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Believe it or not, but the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world counts its existence for 11,000 years as of today. The town, Damascus, is the Syrian capital city, and astonishingly enough, not much has changed behind this ancient city's walls. However, not many towns keep the same faces for such a long time, often changing and evolving. Sometimes the city development makes it even more beautiful, but as it is in a more often case, the alluring greenery and historical houses have to make way for skyscrapers in the ever-changing city skyline.

The world has increased over the last 100 years that it's difficult to imagine just how much things have changed during that time. Many of the world's most famous cities and country capitals - like Kuala Lumpur for example, or Hong Kong - bare little resemblance to their earlier selves, and cities such as Dubai didn't even exist at all until relatively recently.

Take a look at these before and after pictures of beautiful cities to see what we mean. Compiled by Bored Panda, they're sure to give you a fresh perspective on how you look at the world's biggest cities and settlements.

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    Seoul, South Korea - 1900 And Now

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    Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates - 1970 And Now

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    Tokyo, Japan - 1945 And Now

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    Robert Bailey
    Community Member
    8 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    That's impressive. Especially since they've had to rebuild after a dozen Godzilla attacks.

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    #7

    Dubai, United Arab Emirates - 2005 And Now

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    #10

    Shenzen, China - 1964 And Now

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    #17

    Melbourne, Australia - 1920 And Now

    Melbourne, Australia - 1920 And Now

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    #18

    London, The Great Britain - 1920 And Now

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    Saima Nisbet
    Community Member
    8 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Try to be accurate, this is basic geography. There is no "the" before "Great Britain", it's either "Great Britain" or "The United Kingdom", depending on which parts you are including in the reference.

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    #19

    Istanbul, Turkey - 1905 And Now

    Istanbul, Turkey - 1905 And Now

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    #21

    Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - 1920 And Now

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    #24

    Los Angeles, Usa - 1940 And Now

    Los Angeles, Usa - 1940 And Now

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    Daniel Bailey
    Community Member
    8 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The 1940s photo of Los Angeles appears to be a view of the Fairfax district with the Park La Brea residential complex (built in 1944) highlighted in the center. And the "Now" photo is of downtown Los Angeles, several miles away, with several of the more recent buildings missing. The Now photo is at least 5 years old.

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    #26

    San Francisco, Usa - 1947 And Now

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    #27

    Dubai, United Arab Emirates 2005 And Now

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    Anusha Shetty
    Community Member
    8 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Every other place has changed over a period of 40, 50, 100 years... But UAE changed drastically over a period of 10 years!

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    #28

    Long Beach, Usa - 1953 And Now

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    #30

    Hong Kong, China - 1980 And Now

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