119-year-old Costa Rican seeks official title as world’s oldest man

In the small town of Sardinal on Costa Rica’s Nicoya Peninsula, Jose Flores, now 119, lives a quiet life with his granddaughter Hellen, who prepares his meals and looks after him. According to his identity card, he was born on July 11, 1907, a date that would make him the world’s oldest man if confirmed. Experts from the Nicoya Peninsula Blue Zone Association are examining a suite of documents—including birth and baptism certificates—to verify his age for international record-keeping agencies.

The region, famed as a Blue Zone, credits long lives to mineral-rich water, a corn-and-bean diet, physical activity and tight family networks. Flores, a former countryside worker, attributes his health to love and family support. Validation could bring national pride, while one outlet holder of the title is Britain’s Ethel Caterham, aged 117.