Cities that changed their names

20 July 2026 · Explorer expedition

Every stop once answered to a different name — Bombay, Saigon, Leningrad, Salisbury and Christiania.

The five stops

Stop 1 · India

Bombay became Mumbai in 1995, after the goddess Mumbadevi. Its dabbawalas still deliver 200,000 lunchboxes daily with legendary precision.

Stop 2 · Vietnam

Saigon was renamed in 1976 after reunification, but the old name survives everywhere from the airport code to the local beer.

Stop 3 · Russia

Founded by Peter the Great in 1703, it became Petrograd in 1914, Leningrad in 1924, and Saint Petersburg again by referendum in 1991.

Stop 4 · Zimbabwe

Salisbury became Harare in 1982, two years after independence — named for the Shona chief Neharawa, whose people lived on the site.

Stop 5 · Norway

After a 1624 fire, King Christian IV rebuilt the city and named it Christiania after himself. The medieval name Oslo was restored only in 1925.

Think you'd have found them? Play today's expedition, or replay this one from the archive.