General Knowledge
Same City Different Names Quiz
Constantinople or Istanbul? Bombay or Mumbai? — match the cities to their many names
Constantinople or Istanbul? Bombay or Mumbai? — match the cities to their many names
Istanbul alone has carried three major names across more than 2,700 years — Byzantium, Constantinople, and Istanbul — as empires rose and fell along the Bosphorus. Cities rename themselves for political, cultural, and post-colonial reasons, reshaping atlases and confusing travelers across generations.
Each round presents 10 randomized questions from a pool of 50, with four multiple-choice options and instant feedback after every answer. Your final score comes with a performance tier and shareable results.
You'll explore decolonization-era renames such as Bombay to Mumbai, Madras to Chennai, and Burma to Myanmar; Soviet and post-Soviet reversals like Leningrad back to St. Petersburg; pinyin romanization shifts from Peking to Beijing; and regime-driven changes from Saigon to Ho Chi Minh City and Salisbury to Harare.
The name 'Istanbul' likely derives from the Greek phrase 'eis tin polin,' meaning 'to the city,' and was used informally for centuries. It was officially adopted by the Turkish Republic under Ataturk in 1930 as part of a broader modernization and Turkification program.
Many cities shed their colonial names after independence: Bombay became Mumbai in 1995, Madras became Chennai in 1996, Calcutta became Kolkata in 2001, Rangoon became Yangon in 1989, and Salisbury became Harare in 1982.
The 1995 change was pushed by the Shiv Sena political party to reclaim the traditional Marathi name, derived from the local goddess Mumbadevi. The city was long known as Mumbai locally even while 'Bombay' was the anglicized official name.
Last updated: April 2026