List of cities in the Americas by year of foundation

This is a list of cities in the Americas (South, Central and North) by founding year and present-day country.

Year City Region CountryNotes 13,000 BC Wyam Oregon United States 7500 BC Tlapacoya Ixtapaluca Mexico 4000 BC Puerto Hormiga Culture Cartagena Colombia 3710 BC Aspero Norte Chico Peru 2627 BC Caral Norte Chico Peru 1500 BC Kaminaljuyu Guatemala City Guatemala 900 BC Flores Petén GuatemalaFormerly Nojpetén, the capital of the Itza kingdom, it has been occupied continuously since prehispanic times. Earliest archaeological traces date back to 900–600 BC, with major expansion of the settlement occurring around 250–400 AD. Ethnohistoric documents claim the founding of Nojpetén in the mid-15th century AD 800 BC Cholula Puebla Mexico Oldest continually inhabited city in Mexico 800 BC Cuicuilco Mexico City Mexico 700 BC Ticul Yucatán Mexico 300 BC Teotihuacan State of Mexico Mexico In the Valley of Mexico 37 El Baúl Escuintla Guatemala 200 Mitla Oaxaca Mexico 200 Acanceh Yucatán Mexico 328 Uaxactún Petén Guatemala 500 Cuenca Azuay Ecuador 524 Ejutla OaxacaMexico 550 Izamal Yucatán Mexico 600 Cahokia Illinois United States 713 Tula Hidalgo Mexico 1001 L'Anse aux Meadows Newfoundland and Labrador Canada Oldest known European (Norse) settlement in the Americas. Possibly founded by Leif Erikson, as part of Vinland, in 1001 AD. 1000 Acoma Pueblo and Taos Pueblo New Mexico United States 1050 Motul Yucatán Mexico 1050 Pachuca Hidalgo Mexico 1100 Cusco Cusco Province Peru 1100 Oraibi Arizona United States Hopi Reservation 1168 Ecatepec State of Mexico Mexico 1259 Chimalhuacán State of Mexico Mexico 1313 Xalapa Veracruz Mexico 1325 Tenochtitlan Mexico City Mexico Largest pre-Columbian city in the Americas, later called Mexico City.1450EtzanoaKansasUnited States 1450 Zuni Pueblo New Mexico United States 1470 Iximche Chimaltenango Guatemala 1493 La Isabela Puerto Plata Dominican Republic First European settlement in the New World during the Age of Discovery. Abandoned by 1500. 1494 Concepción de la Vega La Vega Dominican Republic Founded by Christopher Columbus in 1494 as a gold town, the original place was abandoned by 1562 after an earthquake destroyed the settlement and refounded 5 kilometers away between 1562-1564. Was destroyed again in 1805 by the Dessalines invasion and by an earthquake in 1843. 1498 Santo Domingo Distrito Nacional Dominican Republic Capital of the Dominican Republic. Oldest continuously inhabited European established settlement in the Americas. Founded in 1498, by Bartholomew Columbus. 1502 Santa Cruz del Seibo El Seibo Dominican Republic 1504 Azua de Compostela Azua Dominican Republic 1504 Santiago de los Caballeros Santiago Dominican Republic 1505 Cotuí Sánchez Ramírez Dominican Republic 1506 Salvaleón de Higüey La Altagracia Dominican Republic 1508 Bonao Monseñor Nouel Dominican Republic 1508 Caparra Puerto Rico United StatesFirst city founded by Europeans, although not continuously inhabited, in Puerto Rico. Abandoned in 1521 with the removal of the capital to San Juan. 1510 Santa María la Antigua del Darién Urabá Colombia First city founded by Europeans on the continent of South America. 1510 Nombre de Dios Colon PanamaOldest continuously inhabited European established settlement in Panama. 1511 Baracoa Guantánamo CubaOldest continuously inhabited European established settlement in Cuba, former capital of Cuba. 1513 Bayamo Granma Cuba1514Sancti SpiritusSancti SpiritusCuba 1514 Trinidad Sancti Spiritus Cuba 1515 Santiago SantiagoCuba After Baracoa and before Havana, Santiago was the second capital of Cuba. 1515 Cumaná Sucre Venezuela Oldest continuously inhabited European established settlement in Venezuela. 1519 Havana Havana Cuba 1519 La Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz, (Veracruz) Veracruz MexicoOldest continuously inhabited European established settlement in Mexico. 