This group is designed to be an informative data collection of lists and photographs regarding the world's oldest people (108+). Only proven cases will be listed in the "official" section; other cases may be organized separately. The purpose is to inform the public regarding an area that has been lacking by organizing disparate data into a quantitative approach, while still maintaining a qualitative flavor. In other words, photos will be organized by the age of the individual; false cases will be disallowed or posted separately. It is also hoped this will serve as an opportunity for previously unknown cases to be found.

The official world record for the oldest proven individual remains 122 years, 164 days in the case of Jeanne Calment of France (Feb. 21, 1875-Aug. 4, 1997).

The "world's oldest person" according to Guinness World Records and the Gerontology Research Group was Gertrude Baines of the United States, born April 6 1894. Gertrude became America's oldest person on Nov 26 2008 and became the world's oldest on Jan 2 2009. However, Gertrude died Sept 11 2009. Guinness World Records has not yet announced the new titleholder. The Gerontology Research Group lists Kama Chinen of Japan, born May 10 1895, as the new titleholder.

Pictured for February 2010 is Besse Cooper of Monroe, Georgia, USA. Born Aug. 26, 1896, Ms. Cooper still has living memories of the 1800s, including taking a boat ride down the Tennessee river at age 3 in 1899.

As the oldest living person not previously featured for whom a suitable-size photo (over 50k) was available, the World's Oldest People group is happy to honor Ms. Cooper as the "Supercentenarian of the Month" for February 2010.

Peak World's Oldest people group membership is 940 subscribers as of Feb 8 2010