Old Names, New Names: Uzbekistan's Renamed Places
Tashkent Yuzhny is now Toshkent-Janubiy, Chimgan is Chimyon. A lookup of Uzbekistan's renamed districts, stations, airports and peaks, from the decrees.
Your printed itinerary says Tashkent Yuzhny. The ticket app says Toshkent-Janubiy. The driver says something in between. All three are the same station in Yakkasaroy district, and since a government resolution of 17 October 2025 only one of them is the official name. Uzbekistan has spent the last year issuing long lists of corrected and replaced place names, and a lot of travel material (ours included, in places) still uses the older forms.
This page is a lookup, not a history lesson. It covers the names a visitor is likely to meet: Tashkent's districts, the railway stations, airports and bus stations, and the mountains, passes and lakes that hikers and skiers head for. Every pairing below comes from a published document, and we say which one. One caution up front: a resolution orders documents, maps and signs to change within a deadline. It doesn't tell you what a particular sign says today, so expect both forms side by side for a while.
Tashkent: districts and the 2010 street wave
The UK government's Permanent Committee on Geographical Names (PCGN) keeps a toponymic factfile on Uzbekistan, compiled in January 2023. It lists eight Tashkent districts that dropped Soviet-era names after independence. Older maps and Russian-language sources can still carry the old ones:
- Mirobod, formerly Lenin
- Mirzo Ulug’bek, formerly Kuybishev
- Olmazar, formerly Sobir Rahimov
- Shayxontoxur, formerly Oktabr
- Uchtepa, formerly Akmal-Ikromov
- Yakkasaroy, formerly Frunze
- Yashnobod, formerly Hamza
- Yunusobod, formerly Kirov
Streets went in waves. In January 2010, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported that the city had begun renaming about 150 streets and residential areas in 10 of its then 11 districts, with the city's toponymic commission citing “simplification, elimination of duplication, and a return of old historical names.” Aleksei Tolstoy Street became Oloy, after the nearby market; the residential area called 40 Years of Victory became Tuzel. Some streets lost a person's name and got a number instead. If a pre-2010 guidebook gives you a street name that no map recognises, this is the likely reason, and the fix is to search by landmark rather than by address.
Towns, and Karakalpak against Uzbek
Outside the capital, PCGN notes that Uzbekistan renamed fewer populated places than many other former Soviet states. Its examples, with Uzbek spellings: Boyovut (formerly Dimitrovskoye), Eshonguzar (formerly Kalinin), Payariq (formerly Narimonovka), Pitnak (formerly Drujba) and Qanliko‘l (formerly Leninobod). The one most likely to matter is Nurafshon. Toshkent city was the administrative centre of Tashkent Region until 2017; the centre then moved to a town previously called Toytepa, which was renamed Nurafshon. Maps printed before 2017 will show Toytepa, and the 2025 railway list (below) still names the station in Nurafshon To‘ytepa.
Karakalpakstan adds a second layer. Karakalpak is regionally official there, but national mapping uses Uzbek forms, so the same town can appear two ways. PCGN gives the Uzbek form first and the Karakalpak in brackets, for instance Nukus (No’kis), Mo‘ynoq (Moynaq), Chimboy (Shımbay), Xo‘jayli (Xojeli), To‘rtko‘l (Tórtkúl) and Taxiatosh (Taqiyatas). PCGN notes Karakalpak Latin spellings in use there, so you may meet either. If you're heading to the Savitsky collection or the Aral shore, our notes on travelling in Karakalpakstan cover the trip itself.
Stations, airports and bus terminals
Two Cabinet of Ministers resolutions cover how you arrive and leave.
Railway stations (Resolution 651, 17 October 2025)
This one approved a list of 320 station buildings, stations and passing loops belonging to Uzbekistan Railways, in force from 18 October 2025. In 235 of the 320 rows the name changes, almost always by swapping a Russian-derived spelling for the Uzbek one, and the other 85 stay as they were. Typical changes: Kokand becomes Qo‘qon, Karshi becomes Qarshi, Djizak becomes Jizzax, Xavast becomes Xovos, Kitab becomes Kitob. Tashkent's two main terminals change more visibly. Tashkent Severniy (the North station, in Mirobod district) is now Toshkent-Shimoliy, and Tashkent Yujniy (the South station, Yakkasaroy district) is now Toshkent-Janubiy. A detail that confuses first-timers: the station listed as Buxara, now Buxoro, sits in the city of Kogon, not in Bukhara itself, and a separate Kagan station is now Kogon. The resolution gave the transport ministry and the railway three months to change databases and put Latin-script Uzbek on station signs. For which terminal your train actually uses, the walkthrough of the railway booking site is the better guide.
Airports and bus stations (Resolution 3, 9 January 2026)
Resolution 3 has two annexes. Annex 1 brings 161 airports, bus terminals and bus stations into line with Uzbek spelling. Annex 2 gives 21 more a new name outright. The two annexes on lex.uz are separate lists, 182 entries in all. News coverage mixes the figures: Podrobno.uz put “more than 180” in its headline while its text folds the 21 into the 161. Annex 1 is mostly Cyrillic-to-Latin housekeeping: Samarqand, Buxoro, Urganch and Termiz airports keep their names in Latin script, and Tashkent's main airport is listed simply as Islom Karimov. Even the small fixes can trip up a search: the Abu-Sahiy bus station in Chilonzor district is now Abu Saxiy.
Annex 2 is where names really change. The ones a traveller might hit:
- Tashkent-East (Toshkent-Sharqiy) international airport, Yashnobod district, built on the former Tashkent-Vostochny airfield and a separate site from the main Islom Karimov airport in Sergeli: Toshkent-Humo
- Boburshoh bus station, Bektemir district, Tashkent: Vodiy yo‘li
- Karmana bus terminal: Navoiy
- Urganch bus station: O‘zbekiston
- Termiz bus station: Shimoliy Termiz
- Mustang bus station, Guliston: Guliston
- Denov bus station: Chag‘oniyon
- Nukus Orqa-Batis terminal: Shimoliy Nukus; Mega Avto Star terminal, Nukus: Jiydali Nukus
The Transport Ministry, working with Uzbekistan Airports, Uzbekistan Airways, the Cadastre Agency and regional governments, had three months to update maps, databases and signage. Resolution 3 also states that bus stations are now named by the Cabinet of Ministers on the Transport Ministry's proposal, so expect future changes to come the same way. If you're getting around by coach and marshrutka, our guide to long-distance buses explains how the terminals work.
Mountains, passes, caves and lakes
Hikers get the longest lists. Resolution 4 of 9 January 2026 respelled or renamed 121 mountain ranges, mountains and peaks. Several are names every Tashkent day-tripper knows. The peak most visitors call by its Russian name, Chimgan, appears in the list only in its Uzbek form, Chimyon, with Big and Small Chimgan as Katta and Kichik Chimyon. The Pskem range becomes Piskom, the Chatkal range Chotqol, the Kuramin range Qurama. In the far south the Kugitang range is Ko‘hitang and Hazret Sultan peak is Hazrati Sulton. Some peaks got entirely new names: Adelunga becomes Piskom, Pioner becomes Yangiobod and Pingvin becomes Temirtosh. That matters more than spelling, because a hiking app that only knows “Adelunga” won't match a Uzbek-language trip notice that says Piskom. The resolution also orders signs on the mountains themselves into Latin-script Uzbek, so skiers bound for the Chimgan and Amirsoy slopes should expect Chimyon.
Resolution 376 of 9 July 2026 widened this to gorges, passes and caves: 124 features in the annex, 55 of them in Jizzakh Region. (An English release from the state mining and geology inspection gives 54 for Jizzakh, which is why its regional figures add up to only 123.) The cave known in Russian as “Tamerlane's cave” in Qamashi district of Kashkadarya is now Amir Temur cave (Amir Temur g‘ori). The Tahtakaracha pass on the Samarkand–Kashkadarya boundary is spelled Taxtaqoracha, and the gorge listed as Temir Kapig (Ilono‘tdi), at the narrowest point of the Sangzor river in Jizzakh Region, becomes Temirqapug‘. The national ecology committee got two months to amend maps and databases, working alongside the Cadastre Agency and the tourism authorities.
A companion Resolution 377, same date, covers 216 rivers, streams, lakes, springs and waterfalls. Two entries visitors will recognise: the Sarmich stream in Navbahor district is now Sarmishsoy, the stream that cut the gorge in our Sarmishsay petroglyphs guide, and the Beldersay stream, which rises on the slopes of Katta Chimyon, becomes Beldorsoy.
Quick decoder
| Older form you may see | Official form now | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Tashkent Severniy / Tashkent North | Toshkent-Shimoliy | Res. 651 (2025) |
| Tashkent Yujniy / Tashkent South | Toshkent-Janubiy | Res. 651 (2025) |
| Buxara station (in Kogon) | Buxoro | Res. 651 (2025) |
| Tashkent-East airport | Toshkent-Humo | Res. 3 (2026), Annex 2 |
| Boburshoh bus station | Vodiy yo‘li | Res. 3 (2026), Annex 2 |
| Toytepa | Nurafshon | PCGN factfile |
| Chimgan peak (Russian form) | Chimyon | Res. 4 (2026) lists the Uzbek form |
| Adelunga peak | Piskom | Res. 4 (2026) |
| Pioner peak | Yangiobod | Res. 4 (2026) |
| Tamerlane's cave (Qamashi) | Amir Temur g‘ori | Res. 376 (2026) |
| Sarmich stream | Sarmishsoy | Res. 377 (2026) |
How to search when the name won't match
Our take: you don't need to memorise any of this, but you do need to search twice. A few habits that save time:
- Try both forms in Yandex Maps and 2GIS. Map databases update at their own pace, so put in the old Russian form and the new Uzbek one. If neither works, search for a landmark next door.
- Do the same on booking and ticket sites. Station pickers may list Toshkent-Janubiy, Tashkent Yuzhny or a Russian Cyrillic form depending on the language setting. Switching the site language is often the quickest fix.
- Show the driver both. Have the old and new form on your phone, plus a landmark, so whichever name the driver knows, you're covered.
- Read Uzbek Latin spellings as they are. Many changes are spelling only (Djizak to Jizzax, Karshi to Qarshi). The letter-by-letter logic is in our explainer on the Latin and Cyrillic alphabets.
Who this isn't for: if you're on a fixed tour with a guide and transfers, none of it will touch you. It's for independent travellers who book their own trains, hail their own taxis and plan their own hikes. For the full lists, the airport and bus resolution and the railway resolution are both public on the national legislation database (Resolution 3 on lex.uz, Resolution 651 on lex.uz), the July 2026 mountain list is summarised in an English government release, and the district and town pairings are in the PCGN toponymic factfile. (Last checked: October 2026.)