Oldest Cities by Country

Was feeling really bad that I only scored 23, then saw it was 90%. Never heard of some of these but kicking myself for missing Zurich, Krakow, Osaka, Santo Domingo, and Jericho. Time for coffee.

You can add Finland and Turku.

You should accept Aarhus for Århus as it's a legitimate alternative spelling in Danish. If I remember right it's even the official spelling these days as they wanted to get rid of the Å that causes problems in international contexts. In general in Danish "aa" is pronounced the same as "å" and an acceptable substitute most of the time. Just like ae = æ and oe = ø.

Dublin isn't the oldest city in Ireland. That honour goes to Waterford City, which was settled (roughly) in 914 CE by the Vikings. The city actually had it's 1100th anniversary earlier this year. Dublin's founding is a little more hazy for some reason. Though there was a settlement in the modern day county of Dublin in 841 it wasn't where the city is currently located which was indeed founded in the 10th century but is universally accepted to have been after the settling of Waterford.

Source: Am Irish.

You should accept Aarhus for Århus in Denmark.

Please accept 'Erbil' for 'Arbil'

Amman is one of the oldest cities in the world (which can be seen when you visit it), infact, it was called Rabbath Ammon already in the 13th century, so I think you should correct this...

These aren't cities, they're large towns. If Byblos is a "city" then I live next to a city here in the rural farmland.

Though, as an archaeologist, I compliment your research, there isn't a city called Upper Xingu in Brazil.

Wat? No ur

Where is Constantinople (Instanbul)? It's pretty old, known as byzantium since BC

Aarhus isn't the oldest city in Denmark, it's Ribe

Kicking myself for missing Bath, otherwise I'm fine...got 59 right, beat 99.9 percent of test takers.

Cool quiz :))) Niš has old name - Naissus

Erbil and Irbil both really need to be allowed for Arbil, which I believe is the Arabic name, but not the most commonly used in English. Erbil is the spelling used by Wikipedia and Google Maps, though the former also lists Irbil (which I've encountered in some press reports) and Arbil. Wikipedia also gives Hewler as the actual Kurdish name, so maybe include that too (though I was personally unaware of it).

you missed olympia cmon thats where the ancient olympics were held cmon

Shouldn't it be ** next to Greece because it is a tie?

Kerikeri is not the oldest town in New Zealand, that would be Russell nearby.

http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/city-history-and-people/page-1

I managed to get Igodimigodo by typing in Benin, so I think it was renamed to Benin City at some point.

Can you accept Santiago for Santiago del Estero?

Never would have guessed Nijmegen is the oldest city in my country...24/80, great quiz

100%

I like how the "interesting fact" that I got after taking this quiz was so applicable to the quiz itself: "New Zealand was completely uninhabited by people until around 1250 AD."

a city in England called Colchester is older than London and Bath as it was the Capital of Roman Britain.

Whats with Kalisz? It was founded in times of Rome...

It's North Macedonia now

No Kiev? All sites seem to say it was founded around the late 5th century.

Love it! Hope it gets nominated!

What about cities in the Indus valley civilization?

no Istanbul? is it because it was renamed?

So, the idea is good, but depends of what concept of “city” you mean. There isn’t a city called Upper Xingu in Brazil. Xingu is a region between the states of Mato Grosso, Amazonas, and Pará, which figure in one of, if not the biggest indigenous village of the world. The de facto, and officially oldest city in Brazil, is São Vicente, in São Paulo, founded in 1532. Some historians affirm that Cananéia, also in São Paulo, is the oldest one, founded in 1531, and there is this debate until today. Some rumors and legends, tell that Iguape, still in São Paulo, was founded before the Portuguese Arrival. Also, that there were Europeans already living in the region, but officially, was founded in 1538. Anyways, there isn’t any municipality called Upper Xingu, between the 5,568 (5,570 if you consider Fernando de Noronha and Brasília) municipalities of Brazil. São Vicente is the best substitute for this Upper Xingu.

I am surprised this hasn't been featured yet. Really nice quiz and has a lot of information and is well made.

It has been mentioned. But Aarhus is not the oldest city in Denmark (probably depending on what definition of city you go by).

Ribe is the oldest city / town in Denmark as well as in all of Scandinavia.

Any sources on the date of Kraków? I am from Poland and I always thought that the oldest city was Gniezno or Poznań

I wouldn't assert that Rome is the oldest city in Italy, as there are several other cities with longer histories. For example, according to legend, Padua was founded in 1183 BC, and archaeological remains confirm an early date for the foundation of the town center, between the 11th and 10th centuries BC. Additionally, Matera appears to have been continuously occupied since around 1000 BC, with settlements dating back to the 10th millennium BC.

One might argue that evidence attests to about 10,000 years of human presence in the territory of Rome. However, this raises questions about the accuracy of the traditional founding date of 753 BC.

What I aim to highlight is the complexity and uncertainty inherent in determining the exact founding dates of ancient cities. Often, such determinations rely on historical records and legends that may not be entirely accurate. Thus, it becomes challenging to establish definitively which city holds the title of the oldest city in Italy.

Proud of knowing Sofala and Cumana (0% and 1%)

Very good quiz, thought Ribe was older than Argus.

>30 BC - Germany: Trier

Sad Worms noises

(the city of Worms has a long-running rivalry with Trier regarding which of the two is older. Afaik it's still unclear, maybe you could add Worms as an alternativ solution / type-in? There's also Neuss wanting to be a contender but imho that's just silly.

Could you add Samarkand as a type-in for Samarqand?