For a small town in New Zealand, one of the reasons it is famous is its name.
With an outstanding 85 letters, the New Zealand town is renowned as the place with the longest name in the world, according to the Guinness Book of Records.
Welcome to “Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu.” But locals simply call it Te Taumata.
The name is in Maori expression meaning: “The summit where Tamatea, the man with the big knees, the climber of mountains, the land-swallower who travelled about, played his nose flute to his loved one.”
The sign bearing the full name of this place is on a hill near State Highway 52 in Central Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand and it naturally attracts many tourists and photographers.
However, the family, who owns the land where the sign is, want to change its location and add facilities for visitors to learn more about the site and its history.
Another long place name is Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, a 58-letter Welsh word that means: “The church of St. Mary in the hollow of white hazel trees near the rapid whirlpool by St. Tysilio’s of the red cave”.
It is a town on an island off Wales and claims to have the longest name for a “settlement” in the world, Europe and the UK. It is also known as Llanfairpwll or Llanfair PG.
With 45 letters, Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg, in Massachusetts, the United States, is another place with an unusually long name. Popular culture translates the name to mean, “You fish on your side; I fish on my side; nobody fishes in the middle.” However, there are claims the meaning was fabricated by a local news reporter in the 20 Century.
