List of oldest continuously inhabited cities

This is a list of present-day cities by the time period over which they have been continuously inhabited.

The age claims listed are generally disputed. Differences in opinion can result from different definitions of "city" as well as "continuously inhabited" and historical evidence is often disputed.

Several cities listed here (Balkh, Byblos, Aleppo, Damascus, and Jericho) each popularly claim to be "the oldest city in the world".^[1] Caveats to the validity of each claim are discussed in the "Notes" column.

With fortifications dating to at least 6800 BC, Jericho appears to be the oldest known walled city.

Africa, Northern and the Horn

Name	Historical region	Location	Continuously inhabited since	Notes
Luxor (as Waset, better known by its Greek name Thebes)	Ancient Egypt	Egypt	-3200 c. 3200 BC	First established as capital of Upper Egypt, Thebes later became the religious capital of the nation until its decline in the Roman period.
Zeila/Avalite	Bilad al-Barbar	Somaliland	-400 !c. 1st century AD	Major trading city in the Horn of Africa
Axum	Kingdom of Axum	Ethiopia	-400 !c. 400 BC	Ancient capital of the Kingdom of Axum
Berbera	Bilad al-Barbar	Somaliland	-400 !c. 400 BC	The city was described as 800 stadia beyond the city of the Avalites, described in the eighth chapter of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, which was written by a Greek merchant in the 1st century AD.
Alexandria		Egypt	-332 !332 BC	Founded by Alexander the Great[2]
Mogadishu	Bilad al-Barbar	Somalia	-200 !c. 200 BC	Successor of the ancient trading power of Sarapion
Djenné-Jeno		Mali	-200 !c. 200 BC	One of the oldest known cities in sub-Saharan Africa[3]
Old Cairo		Egypt	100 !c. 100	Babylon Fortress moved to its current location in the reign of Emperor Trajan, forming the core of Old or Coptic Cairo[4]
Kismayo	Bilad al-Barbar, after the 13th century part of the Ajuran Empre	Somalia	100 ! 4th century	The Kismayo area was originally a small fishing settlement and expendad to a major trading city on the Somali coast.[5]
Fes (as Fes-al-Bali)		Morocco	789 !789	Founded as the new capital of the Idrisid Dynasty[6]
Marrakesh (Murakuc)		Morocco	1070 !1070	Founded by the Almoravid Dynasty[7]

Africa, Sub-Saharan

Name	Historical region	Location	Continuously inhabited since	Notes
Igodomigodo	Kingdom of Benin	Nigeria	-400 !c. 400 BC	City of Benin, one of the oldest cities in Nigeria
Ife	Osun State	Nig Nigeria	-350 !c. 350 BC	Earliest traces of habitation date to the 4th century BC.[8]
Sofala		Mozambique	900 !c. 700	One of the oldest harbours documented in Southern Africa,
Cape Town	Cape colony	South Africa	1652	Founded by Dutch settlers from Dutch East India Company and is the oldest city in South Africa
Kumasi	Ashanti Empire	Ghana	c. 1680	Founded as Akan village and capital of the Kumaseman State, later becoming capital of Ashanti Empire,

America, North

Name	Historical region	Location	Continuously inhabited since	Notes
Mexico City	Mexica culture	Mexico	1325	Founded as twin cities Tenōchtitlān (1325) and Tlāltelōlco (1337) by the Mexica. Named changed to Ciudad de México (Mexico City) after the Spanish conquest of the city in 1521. Several other pre-Columbian towns such as Azcapotzalco, Tlatelolco, Xochimilco and Coyoacán have been engulfed by the still growing metropolis and are now part of modern Mexico City. Oldest capital city in the Americas.
Santo Domingo	Hispaniola	Dominican Republic	1496	Oldest European settlement in the New World
Panama City	Cueva Civilization. After European colonization: New Spain	Panama	15th century[9]	Oldest European settlement on the Pacific.
San Juan	New Spain	Puerto Rico	1508	Oldest continuously inhabited city in a US territory
Nombre de Dios, Colón	New Spain	Panama	1510	Oldest European settlement on the mainlands of the Americas
Baracoa	New Spain	Cuba	1511	Oldest European settlement in Cuba
Havana	New Spain	Cuba	1592	Oldest major city in Cuba, granted city status in 1592 by Philip II of Spain
Vera Cruz	New Spain	Mexico	1519	Oldest continuously inhabited European established settlement continental America.
St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador	Newfoundland Colony	Canada	1540s	Oldest city in Canada, and oldest English-speaking city in the Americas
St. Augustine, Florida	New Spain	US	1565	Oldest continuously inhabited European-founded city of the current 50 U.S. states; oldest city in state of Florida.
Santa Fe, New Mexico	New Spain	US	1607	Oldest continuously inhabited state or territorial capital in the continental United States.
Quebec City	New France	Canada	1608	Second oldest city in Canada and oldest French-speaking city in the Americas.
Albany, New York	New Netherlands	US	1614	Followed by Jersey City, New Jersey (Communipaw) in 1617 and New York City (as New Amsterdam) in 1624 or 1625. (Note: While there was an abandonment in 1617 or 1618 of the Albany settlement, it was re-established within a few years; also, the Jersey City settlement was a factorij or trading post in the 1610s and didn't become a "homestead" (bouwerij) until the 1630s. Settlements in New Netherlands sometimes moved around in the early years.)
Plymouth, Massachusetts	Plymouth Colony	US	1620	Fourth oldest continuously inhabited European-founded city in the United States[10]
Saint John	New France	Canada	1631	Oldest incorporated city in Canada
Trois-Rivières	New France	Canada	1634	Fourth oldest city in Canada
Montreal	New France	Canada	1642	Fifth oldest city in Canada
Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan	New France	US	1668	Oldest European-founded city in the Midwestern United States and third oldest American city west of the Appalachian Mountains.
San Diego	New Spain	US	1769	Birthplace of California and oldest city on the West Coast of the United States

America, South

Name	Historical region	Location	Continuously inhabited since	Notes
Upper Xingu	Xingu culture	Brazil	c. 800 AD	A network of settlements continuously inhabited since the late 1st millennium AD. A highly urbanized Kuikuro settlement was home to upwards of 10,000 people in the densely forested Upper Xingu. Their numbers declined sharply after contacts with Europeans in the 16th century.
Quito	Quitu culture	Ecuador	980	Quito's origins date back to 2000 BC, when the Quitu tribe occupied the area.
Cumana	New Granada	Venezuela	1515	Oldest continuously-inhabited, European-established settlement in the continent
Cusco	Inca Empire	Peru	c. 1100	The Killke occupied the region from 900 to 1200, prior to the arrival of the Incas in the 13th century. Carbon-14 dating of Saksaywaman, the walled complex outside Cusco, has demonstrated that the Killke culture constructed the fortress about 1100.[11]
Santa Marta	New Granada	Colombia	1525	Oldest still-inhabited city founded by Spaniards in Colombia.
São Vicente, São Paulo	Governorate General of Brazil	Brazil	1532	First Portuguese settlement in South America
Popayán	New Granada	Colombia	1537	Second oldest continuously graduating University in Colombia after Universidad del Rosario in Bogotá, the University of Cauca, established in 1827,
Lima	Peru	Peru	1535	Second oldest continuously inhabited European-settled capital city in South America
Piura	Peru	Peru	1532	Oldest European-founded city in Peru[12]
Santiago	Captaincy General of Chile	Chile	1541	Oldest continuously inhabited European established settlement in Chile.
Santiago del Estero	Río de la Plata	Argentina	1553	Oldest continuously inhabited city in Argentina

Asia, Central and Southern

Name	Historical region	Location	Continuously inhabited since	Notes
Balkh (as Bactra)	Bactria	AfgBalkh Province, Afghanistan	-1500 ! 1500 BC
Samarqand	Sogdiana	Uzbekistan	-700 ! 700 BC
Ujjain	Malwa	India	-600 ! c. 600 BC[13]	Rose to prominence in ca 600 BC as capital of Avanti.
Rajagriha (Rajgir)	Magadha	IndBihar, India	-600 ! 600 BC
Madurai	Pandyan kingdom	IndTamil Nadu, India	-500 ! 500 BC	There are accounts of Megasthenes (c. 350 – 290 BC) a Greek ethnographer in the Hellenistic period, author of the work Indica, having visited Madurai (then, a bustling city and capital of Pandya Kingdom). Mahavamsa, the Sri Lankan chronicle mentions that King Vijaya married a princess from Madurai, and his period is mentioned to be around 543 BC.
Vaisali	Magadha	IndBihar, India	-500 ! 500 BC[14]
Patna	Magadha	IndBihar, India	-450 ! 5th century BC[15]	As Pataliputra was founded by Ajatashatru.
Peshawar	Gandhara	PakKhyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan	-350 ! c. 400–300 BC[16]	Ongoing excavations in the Gor Khuttree region have given proof of the ancient foundations of the city and have established Peshawar as one of the oldest settlements in Central and South Asia.
Mahasthangarh, Bogra	Pundravardhana	BanBogra District, Bangladesh	- 300BC ! 4th century BC[17]	Remains of the ancient city of Pundranagara.
Anuradhapura	Kingdom of Rajarata	Central Province, Sri Lanka	-300 ! 4th century BC[18]
Thanjavur	Early Chola kingdom	IndTamil Nadu, India	-300 ! 300 BC	Some scholars believe that the city has been existing since the Sangam Period
Bamyan	Bactria	AfgBamyan Province, Afghanistan	- 1st century AD ! 1st century AD
Kathmandu-Patan, Lalitpur	Nepal	Kathmandu valley, Nepal	- 2nd century AD ! c. 2nd century AD	The epigraphically attested history of Kathmandu valley begins in the 2nd century. Folklore speaks of a hoarier past.

