Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City after the Vietnam War.
The city had been known as Saigon for centuries and became the capital of South Vietnam after the country was divided in 1954. North Vietnamese forces captured Saigon on April 30, 1975, ending the war and South Vietnam’s existence as a separate state. During the reunification of Vietnam, the National Assembly officially renamed the city on July 2, 1976, honoring Hồ Chí Minh, the former leader of North Vietnam who had died in 1969.
Saigon remains widely used in everyday speech, especially for the central urban area and in the Vietnamese diaspora. Ho Chi Minh City is the official name for the larger municipality. This distinction explains why maps, businesses, travel guides, and historical accounts may use both names. Da Nang and Huế were important cities during the war, while Hanoi remained the capital of unified Vietnam after reunification.