List of cities by time of continuous habitation

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

The age claims listed may be disputed, or indeed obsolete. Differences in opinion can result from different definitions of "city" as well as "continuously inhabited".

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

Contents 1 Old World 2 New World 3 References 4 See also

Old World

Continuous habitation since the Chalcolithic (or Copper Age) is possible (but difficult) to prove archaeologically for several Levantine cities (Jericho, Byblos, Damascus, Sidon and Beirut). Cities become 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 since	Notes
Damascus	Levant	Syria	Chalcolithic	Excavations at Tel Ramad on the outskirts of the city have demonstrated that Damascus was inhabited as early as 8000 to 10,000 BC.[1][dubious – discuss] However, Damascus is not documented as an important city until the coming of the Aramaeans around 1400 BC. See reference for presence of urban life among cattle herders at this date — also due to land fertility and constant water source.[citation needed]
Jericho	Levant	West Bank	Chalcolithic (3000 BC or earlier)	Traces of habitation from 9000 BC.[2][3] Fortifications date to 6800 BC (or earlier), making Jericho the earliest known walled city.[4] Evidence indicates that the city was abandoned several times, and later expanded and rebuilt several times.[5]
Byblos	Levant	Lebanon	Chalcolithic (ca. 5000 BC)[6][dubious – discuss]	Settled from the Neolithic (carbon-dating tests have set the age of earliest settlement around 7000[7]), a "town" since the 3rd millennium BC. Byblos had a reputation as the "oldest city in the world" in Antiquity (according to Philo of Byblos).
Susa	Elam	Khuzestan, Iran	Chalcolithic (ca. 4200 BC)[dubious – discuss][8]	Evidence of occupation from about 5500 BC
Sidon	Levant	Lebanon	4000 BC [9]	There is evidence that Sidon was inhabited from as long ago as 4000 BC, and perhaps, as early as Neolithic times (6000 - 4000 BC).
Medinat Al-Fayoum (as Crocodilopolis or Arsinoe)	Lower Egypt	Faiyum Governorate, Egypt	ca. 4000 BC[10]
Plovdiv	Thrace	Bulgaria	ca. 4000BC[11]
Gaziantep	Anatolia	Southeastern Anatolia, Turkey	ca. 3650 BC[dubious – discuss]	This is disputed, although most modern scholars place the Classical Antiochia ad Taurum at Gaziantep, some maintain that it was in fact located at Aleppo. Furthermore, that the two cities occupy the same site is far from established fact (see Gaziantep). Assuming this to be the case, the founding date of the present site would be about 1,000 BC. (see Gaziantep)
Rayy		Iran	3000 BC[12]	A settlement at the site goes back to the 3rd millennium BC. Rayy is mentioned in the Avesta (the holly book of Zoroastrianism, an ancient Iranian religion) as a sacred place, and it is also featured in the book of Tobit.[12]
Beirut	Levant	Lebanon	3000 BC[13]
Jerusalem	Levant	Israel	2800 BC[14]
Tyre	Levant	Lebanon	2750 BC[15]
Arbil	Mesopotamia	Kurdistan Autonomous Region, Iraq	2300 BC or earlier[16]
Kirkuk (as Arrapha)	Mesopotamia	Kirkuk Governorate, Iraq	3000-2200 BC[17]
Tel Aviv (as Jaffa)	Levant	Israel	ca. 2000 BC	Archaeological evidence shows habitation from 7500 BC.[18]
Aleppo	Levant	Syria	ca. 2000 BC[19]	Evidence of occupation since about 5000 BC.[20]
Balkh (as Bactra)	Bactria	Balkh Province, Afghanistan	ca. 1,500 BC	Balkh is one of the oldest settlements of the region.[21]
Chania	Crete	Crete, Greece	ca. 1400 BC	Minoan foundation as Kydonia
Larnaca	Alashiya	Cyprus	ca. 1400 BC	Mycenaean, then Phoenician colony
Thebes	Mycenaean Greece	Boeotia, Greece	ca. 1400 BC	Mycenaean foundation
Athens	Mycenaean Greece	Attica, Greece	1400 BC	Mycenaean foundation, with traces of earlier habitation on the Acropolis.
Lisbon	Iron Age Iberia	Portugal	ca. 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	Andalusia, Spain	1100 BC[22]
Varanasi	Iron Age India	Uttar Pradesh, India	ca. 1200-1000 BC[23]	Iron Age foundation (Painted Grey Ware culture).
Xi'an	Bronze Age China	Shaanxi, PRC	ca. 1100 BC
Chios	Chios	North Aegean, Greece	ca. 1100 BC
Mytilene	Lesbos	North Aegean, Greece	10th century BC
Hamadan (As Ecbatana)	Median Empire	Iran	ca. 800 BC [24]
Yerevan (as Erebuni)	Urartu	Armenia	ca. 800 BC[citation needed]
Ujjain (As Avanti)	Malwa	India	ca. 800 BC [25]	Rose to prominence in ca 700 BC as capital of Avanti during India's second wave of urbanization. Walled in ca 600 BC.
Rome	Latium	Lazio, Italy	753 BC	see also History of Rome
Corfu, Kerkyra	Corfu	Ionian Islands, Greece	700 BC
Samarqand,	Sogdiana	Uzbekistan	700 BC
Varna	Thrace	Bulgarian Black Sea Coast, Bulgaria	7th century BC	founded as Odessos, first mentioned by Strabo
Durrës	Illyria	Albania	627 BC	One of the most ancient settlements in Albania
Berat	Illyria	Albania	600 BC	3,000 year old city
Kavala	Macedonia	Greece	6th century BC	founded as Neapolis
Mantua	Po Valley	Lombardy, Italy	6th century BC	Village settlement since ca. 2000 BC; became an Etruscan city in the 6th century BC.
Herat	Aria	Herat Province, Afghanistan	ca. 550 BC	The city is dominated by the remains of a citadel constructed by Alexander the Great.
Delhi	Kuru	India	ca. 500 BC[26]	A city since the "early centuries BC", continuous habitation likely from the 6th century BC, traces of habitation from the 11th century BC. See also History of Delhi.
Madurai	Pandyan kingdom	Tamilnadu, India	500 BC	It was the capital city of ancient southern civilization.Its cultural heritage goes back 2,500 years, and the city has been an important commercial center and has conducted trade as far as Rome and Greece since as early as 550 B.C.
Beijing (as Ji, Yanjing)	Yan	PRC	ca. 500 BC[citation needed]
Ife		Osun State, Nigeria	ca. 500 BC
Patna	Magadh, India	India	490 BC[27]
Vaisali	Bihar, India	India	500 BC[28]
Rajagriha(Rajgir)	Bihar, India	India	600 BC[29]
Serres	Macedonia	Greece	5th century BC	first mentioned in the 5th century BC as Siris
Veria	Macedonia	Greece	ca. 432 BC	first mentioned by Thucydides in 432 BC
Rhodes	Rhodes, Aegean Sea	Dodecanese, Greece	ca. 408 BC
Shkodër, Shkodra, Scutarion	Illyria	Albania	400 BC
Thessaloniki	Macedonia	Greece	315 BC
Ohrid	Macedonia	Republic of Macedonia	353 BC	Ohrid town is first mentioned in Greek documents from 353 BC. with the name Lychnidos
Paris	Gaul	France	ca. 250 BC	Chasséen culture (4th millennium BC) settlement traces.
Guangzhou (Canton)	Han Dynasty	Guangdong, PRC	214 BC[citation needed]
Zürich (Lindenhof)	Gaul	Switzerland	ca. 50 BC	lakeside settlement traces dating to the Neolithic.
Trier	Gallia Belgica	Germany	30 BC	oldest city in Germany.
Solothurn	Gaul	Switzerland	c. 20 AD	Evidence of pre-Roman, Celtic settlement; newly founded by the Romans between 14 – 37 AD, called the "oldest city in Gaul besides Trier" in a verse on the city's clock tower.
London	Britannia	UK	43 AD
Verdun	Lotharingia	France	4th century	seat of the bishop of Verdun from the 4th century, but populated earlier
Chur	Raetia Prima	Grisons, Switzerland	15 BC	habitation since the 4th millennium BC (Pfyn culture).
Krakow (Wawel Hill)	Galicia	Poland	7th c.[30]	The first written record dates back to the 10th century.
Århus		Denmark	ca. 700	oldest city in Scandinavia.
Djenné		Mali	ca. 800	oldest known city in sub-Saharan Africa[31]
Ife		Osun State, Nigeria	ca. 8th century[citation needed][dubious – discuss]	earliest traces of habitation date to the 4th century BC.[citation needed]
Dublin	Ireland	Republic of Ireland	841
Reykjavík	Iceland	Iceland	ca. 871 [2]
Tønsberg	Norway	Norway	ca. 871	oldest city in Norway.
Skara		Sweden	988
Lund		Sweden	ca. 990 [3]

