Places with the longest names By Rumyana kercheva

There are places, all around the world, with really, really long names. Some of them with weird translations but judge for yourself!

1. Taumatawhakatangi­hangakoauauotamatea­turipukakapikimaunga­horonukupokaiwhen­uakitanatahu (85 letters)

  • Short-forms: Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu (57 letters), Taumata (7 letters);
  • Location: North Island, New Zealand;
  • Language: Māori;
  • Translation: "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"
A hill in New Zealand

2. Llanfair­pwllgwyngyll­gogery­chwyrn­drobwll­llan­tysilio­gogo­goch (58 letters)

  • Short-forms: Llanfair PG (10 letters), