According to a report published by the Bank of Korea in 2008, investigating 41 countries, there were 5,586 companies older than 200 years. Of these, 3,146 are located in Japan, 837 in Germany, 222 in the Netherlands and 196 in France. Kongo Gumi Co. Ltd., a Japanese construction company, was the world’s oldest continuously ongoing company, operating for over 1,400 years (from 578 A.D.) until it was absorbed as a subsidiary of another company.