List of oldest continuously inhabited cities

The chart

The cities have been listed because either the archaeological record has shown, or documents have supported the claim, that the settlement was in existence at the time given. However, presence here should in no way indicate that there is total consensus over the date the city was founded — differences in opinion can result from different definitions of "city" (usually relating to the population size) as well as "continuously inhabited" (relating to changing population size; changes in location and changes in name). Additionally, where an approximate date has been given, the date was treated as the lower end of the estimate for the purposes of the table.




[edit on 13/7/08 by Hanslune]

I wonder why no Chinese cities in the list. Civilization could not just pop out,without some background. Maybe it is due to lack of knowledge or lack of excavations?

reply to post by ZeroKnowledge



I was wondering that myself. Chang'an seems to have been inhabited since the neolithic period but Ancient China is not an area I'm well versed in. Not sure why this civilization occupied cities aren't on the lists.


[edit on 13/7/08 by Hanslune]

The list's scope is to include settlements founded before Classical Antiquity, i.e. before the foundation of Rome in 753 BC.
That's probably why. Its focused on the Med (though obviously stretch as far as India).