1519 Panama City Panamá Panama First European established city on the Pacific Coast of the Americas. Founded in 1519, at the present day ruins of Panamá Viejo, it was sacked by the Welsh pirate Henry Morgan in 1671, and resettled to nearby Casco Viejo, in 1673. 1520 Hato Mayor del Rey Hato Mayor Dominican Republic 1521 San Juan Puerto Rico United StatesOldest continuously inhabited European established settlement in Puerto Rico, and in the United States. Oldest continuously inhabited state or territorial capital in the United States. 1524 Granada Granada NicaraguaOldest continuously inhabited European established settlement in Nicaragua. 1524 Quetzaltenango Quetzaltenango Guatemala Oldest continuously inhabited European established settlement in Guatemala. 1524 Tecpán Chimaltenango GuatemalaFirst capital of Guatemala. 1524 Trujillo Colón Honduras Oldest continuously inhabited European established settlement in Honduras. 1525 Santa Marta Magdalena ColombiaOldest continuously inhabited European established settlement in Colombia.1525 Acapulco Guerrero Mexico 1525 San Salvador San Salvador El Salvador Founded in 1525, rebuilt and changed locations twice afterwards (1528 and 1545) and oldest continuously inhabited European established settlement in El Salvador. 1526 Acámbaro Guanajuato Mexico 1526 Chimaltenango Chimaltenango Guatemala 1527 CoroFalcón Venezuela 1528 Nueva Cádiz Cubagua Venezuela 1528 San Cristóbal de las Casas Chiapas Mexico Originally called Villa Real de Chiapa. 1528 Camagüey Camagüey Province CubaFounded in 1515 the northern coast of Camagüey as "Puerto del Príncipe", but moved in 1528 to present location. 1529 Maracaibo Zulia Venezuela 1530 San Blas Nayarit Mexico By Nuño Beltrán 1530 San Miguel San Miguel El Salvador 1531 Puebla Puebla Mexico by Fr. Toribio de Benavente ("Motolinía") on 16 April 1531MazatlánSinaloaMexico1531CuliacánSinaloaMexicoFounded as Villa de San Miguel de Culiacán on September 29, 1531 by Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán.1531Tepic Nayarit Mexico As capital of Nueva Galicia1532Compostela de IndiasNayarit Mexico 1532OaxacaOaxaca Mexico 1532 Piura Piura Peru Founded by Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro the oldest continuously inhabited European established settlement in Peru.1532São VicenteSão PauloBrazilOldest continuously inhabited European established settlement in Brazil, oldest Portuguese established settlement in the New World.1532ItanhaémSão PauloBrazilSecond oldest city in Brazil. 1532 Cananéia São Paulo Brazil 1533Cartagena de IndiasBolívarColombia 1534 Porto Seguro Bahia Brazil Known as the first place on the Americas to be discovered by the Portuguese in 1500 by Pedro Álvares Cabral. The first church was erected in 1503. 1534OtavaloImbaburaEcuador 1534 Ilheos/Ilhéus Bahia Brazil 1534 Quito Pichincha Ecuador Oldest continuously inhabited European established settlement in Ecuador. 1534 Spanish Town Saint Catherine Jamaica Founded by the Spanish as Santiago de la Vega or St. Jago de la Vega. Oldest continuously inhabited European established settlement in Jamaica. 1534 Trujillo La Libertad Peru 1535 Lima Lima Peru1535IgarassuPernambucoBrazil Site of first European settlement in Brazil, the feitoria of Igarassu, in 1516.1535OlindaPernambucoBrazilOne of the best-preserved colonial cities in Brazil.1535 Vila Velha Espírito Santo Brazil 1535 Paria Oruro Bolivia First Spanish settlement in Bolivia 1536 Santiago de Cali Valle del Cauca Colombia 1536 Popayán Cauca Colombia 1536 San Pedro Sula Cortés Honduras 1536 Tupiza Potosí Bolivia 1537 Asunción Distrito Capital Paraguay Oldest continuously inhabited European established settlement in Paraguay.1537RecifePernambucoBrazilCapital of the state of Pernambuco. It is the oldest city among Brazil's current state capitals.1537ComayaguaComayaguaHonduras1538 Bogotá Cundinamarca Colombia 1538 Guayaquil Guayas Ecuador 1538Iguape São Paulo Brazil 1538 Sucre Chuquisaca Bolivia Originally called Ciudad de la Plata de la Nueva Toledo and the oldest continuously inhabited European established settlement in Bolivia. 