Asia, Eastern

Name	Historical region	Location	Continuously inhabited since	Notes
Xi'an (as Haojing, Fenghao, Chang'an, Daxing)	Zhou Dynasty	ChiShaanxi, China	-1100 ! c. 1100 BC
Beijing	Ji, Yan	ChiBeijing, China	-1000 ! c. 1045 BC	Paleolithic homo sapiens lived in the caves from about 27,000 to 10,000 years ago.[19]
Suzhou (as Gusu, Wu)	Wu	ChiJiangsu, China	-514 ! 514 BC
Chengdu	Shu	ChiSichuan, China	-400 ! c. 400 BC	The 9th Kaiming king of the ancient Shu moved his capital to the city's current location from today's nearby Pixian.
Nanjing (as Yecheng, Jianye, Jiankang, Jinling)	Wu	ChiJiangsu, China	-495 ! c. 495 BC	Fu Chai, Lord of the State of Wu, founded a fort named Yecheng (冶城) in today's Nanjing area.
Kaifeng (as Daling, Bianzhou, Dongjing, Bianjing)	Wei	ChiHenan, China	-364 ! c. 364 BC	The State of Wei founded a city called Daliang (大梁）as its capital in this area.
Guangzhou (as Panyu)	Qin Dynasty	ChiGuangdong, China	-214 ! 214 BC
Hangzhou (as Lin'an)	Qin Dynasty	ChiZhejiang, China	-200 ! c. 200 BC	The city of Hangzhou was founded about 2,200 years ago during the Qin Dynasty.
Pyeongyang (as Wanggeom-seong)	Gojoseon	North Korea	194 BC	Built as the capital city of Gojoseon in 194 BC.
Gyeongju	Silla	South Korea	57 BC	Built as the capital city of Silla in 57 BC.
Seoul (as Wiryeseong)	Baekjae	South Korea	18 BC	Built as the capital city of Baekjae in 18 BC.
Osaka (as Naniwa)	Japan	Japan	c. 400 AD	It was inhabited as early at the 6th–5th centuries BC, and became a port city during the Kofun period. It temporarily served as the capital of Japan from 645 to 655.
Nara (as Heijō-kyō)	Japan	Japan	710 AD	Built as a new capital city in 710.
Kyoto (as Heian-kyō, and sometimes known in the west as Miyako)	Japan	Japan	794 AD	Shimogamo Shrine was built in the 6th century, but the city was officially founded as Heian-kyō when it became the capital in 794.

Asia, Southeastern

Name	Historical region	Location	Continuously inhabited since	Notes
Hanoi	Jiaozhou	Vietnam	454 AD	First mentioned as Tống Bình in 454 AD, the Đại La citadel was built in 767 during the reign of Emperor Daizong of Tang; Ly Cong Uan renamed it Thăng Long in 1010.
Palembang	Srivijaya	Indonesia	600 ! c. 600 AD	Oldest city in the Malay Archipelago, capital of the Srivijaya empire.
Luang Prabang	Muang Sua	Laos	600 ! 698 AD
Siem Reap	Khmer Empire	Cambodia	800 ! 801 AD[20]	Capital of the Khmer Empire.
Bagan	Kingdom of Pagan	Myanmar	800 ! 849 AD[21]
Manila	Kingdom of Tondo and Kingdom of Maynila	Philippines	900 ! 900 AD[22]	Oldest known settlement in the Philippines as documented by the Laguna Copperplate Inscription; when the Spanish, led by Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, arrived, it was still inhabited and led by at least one datu.
Bandar Seri Begawan	Kingdom of Po-ni and Bruneian Empire	Brunei	900 ! 977 AD[23]	Oldest city in Borneo.
Butuan	Kingdom of Butuan	Philippines	1000 ! 1001 AD[24][25]	Oldest city in Mindanao.
Yangon	Konbaung Dynasty	Myanmar	600 ! 1043 AD[26]	Yangon was founded as Dagon in the early 11th century (circa 1028–1043) by the Mon but was renamed to "Yangon" after King Alaungpaya conquered Dagon.
Kediri	Kediri Kingdom	Indonesia	600 ! 1042 AD[27]	Along with changes in name, it is essentially a union of the two capitals of Panjalu Kingdom and Janggala Kingdom. The settlements are always interspersed along both banks of Brantas River. Administratively, the Government of Indonesia divides Kediri into two political entities, Kediri Regency and the Town of Kediri which is located in the middle of the regency. Nevertheless, archaeological remains exist beyond administrative boundaries and settlements often spread disregarding administrative boundaries between both entities.
Singapore	Kingdom of Singapura	Singapore	1100 ! 1170 AD[28]
Banda Aceh	Aceh Sultanate	Indonesia	1205 AD	Originally named Kutaraja, which means "City of the King".
Muar	Majapahit	Malaysia	1361 AD[29]
Phnom Penh	Khmer Empire	Cambodia	1372 AD[30]
Malacca	Malacca Sultanate	Malaysia	900 ! 1396 AD[31]
Hội An	Nguyễn dynasty	Vietnam	14th century[32]
Teluk Intan	Perak Sultanate	Malaysia	1511 AD[33]
Pattani	Pattani Kingdom	Thailand	1516 AD[33]
Medan	Sultanate of Deli	Indonesia	1590 AD[34]
Klang	Johor-Riau Sultanate	Malaysia	900 ! 1643 AD[35]	Klang remained under Johor's control until 1742.
Bangkok	Ayutthaya Kingdom	Thailand	900 ! 1688 AD[36]	Modern Bangkok was built after the Siege of Bangkok from French imperialists.
Alor Setar	Kedah Sultanate	Malaysia	1735 AD[37]	Founded in 1735 by Kedah’s 19th Ruler, Sultan Muhammad Jiwa Zainal Adilin II and is the state’s eighth administrative centre since the establishment of the Kedah Sultanate in 1136.
Dili	Portuguese Timor	East Timor	900 ! 1769 AD[38]	Dili was settled about 1520 by the Portuguese, who made it the capital of Portuguese Timor in 1769.
George Town	Straits Settlements	Malaysia	900 ! 1786 AD[39]	Founded by Sir Captain Francis Light after the Penang was ceded from Kedah to British Colony.

