Tuti Yusupova's friends claim both her birth certificate and passport prove she was born on July 1, 1880. 

They now want the Guinness Book of Records to document that achievement. The current record holder is French woman Jeanne Calment, who was 122 when she died in 1997.

Ms Yusupova's death came in the same week as Misao Okawa, who died on April 1, a few weeks after she celebrated her 117th birthday. 

Ms Yusupova's funeral was attended by Baxadir Yangibaev, Chairman of the Council of Ministers in the autonomous Republic of Karakalpakstan, in north west Uzbekistan. 

Mr Yangibaev said the evidence of Ms Yusupova's age was conclusive and this information would be passed onto the officials responsible for the Guinness Book of Records. 

He said Uzbekistan has to be one of the healthiest places in the world to live because out of its population of 30 million, they have 8,700 people who are more than 100. 

The 135-year-old pensioner recently appeared in a documentary 'Tuti Yusupova - Witness of three centuries. 

During the documentary, she said: 'I can tell you that the secret to a long life is to do lots of work in the fields and to live an honest life. Having lived through so many wars I would also tell the children of today to try and live their lives in the company of good people, and to appreciate times of peace.' 

At her 117th birthday party last month Ms Okawa said that her life had seemed 'rather short.'

When asked the secret to long life, she said: 'I wonder about that too.'

(dailymail.co.uk)