---
title: "Which came first, Fanta or Pakistan?"
description: "Fanta vs Pakistan: Fanta came first, by 7 years — 1940 against 1947. What happened in each case, and why the dates are often given differently."
url: https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/fanta-vs-pakistan/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Which came first, Fanta or Pakistan?

**Which came first, Fanta or Pakistan?: Fanta**

1940 — 7 years before Pakistan

Fanta came first, by 7 years. Coca-Cola's German bottler invented it when syrup imports stopped.

## Side by side

|  | Fanta | Pakistan |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Year | 1940 | 1947 |
| Date | — | 1947-08-14 |
| Category | food | country |
| What happened | Coca-Cola's German bottler invented it when syrup imports stopped. | Pakistan became independent at midnight, one day before India. |

## Fanta

When the war cut Coca-Cola GmbH off from American syrup, its head Max Keith made a drink from what was available in Germany — whey left over from cheese making and apple pomace left over from cider pressing. The name came from a brainstorming session where staff were told to use their imagination, Fantasie. Sprite arrived 21 years later in 1961, developed from a German lemon drink Coca-Cola had launched in 1959, so Fanta comfortably predates it.

## Pakistan

Pakistan and India were created by the same act of parliament, but Mountbatten had to attend both ceremonies, so he took the Pakistani one in Karachi on 14 August and the Indian one in Delhi on the 15th. Pakistan is therefore one day older than India in the sense the question means. Independence in both cases took effect at the same instant: midnight between the two dates.

## Common questions

### Which came first, Fanta or Pakistan?

Fanta, by 7 years — 1940 against 1947.

### When did Fanta start?

1940. Coca-Cola's German bottler invented it when syrup imports stopped.

### When did Pakistan start?

1947. Pakistan became independent at midnight, one day before India.

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## Sources

- Wikidata — Wikimedia Foundation (https://www.wikidata.org/) [CC0 1.0]