Africa
| 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. | |
| Yeha | D'mt | Ethiopia | -700 !c.700 BC | Oldest site of continuous habitation in Sub-Saharan Africa. | |
| Axum | Kingdom of Axum | Ethiopia | -400 !c.400 BC | Ancient capital of the Kingdom of Axum | |
| Igodomigodo | Kingdom of Benin | Nigeria | -400 !c. 400 BC | City of Benin, one of the oldest cities in Nigeria | |
| Ife | NigOsun State, Nigeria | -350 !c. 350 BC | earliest traces of habitation date to the 4th century BC. | ||
| Alexandria | Egypt | -332 !332 BC | Founded by Alexander the Great | ||
| Djenné-Jeno | Mali | -200 !c.200 BC | oldest known city in sub-Saharan Africa | ||
| Ghadames (as Cydamus) | Libya | -19 !19 BC | Roman town founded in 19 BC but "archaeological evidence shows occupation of the area in the Paleolithic and Neolithic eras" | ||
| 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 | ||
| Fes (as Fes-al-Bali) | Morocco | 789 !789 | Founded as the new capital of the Idrisid Dynasty | ||
| Mogadishu | Somalia | 900 !c. 900 | settled by Arab traders | ||
| Marrakesh (Murakuc) | Morocco | 1070 !1070 | Foundeded by the Almoravid Dynasty | ||
| Lamu | Kenya | 1300 !c.1300 | Founded by Swahili settlers some time in the 14th century | ||
| Carthage | Tunisia | 814 BC | Founded by the Phoenicians. |
Read more about this topic: List Of Cities By Time Of Continuous Habitation
Famous quotes containing the word africa:
“Everywhere—all over Africa and South America ... you see these suburbs springing up. They represent the optimum of what people want. There’s a certain sort of logic leading towards these immaculate suburbs. And they’re terrifying, because they are the death of the soul.... This is the prison this planet is being turned into.”
—J.G. (James Graham)
“In Africa, there is much confusion.... Before, there was no radio, or other forms of communication.... Now, in Africa ... the government talks, people talk, the police talk, the people don’t know anymore. They aren’t free.”
—Youssou N’Dour (b. 1959)
“Are you there, Africa with the bulging chest and oblong thigh? Sulking Africa, wrought of iron, in the fire, Africa of the millions of royal slaves, deported Africa, drifting continent, are you there? Slowly you vanish, you withdraw into the past, into the tales of castaways, colonial museums, the works of scholars.”
—Jean Genet (1910–1986)