Asia, Western

Continuous habitation since the Chalcolithic (or Copper Age) is vaguely possible but highly problematic to prove archaeologically for several Levantine cities (Jericho, Byblos, Aleppo, Damascus, Sidon and Beirut).

Cities became more common outside the Fertile Crescent with the Early Iron Age from about 1100 BC. The foundation of Rome in 753 BC is conventionally taken as one of the dates initiating Classical Antiquity.

Name	Historical region	Location	Continuously inhabited as a "city" since	Notes
Byblos (Jubayl)	Levant	Lebanon	Chalcolithic (3000 BC)[40][41]	Settled from the Neolithic (carbon-dating tests have set the age of earliest settlement around 7000[42]), a city since the 3rd millennium BC.[40] Byblos had a reputation as the "oldest city in the world" in Antiquity (according to Philo of Byblos).
Aleppo	Levant	Syria	Chalcolithic (4,300 BC or earlier)[43]	Evidence of habitation at the current site of Aleppo dates to about c. 8,000 years ago, although excavations at Tell Qaramel, 25 kilometers north of the city show the area was inhabited about 13,000 years ago,[44] the Temple of Hadad inside the Citadel date to c. 2400 BC.[45]
Damascus	Levant	Syria	Chalcolithic	Damascus is often claimed to be the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world, and evidence exists of a settlement in the wider Barada basin dating back to 9000 BC. However, within the area of Damascus, there is no evidence for large-scale settlement until the 2nd millennium BC.[46]
Susa (Shush)	Khuzestan	Iran	4200 BC	Archaeological excavations indicate that the site has been inhabited since at least 5000 BC.[47] The emergence of acropolis in Susa is determined by C14 dating from 4395–3955 BC,[48] roughly dated about 4200 BC as time of foundation.[49] Susa was a large city during Ancient and Medieval periods, but marginalized in 13th century[47] due to Mongol invasion. The city further degraded from 15th century when a majority of its population moved to Dezful and it remained as a small settlement until the 20th century.[50]
Sidon	Levant	Lebanon	4000 BC[51]	There is evidence that Sidon was inhabited from as long ago as 4000 BC, and perhaps, as early as Neolithic times (6000 – 4000 BC).
Gaziantep	Anatolia	Southeastern Anatolia, Turkey	c. 3650 BC[52]	Although most modern scholars place the Classical Antiochia ad Taurum at Gaziantep, some maintain that it was located at Aleppo. Furthermore, that the two cities occupy the same site is far from established fact.[53] Assuming this to be the case, the founding date of the present site would be about 1000 BC.[54]
Jericho	Levant	West Bank	Chalcolithic (3000 BC or earlier)	Traces of habitation from 9000 BC.[55][56] Fortifications date to 6800 BC (or earlier), making Jericho the earliest known walled city.[57] Archaeological evidence indicates that the city was destroyed and abandoned several times (sometimes remaining uninhabited for hundreds of years at a time), with later rebuilding and expansion.[58][59]
Rey	Media	Iran	3000 BC[60]	A settlement at the site goes back to the 3rd millennium BC. Rey (also Ray or Rayy) is mentioned in the Avesta (an important text of prayers in Zoroastrianism) as a sacred place, and it is also featured in the book of Tobit.[60]
Beirut	Levant	Lebanon	3000 BC[61]
Jerusalem (Old City)	Levant	West Bank/Israel	5000–2800 BC[62][63]
Tyre	Levant	Lebanon	2750 BC[64]
Jenin	Levant	West Bank	c. 2450 BC[65]	Jenin's history goes back to 2450 BC, when it was built by the Canaanites. After 1244, Jenin flourished economically because of its location on the trade route, until a major earthquake completely destroyed the city.[66]
Erbil	Mesopotamia	Iraqi Kurdistan, Iraq	2300 BC[67][68]	The Citadel of Arbil is a fortified settlement in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan. The city corresponds to ancient Arbela. Settlement at Erbil (kurdish: Hewlêr) can be dated back to possibly 5000 BC, but not urban life until c. 2300.
Kirkuk (as Arrapha)	Mesopotamia	Kirkuk Governorate, Iraq	3000–2200 BC[69]
Jaffa	Levant	Israel	c. 2000 BC	Archaeological evidence shows habitation from 7500 BC.[70]
Hebron	Levant	West Bank	c. 1500 BC	"Hebron is considered one of the oldest cities and has been continuously inhabited for nearly 3500 years."[71]
Gaza	Levant	Gaza Strip	c. 1000 BC	While evidence of habitation dates back at least 5,000 years, it is said to be continuously inhabited for a little more than 3,000 years.[72][73]
Hamadan (as Ecbatana)	Median Empire	Iran	c. 800 BC[74]

