East and Southeast Asia
| Name | Historical region | Location | Continuously inhabited since | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luoyang (as Zhenxun, Xibo) | Xia Dynasty | ChiHenan, China | -2070 ! c. 2070 BC | |
| Xi'an (as Haojing, Fenghao, Chang'an, Daxing) | Zhou Dynasty | ChiShaanxi, China | -1100 ! c. 1100 BC | |
| Beijing (as Ji, Yanjing, Dadu, Zhongdu, Beiping) | Yan | ChiBeijing, China | -1000 ! c. 1000 BC | There were cities in the vicinities of Beijing by the 1st millennium BC, and the capital of the State of Yan (473–221 BC), Ji (薊/蓟), was established in present-day Beijing. |
| 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 Canton) | 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. |
| Osaka (as Naniwa) | Japan | Japan | c. 400 AD | It was inhabited as early at the 5th-6th centuries BC, and became a port city during the Kofun period. It temporarily served as the capital of Japan from 645 to 655. |
| Palembang | Srivijaya | Indonesia | 600 ! c. 600 AD | oldest city in the Malay Archipelago, capital of the Srivijaya empire. |
| 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. |
| Manila | Kingdom of Tondo and Kingdom of Maynila | Philippines | 900 ! 900 | 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. |
Read more about this topic: List Of Cities By Time Of Continuous Habitation
Famous quotes containing the words east and, east and/or asia:
“The northern sky rose high and black
Over the proud unfruitful sea,
East and west the ships came back
Happily or unhappily....”
—Philip Larkin (1922–1986)
“I know no East or West, North or South, when it comes to my class fighting the battle for justice. If it is my fortune to live to see the industrial chain broken from every workingman’s child in America, and if then there is one black child in Africa in bondage, there shall I go.”
—Mother Jones (1830–1930)
“Incarnate devil in a talking snake,
The central plains of Asia in his garden,
In shaping-time the circle stung awake,
In shapes of sin forked out the bearded apple....”
—Dylan Thomas (1914–1953)