died in Jamaica.

Brown was the oldest person in the world for about five months.

Tajima was in the exclusive group of supercentenarians, people who have crossed the 110-year threshold. The U.S.-based Gerontology Research Group, which tracks certified people who become supercentenarians, reports 36 worldwide.

All but one of them are women, and 18 of them are Japanese. Good diets and supportive family structure have been linked to Japan’s world-leading life expectancy.