Europe

Name	Historical region	Location	Continuously inhabited since	Notes
Argos	Neolithic, Mycenaean Greece	Greece	-5000 ! 5th millennium BC	Continuously inhabited mostly as an urban settlement, for the past 7,000 years,[75] historical, recorded history since second half of 1st millennium BC.
Athens	Neolithic, Mycenaean Greece	GreAttica, Greece	-4500 ! 5th–4th Millennium BC[76]	Earliest human presence 11th–7th millennium BC,[77] recorded history begins in 1400 BC.
Plovdiv	Thrace	BulPlovdiv Province, Bulgaria	-3000 ! 3000[78] – 4000 BC[79][80]	Thracian foundation. Earliest evidence of a settlement dates back to 6000 BC.[81][82]
Kutaisi	Colchis	Imereti province, Georgia	-2000 ! c. 2000 BC	Founded as Aia. Archeological evidence indicates that the city functioned as the capital of the kingdom of Colchis as early as the 2nd millennium BC. It is widely believed by historians that when Apollonius Rhodius was writing about Jason and the Argonauts and their legendary journey to Colchis, Kutaisi/Aia was the final destination of the Argonauts and the residence of King Aeëtes.
Chania	Crete	GreCrete, Greece	-1400 ! c. 1400 BC	Minoan foundation as Kydonia
Larnaca	Alashiya	Cyprus	-1400 ! c. 1400 BC	Mycenaean, then Phoenician colony
Thebes	Mycenaean Greece	GreBoeotia, Greece	-1400 ! c. 1400 BC	Mycenaean foundation
Trikala	Mycenaean Greece	GreThessaly, Greece	-1201 ! before 1200 BC	founded as Trikke
Chalcis	Mycenaean Greece	Greece	-1201 ! before 1200 BC	mentioned by Homer
Lisbon	Iron Age Iberia	Portugal	-1200 ! c. 1200 BC	A settlement since the Neolithic. Allis Ubbo, arguably a Phoenician name, became Olissipo(-nis) in Greek and Latin (also Felicitas Julia after Roman conquest in 205 BC).
Cádiz	Iron Age Iberia	SpaAndalusia, Spain	-1100 ! 1100 BC	founded as Phoenician Gadir, "Europe's oldest city"[83][84]
Patras	Mycenaean Greece	Greece	-1100 ! c. 1100 BC	founded by Patreus
Nicosia		Cyprus	c. 1050 BC	Mycenaean foundation as Ledra. Archeological evidence of continuous habitation since the beginning of the Bronze Age 2500 years BC.
Zadar	Illyricum	Croatia	-1000 ! c. 1000 BC	founded by Liburnians. Oldest continusly inhabited city in Croatia. Main Liburnian settlement.
Mtskheta	Caucasian Iberia	Georgia	1000 ! c. 1000 BC	Remains of towns at this location have been dated to earlier than the year 1000 BC, and Mtskheta was capital of the early Georgian Kingdom of Iberia during the 3rd century BC – 5th century AD. It was the site of early Christian activity, and the location where Christianity was proclaimed the state religion of Georgia in 337.
Mytilene	Lesbos	GreNorth Aegean, Greece	-950 ! 10th century BC
Chios	Chios	GreNorth Aegean, Greece	-1100 ! c. 1100 BC
Yerevan	Urartu	Armenia	-800 ! 782 BC[85]	Founded as Erebuni. The Shengavit Settlement in the southwestern district of Yerevan was founded in the late 4th millennium BC, during the Calcolithic period.
Seville	Iron Age Iberia	Spa Andalusia, Spain	-750 ! 8th century BC	founded as Tartessian Spal.[86]
Málaga	Iron Age Iberia	Spa Andalusia, Spain	-750 ! 8th century BC	founded as Phoenician Malaka.[87]
Cagliari	Sardinia	ItaSardinia, Italy	-750 ! 8th century BC	Founded by Phoenicians from Tyre as Krly, Caralis in roman times, Callaris in Middle Ages.
Rome	Latium	ItaLazio, Italy	-753 ! 753 BC	Continuous habitation since approximately 1000 BC.; pastoral village on the northern part of the Palatine Hill dated to the 9th century BC; see also History of Rome and Founding of Rome.
Messina (as Zancle)	Sicily	ItaSicily, Italy	-750 ! 8th century BC
Reggio di Calabria (as Rhégion)	Magna Graecia	ItaCalabria, Italy	-743 ! 743 BC[88]	Continuous habitation since approximately 1500 BC, as we have notice about the Ausonian-Italic pre-Greek settlement and about the sculptor Léarchos of Reggio (early 15th century BC)[88] and King Iokastos (late 13th century BC).[88]
Palermo (as זִיז, Ziz)	Phoenicia	ItaSicily, Italy	-734 ! 734 BC	Settlement presence since approximately 8000 BC, as we know through cave drawings in the area now known as Addaura, but continuous documented habitation since the Phoenician times (734 BC is traditionally considered as the founding year).
Syracuse	Sicily	ItaSicily, Italy	-734 ! 734 BC	A colony of the Greek city of Corinth
Volterra	Tuscany	ItaTuscany, Italy	-725 ! c. 725 BC	An Etruscan mining settlement[89]
Crotone (as Kroton)	Calabria	ItaMagna Graecia, Italy	-710 ! 710 BC
Taranto (as Taras)	Magna Graecia	ItaApulia, Italy	-706 ! 706 BC	Founded as the only Spartan colony by the Partheniae, children of unmarried Spartan women and perioikoi, free non-citizen residents of Sparta and her territories.
Corfu, Kerkyra	Corfu	GreIonian Islands, Greece	-700 ! 700 BC
Naples	Magna Graecia	Italy	-680 ! c. 680 BC[90]	Actually the date at which an older settlement close by, called Parthenope, was founded by settlers from Cumae. This eventually merged with Neapolis proper, which was founded c. 470 BC.
Istanbul/Byzantion	Thrace Anatolia	Turkey	-667 ! 685 BC Anatolia 667 BC Thrace	Neolithic site dated to 6400 BC, over port of Lygos by Thracians c. 1150 BC
Ibiza (as 'Ybsm)	Balearic Islands	Spain	-654 ! 654 BC	Founded by the Phoenicians, according to Diodorus Siculus, book 5, chap. 16. Date consistent with archaeological finds.[91]
Durrës	Illyria	Albania	-627 ! 627 BC	Founded[92] by settlers from Corcyra & Corinth as Epidamnos
Kerch	Crimea	Russia/Ukraine	-600 ! 7th century BC
Feodosiya (as Theodosia)	Crimea	Russia/Ukraine	-600 ! 7th century BC
