Uruk is often described as the world’s earliest true city.
Located in southern Mesopotamia, Uruk grew dramatically during the fourth millennium BCE. Archaeologists associate its expansion with monumental temples, specialized labor, long-distance trade, and the development of administrative writing. By about 3200 BCE, it covered a large area and had a population far greater than earlier village settlements.
Uruk was not simply the first place where people lived in large numbers. Its importance came from the combination of dense urban settlement, organized institutions, monumental architecture, and economic administration. The city also gave its name to the “Uruk period,” a major phase in early Mesopotamian history.
Eridu is sometimes called the oldest settlement in Sumer, while Ur became a major royal center later. Those distinctions explain why Uruk is the standard answer for the earliest true city rather than the oldest known settlement.