New World

Name	Country	Foundation	Notes
Ticul	Mexico	7th century BC	Oldest continuously inhabited city in the Americas.
Cholula	Mexico	ca. 2nd century BC	Pre-Columbian Cholula grew from a small village to a regional center during the 7th century.
Acoma Pueblo and Taos Pueblo, New Mexico	USA	1075 (ca.)	Among the oldest continuously inhabited settlements of the US (although not "cities")
Oraibi, Arizona	USA	1100 (ca.)	Among the oldest continuously inhabited settlements of the US (although not a "city")
Santo Domingo	Dominican Republic	1496	Oldest European settlement in the New World
St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador	Canada	1540s	Oldest city in Canada, and oldest English speaking city in North America
San Juan, Puerto Rico	USA	1508	Oldest continuously inhabited city in the US.
Nombre de Dios, Colón	Panama	1510	Oldest European settlement on the American mainland
Baracoa	Cuba	1511	Oldest European settlement in Cuba
São Vicente, São Paulo	Brazil	1532	First Portuguese settlement in South America
St. Augustine, Florida	USA	1556	Oldest continuously inhabited city in a US. state
Santa Fe, New Mexico	USA	1600 (ca.)	Oldest capital city and second oldest city in the US.
Quebec City	Canada	1608	Second oldest city in Canada
Saint John	Canada	1631	Third oldest city in Canada
Trois-Rivières	Canada	1634	Fourth oldest city in Canada
Montreal	Canada	1642	Fifth oldest city in Canada
Sydney	Australia	1788	Oldest city in Australia.
Hobart	Australia	1803	Second oldest city in Australia.

References

• Aldred, Cyril (1998). The Egyptians. Thames and Hudson: London.
• Overy et al. (1999). The Times History of The World: New Edition. Times Books/Harper-Collins: London.

See also

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