Edessa, Greece	Macedonia	Greece	-601 ! before the 6th century BC	capital of Macedonia up to 6th century BC
Marseilles (as Massilia)	Gaul	France	-600 ! 600 BC	A colony of the Greek city of Phocaea
Varna	Thrace	BulBulgarian Black Sea Coast, Bulgaria	-570 ! 585 BC – 570 BC	founded[93] as Odessos by settlers from Miletus
Sant Martí d'Empúries (as Emporion)	Iberia	Catalonia, Spain	-575 ! ca. 575 BC	A colony of the Greek city of Phocaea. Present Sant Martí is on the ancient Palaiopolis of Emporion, in an island next to the coast; in 550 BC, the inhabitants moved to the mainland, creating the Neapolis: Palaiapolis remained as a small neighbourhood.
Kavala	Macedonia	Greece	-550 ! 6th century BC	founded as Neapolis
Mangalia	Dacia	Romania	-550 ! 6th century BC	founded as Callatis
Constanţa	Dacia	Romania	-550 ! 6th century BC	founded as Tomis
Mantua	Po Valley	ItaLombardy, Italy	-550 ! 6th century BC	Village settlement since c. 2000 BC; became an Etruscan city in the 6th century BC.
Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi	Bessarabia	Ukraine	-550 ! 6th century BC	founded as Tyras
Serres	Macedonia	Greece	-450 ! 5th century BC	first mentioned in the 5th century BC as Siris
Lamia	Greece	Greece	-501 ! before the 5th century BC	first mentioned 424 BC
Veria	Macedonia	Greece	-432 ! c. 432 BC	first mentioned by Thucydides in 432 BC
Rhodes	Rhodes, Aegean Sea	GreDodecanese, Greece	-408 ! c. 408 BC
Sofia	Moesia	BulSofia Valley, Bulgaria	-350 ! 4th century BC	Celtic foundation as Serdica.[94]
Metz	Gaul	France	-350 ! 4th century BC	founded as the oppidum of Celtic Mediomatrici. However, Human permanent presence has been established in the site since 2500 BC.
Roses (as Rhode)	Iberia	SpaCatalonia, Spain	-350 ! 4th century BC	The exactly origin of the city is unknown, but there are remains of a Greek colony from the 4th century BC, although some historians consider the foundation earlier, at the 8th century BC. However, permanent human presence has been established in the site since 3000 BC as evidenced by the different megalithic monuments surrounding the city.
Qabala (as Kabalaka)	Caucasian Albania	Azerbaijan	-350 ! 4th century BC	Archeological evidence indicates that the city functioned as the capital of the Caucasian Albania as early as the 4th century BC.[95]
Stara Zagora	Thrace	Bulgaria	-342 ! 342 BC	It was called Beroe in ancient times and was founded by Phillip II of Macedon[96][97][98][99] although a Thracian settlement neolithic inhabitation have been discovered as well.
Thessaloniki	Macedonia (ancient kingdom)	Greece	-315 ! 315 BC	founded as a new city in the same place of the older city Therme.
Berat	Macedonia (ancient kingdom)	Albania	-314 ! 314 BC	Founded[100] by Cassander as Antipatreia
Vukovar	Illyria	Croatia	300 BC300 BC	Vučedol culture
Belgrade	Illyria	Serbia	-279 ! 279 BC	Vinča culture prospered around Belgrade in the 6th millennium BC. Founded as Singidunum.
Niš	Illyria	Serbia	-279 ! 279 BC	Founded as Navissos. Neolithic settlements date to 5000–2000 BC.
Cartagena (as Carthago Nova)	Iberia	Spain	-228 ! 228 BC	Carthaginian colony, founded by Hasdrubal Barca
Barcelona (as Barcino)	Iberia	SpaCatalonia, Spain	-250 ! 3rd century BC	Unknown origin. Several neolithics tombs (5000–4500 BC) and remains from the Iberian period have been found, as well as several drachma coins inscribed with the word "Barkeno". There is also a hypothesis about a small Greek settlement called Kallípolis to have existed in the area. However, the first archaeological remains of buildings are from the Roman period.
Tarragona (as Tarraco)	Iberia	SpaCatalonia, Spain	-250 ! 218 BC	Roman colony, founded by Gnaeus and Publius Cornelius Scipio
Stobi/Gradsko	Macedonia	Republic of Macedonia	-217 ! 217 BC	founded as Stobi by Philip V of Macedon
Bratislava	Pannonia	Slovakia	2nd century BC	Founded by Celtic Boii tribe. The first written reference to a Slavic settlement dates to 907.
Sremska Mitrovica	Illyria	Serbia	-50 ! 1st century BC	Founded as Sirmium. Neolithic settlements date to 5000 BC and are with other archeological findings evidence to continuous habitation.
Smederevo	Illyria	Serbia	-50 ! 1st century BC	Founded as Semendria.
Ljubljana	Italia	Slovenia	50 BC ! 50 BC	Area first settled by people living in pile dwellings around 2000 BC. Around 50 BC, the Romans built a military encampment that later became a permanent settlement called Iulia Aemona.
Ptuj	Pannonia	Slovenia	1st century BC ! 1st century BC	Ptuj is the oldest city in Slovenia. There is evidence that the area was settled in the Stone Age. In the Late Iron Age it was settled by Celts. By the 1st century BC, the settlement was controlled by Ancient Rome.
Évora	Lusitania	Portugal	-53 ! 53 BC (Roman conquest)	Evidence of Lusitanian settlement prior to Roman occupation.
Paris	Lutetia	France	-52 ! 52 BC	Archaeological evidence indicates human habitation as early as 4200 BC.[101] During the Gallic Wars, Caesar's armies set fire to Lutetia "a town of the Parisii, situated on an island on the river Seine."[102] While only a garrison at best on the Île de la Cité during some periods after 1st and 2nd century, was renamed Paris in 360 AD[103][104]
Zürich (Lindenhof)	Gaul	Switzerland	-50 ! c. 50 BC	lakeside settlement traces dating to the Neolithic.
Trier	Gallia Belgica	Germany	-30 ! 30 BC	Oldest city in Germany.
Maastricht	Germania Inferior	Netherlands	-19 ! 500 BC	Oldest city in the Netherlands.
Chur	Raetia Prima	SwiGrisons, Switzerland	-15 ! 15 BC	habitation since the 4th millennium BC (Pfyn culture).