1539TunjaBoyacáColombia1539VélezSantanderColombia1539PastoNariñoColombia 1540 Arequipa Arequipa Peru 1540 Ayacucho Ayacucho Peru 1540 Yuriria Guanajuato Mexico 1540MompoxBolivarColombia 1540SupíaCaldasColombia 1540 Campeche Campeche Mexico Founded on the site of Mayan village Kimpech. 1540 Childersburg Alabama United States Already at that time a village of the Coosa 1541 Huánuco Huánuco Peru 1541 Moquegua Moquegua Peru 1541 Santiago Santiago Chile Oldest continuously inhabited European established settlement in Chile.1541Santafé de AntioquiaAntioquiaColombia 1542 Guadalajara Jalisco Mexico 1542 Genaro Codina Zacatecas Mexico 1542 San Miguel de Allende Guanajuato Mexico 1542 Mérida Yucatán Mexico Built on the site of Mayan city T'ho. 1542 San Luis de la Paz Guanajuato Mexico 1543 Antigua Guatemala Sacatepéquez Guatemala 1543 Cobán Alta Verapaz Guatemala 1543 Santa Cruz Verapaz Alta Verapaz Guatemala 1544 La Serena Coquimbo Region Chile Originally founded as Villanueva de La Serena, the city was destroyed completely in a native uprising in 1549 and re-founded the same year as San Bartolomé de La Serena; its founding date is for this reason sometimes listed as 1549. Second oldest European city in Chile. 1545 Potosí Potosí Bolivia 1545 San Juan de los Remedios Villa Clara Province CubaRemedios has the most uncertain foundation date in Cuba, 1545 has been accepted because it is when the village erected its town hall, but its origin has been studied and documented back to 1513.1545RiohachaLa GuajiraColombia 1546 Santos São Paulo Brazil 1546 Neyba Bahoruco Dominican Republic 1546 Tepezalá Aguascalientes Mexico 1547 Bertioga São Paulo Brazil Colonization began in 1531 with Martim Afonso de Souza 1548 Asientos Aguascalientes Mexico 1548 La Paz La Paz Bolivia 1548 Pánuco Zacatecas Mexico 1548 Zacatecas Zacatecas Mexico 1549 Salvador Bahia Brazil First capital of Brazil 1550 Concepción Concepción Chile 1550ValleduparCesarColombia1550IbaguéTolimaColombia 1551 Vitória Espírito Santo Brazil 1551MocoaPutumayoColombia 1552 Sonsonate Sonsonate El Salvador 1553 Santiago del Estero Santiago del Estero Argentina Oldest continuously inhabited European established settlement in Argentina.1553 Santo André da Borda dos Campos de Piratininga São Paulo Brazil First not coastal village in Brazil. Was abandoned because of war with natives.1554 Embu das Artes São Paulo Brazil 1554 São Paulo dos Campos de Piratininga/ São Paulo São Paulo Brazil Current São Paulo state capital. 1555 Sain Alto Zacatecas Mexico1555 Valencia Carabobo Venezuela 1556 Chalchihuites Zacatecas Mexico 1557 Cuenca (Santa Ana de los Cuatro Rios de Cuenca) Azuay Ecuador 1557 Santo Amaro Bahia Brazil 1558MéridaMéridaVenezuela1558LondresCatamarcaArgentinaSecond oldest continuously inhabited European established settlement in Argentina, though rebuilt and relocated several times.1560Mogi das CruzesSão PauloBrazil 1560 Itaquaquecetuba São Paulo Brazil 1560 Guarulhos São Paulo Brazil 1560 Barueri São Paulo Brazil1560IpojucaPernambucoBrazil 1561 Santa Cruz de la Sierra Santa Cruz Bolivia 1561 Mendoza Mendoza Argentina1561 San Cristobal Táchira Venezuela 1562 San Juan San Juan Argentina 1562 Río Grande Zacatecas Mexico 1562 Susticacán Zacatecas Mexico 1562 Itapecerica da Serra São Paulo Brazil 1563 Cartago Cartago Costa Rica Oldest continuously inhabited European established settlement in Costa Rica. 1564 São Mateus Espírito Santo Brazil 1565 Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro Brazil Second capital of Brazil and capital of Rio de Janeiro state 1565 Saint Augustine Florida United States Oldest continuously inhabited European established settlement in the continental United States (not counting Spanish settlements in Puerto Rico). Preceded only by Pensacola, Florida, which was destroyed in 1559, and Fort Caroline, destroyed in 1565. 1565 Tucumán Tucumán Argentina 1567 Caracas Capital District Venezuela 1568 Mazapil Zacatecas Mexico1568GoianaPernambucoBrazilDeclared vila in 1685; cidade in 1840. 1568 Valaparaíso Zacatecas Mexico 1569 Santa Ana Santa Ana El Salvador Built over Mayan c