Did you know that there are 144 cities named Victoria across the planet? This is largely due to the British naming many places they colonized after their leader at the time, Queen Victoria. Despite this, you may be surprised to know that Victoria is not even close to the most commonly named city, with over 1,700 San Jose’s around the world.
Either way, there are a lot of Victoria’s in the world — probably too many to visit them all. So, we’ve compiled a list of the top four cities named Victoria across the world. We chose to base our selection off a number of factors, being: History, culture, and things to do.
1. Victoria, Canada
What many people would assume to be the most populated city named Victoria, this one in Canada is actually only inhabited by 92,000 people! However, Canadian Victoria is arguably the most historical and lively city on our list. Founded in 1862 as the capital city of British Columbia, Victoria has seen its fair share of history.
Beautiful view of Inner Harbour of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
Some of the attractions in Victoria are the British Columbia Parliament Buildings, Canada’s oldest Chinatown, and the beautiful Butchart Gardens, which lies just north of the city limits. The Butchart Gardens are a must-see if you get the chance to visit Victoria, as the location is a National Historic Site of Canada.
One great method of visiting Victoria is by booking a trip on a cruise ship to Alaska! Most Alaskan cruise ships have to stop in Victoria by law, actually, which has turned the city into a welcoming place for tourists. The Passenger Vessel Services Act of 1886 made it so only certain ships meeting specific requirements can sail from U.S. ports to U.S. ports, instead of stopping in foreign ports. As of today, only one cruise ship is able to do this, and it operates in Hawaii.
2. Victoria, Texas
The United States has 22 Victoria’s, which is, unfortunately, not even enough to make it on the top 10 most common names in the U.S. Georgetown can claim the 10th spot with 23 cities.
However, no Georgetown can come close to the culture and history that Victoria, Texas, has to offer. In fact, one of the largest news publishers in Texas is located in Victoria.
The Victoria Advocate was first issued in 1846, and has been a staple of America. They have a plethora of fascinating articles, such as this one here.
3. Ciudad Victoria, Mexico
Just over 300 miles south of Victoria, Texas, is Ciudad Victoria, Mexico! Unlike the other cities on this list, Ciudad Victoria was not named after Queen Victoria, but rather the first president of Mexico, Guadalupe Victoria. If you want to read more about Guadalupe Victoria’s incredible life, you should check out this article on him. He was first elected in 1824, after making a name for himself in the war against Spain for Mexican independence.
You may have never heard of Ciudad Victoria if you’ve never been to Mexico before. It is the most populous city in the world named Victoria, with a population of 332,000. Additionally, the city is the capital of the Mexican state of Tamaulipas.
4. Victoria, Malta
While the British Empire is widely known for its colonial possessions outside of Europe, their European possessions are commonly forgotten about. The British had Malta under their colonial possession from 1800 to 1964, and so there was a city named after Queen Victoria.
Victoria is also the capital of the second largest island of Malta, Gozo Island. In the city, you can find the Gozo Museum of Archaeology, which contains fascinating prehistoric stone sculptures. If you ever find yourself lucky enough to explore the city of Victoria on Gozo Island, you cannot afford to miss the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to visit the oldest standing building in the world! Yes. Gozo Island is home to the world’s oldest free-standing buildings, known as the Megalithic Temples of Malta. They are believed to have been constructed to 3600 B.C, making them older than the Egyptian pyramids.
If you want to learn more about these fascinating structures, you can read this guide on them.
Keep in mind there are 140 other cities named Victoria in the world, and so you should definitely read up on what they have to offer. For example, we didn’t go over Victoria, Seychelles, the capital city of the country of Seychelles. Enjoy your explorations!