Worms	Germania Superior	Germany	-14 ! 14 BC	The name of the city derives from the Latin designation Borbetomagus which is of Celtic origin.
Tongeren	Germania Inferior	Belgium	-10 ! 10 BC	Oldest city in Belgium.
Solothurn	Gaul	Switzerland	20 ! c. 20 AD	Evidence of pre-Roman, Celtic settlement; newly founded by the Romans between 14 and 37 AD, called the "oldest city in Gaul besides Trier" in a verse on the city's clock tower.
London (as Londinium)	Britannia	England	43 ! 43 AD	Archaeological evidence near Vauxhall Bridge indicates that the wider area has been occupied for at least 3,500 years.[105]
Bath (as Aquae Sulis)	Britannia	England	43 ! 43 AD	The city was established as a spa town by the Romans in 43 AD[106]
Cologne	Germania Inferior	Germany	50 ! 50 AD	Founded in 38 BC by the Ubii, a Germanic tribe, as Oppidum Ubiorum. In 50 AD, the Romans adopted the location as Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium and the city became in 85 AD the capital of the Roman province.
Winchester (as Venta Belgarum)	Britannia	England	70 ! c. 70 AD	Winchester was built as a Roman town in c. 70 AD.[107]
York (as Eboracum)	Britannia	England	72 ! c. 72 AD	The city was founded in or around AD 72 when the 9th Roman Legion set up camp there.[108]
Skopje	Macedonia (Roman province)	Republic of Macedonia	96 ! 81–96 AD	Founded in the time of Domitian as Scupi.
Novi Sad	Illyria	Serbia	50 ! 1st century AD	Founded as Cusum.
Baku	Azerbaijan	Absheron peninsula	The 1st century AD	The first written evidence for Baku dates to the 1st century AD[109]
Vienna		Austria	c. 300 AD	"It is uncertain when Vindobona became a municipium; this elevation seems to have taken place at the beginning of the 3d c. A.D."[110]
Verdun	Lotharingia	France	350 ! 4th century	seat of the bishop of Verdun from the 4th century, but populated earlier.
Kiev	Medieval East Slavic civilization	Ukraine	482 ! 482 AD	Founded by Slavic tribe leader Kyi. Some sources suggest Kiev was founded in 640 BC.
Tbilisi	Caucasian Iberia	Kartli province, Georgia	500 ! c. 500	According to the widely accepted legend the city was founded by King Vakhtang I Gorgasali of Georgia. New archaeological studies of the region have revealed that the territory of Tbilisi was settled by humans as early as the 4th millennium BC. The earliest actual (recorded) accounts of settlement of the location come from the 4th century, when a fortress was built during King Varaz-Bakur's reign.
Aberdeen	Pictland	Scotland	580 ! c. 580	A settlement was established by c. 580 when records show the city's first church was built then. However, there is archaeological evidence of settlements in the area dating back to 6000BC.[111]
Edinburgh as Din Eidyn	Gododdin	Scotland	580 ! c. 580	Edinburgh is mentioned as a settlement in the poem Y Gododdin, traditionally dated to around the late 6th and early 7th centuries.[112] The Poem uses The Brythonic name Din Eidyn (Fort of Eidyn) for Edinburgh and describes it as the capital of Gododdin. It is not until around 638 that the city starts being referred to as Edin-burh or Edinburgh, after the city was conquered by the Angles of Bernicia[113]
Prague	Bohemia	Czech Republic	550 ! c. 6th century	The first written record dates back to the 10th century.
Inverness	Pictland	Scotland	550 ! c. 6th century	A settlement was established by the 6th century when St Columba visited the Pictish King Brude at his fortress there.[114]
Glasgow	Dál Riata or Alt Clut	Scotland	550 ! c. 6th century	A settlement was founded in the 6th century[115] by St Mungo, who is the city's patron Saint.[116]
Ioannina	Byzantine Empire	Greece	565 ! 527–565	founded by emperor Justinian I
Kraków (Wawel Hill)	Lesser Poland	Poland	650 ! 7th century[117]	The first written record dates back to the 10th century.
Aarhus		Denmark	700 ! c. 770 [118]
Deventer		Netherlands	700 ! 956
Ribe	Jutland	Denmark	710 ! 704–710[119]	Oldest town in Denmark
Staraya Ladoga		Russia	753 ! 753	Kalisz |Greater Poland |Poland |9th century |Founded as a provincial capital castellany and a minor fort. Kalisz has long been considered the oldest city of Poland, having been mentioned by Ptolemy in the 2nd century AD, but the claim is now doubted by some (cf. Calisia) |-
Heraklion	Crete	Greece	824 ! 824	founded by the Saracens
Dublin	Ireland	IreIreland	841 ! 841	Dublin was founded as a city by the Vikings in the 9th century, but there were two older Irish settlements which existed on the same spot several centuries before they arrived; Áth Cliath ("ford of hurdles") and Duiblinn ("Black Pool").
Madrid	Castile	Spain	mid. 9th century	Developed around a fortress built by emir Muhammad I of Cordoba.
Veliky Novgorod		Russia	859 ! 859
Polatsk		Belarus	862 ! 862
Reykjavík	Iceland	Iceland	871 ! c. 871[120]
Xanthi	Thrace	Greece	878 ! before 879	first medieval reference as Xantheia
Vitebsk		Belarus	947 ! 947
Brussels		Belgium	979	Founded by Charles, duke of Lower Lorraine. A chapel on an island in the river Senne was built around 580.
Sigtuna		Sweden	980 ! 980	Is reputed as the oldest town in Sweden, the name is derived from an old royal estate Fornsigtuna situated nearby.
Skara		Sweden	988 ! 988
Lund	Denmark	Sweden	990 ! c. 990[121]
Trondheim	Norway	Norway	997 !997	Founded by king Olav Tryggvason. Archaeological findings of city settlement back to the 8th century.
Gdańsk	Pomerania	Poland	997 !997	Gdańsk became capital of Duchy of Pomerania (approximate date).[122]

Oceania

Name	Historical region	Location	Continuously inhabited since	Notes
Ternate	Sultanate of Ternate	Indonesia	1100 ! 1109 AD[123]	Twin of Tidore, oldest surviving Papuan cities.
Tidore	Sultanate of Tidore	Indonesia	1100 ! 1109 AD[123]	Twin of Ternate, oldest surviving Papuan cities.
Sydney	New South Wales	Australia	1788	Oldest city in Australia and oldest city in Oceania. Radiocarbon dating suggests human activity occurred in and around Sydney for at least 30,000 years, in the Upper Paleolithic period.[124][125] However, numerous Aboriginal stone tools found in Sydney's far western suburbs' gravel sediments were dated to be from 45,000 to 50,000 years BP, which would mean that humans could have been in the region earlier than thought.[126][127] The first people to occupy the Sydney region were an Australian Aboriginal group called the "Eora people".[128][129]
Hobart	Tasmania	Australia	1803	Second oldest city in Australia. Prior to British settlement, the area had been occupied for at least 8,000 years, but possibly for as long as 35,000 years,[130] by the semi-nomadic Mouheneener tribe, a sub-group of the Nuennone, or South-East tribe.[131]
George Town	Tasmania	Australia	1804	Third oldest city in Australia
Newcastle	New South Wales	Australia	1804	Fourth oldest city in Australia
Launceston	Tasmania	Australia	1806	Fifth oldest city in Australia
Kerikeri	Northland	New Zealand	1818 ! c. 1818	Oldest European settlement in New Zealand
Brisbane	Queensland	Australia	1825	Oldest city in Northern Australia, State Capital
Albany	Western Australia	Australia	1827	Oldest city in the West Coast of Australia
Perth	Western Australia	Australia	1829	The area had been inhabited by the Whadjuk Noongar people for over 40,000 years, as evidenced by archaeological findings on the Upper Swan River.[132]
Melbourne	Victoria	Australia	1835	Before the arrival of European settlers, the area was occupied for an estimated 31,000 to 40,000 years.[133] At the time of European settlement, it was inhabited by under 20,000 hunter-gatherers from three indigenous regional tribes: the Wurundjeri, Boonwurrung and Wathaurong.[134][135]
Adelaide	South Australia	Australia	1836	State Capital
Darwin	Northern Territory	Australia	1869	State Capital
Canberra	Australian Capital Territory	Australia	1913	Capital city of Australia. Artefacts suggests early human activity occurred at some point in Canberra dating at around 21,000 years ago.[136]

See also

• Cities of the ancient Near East
• Historical cities
• Historical urban community sizes
• List of American cities by year of foundation (includes ancient native sites)

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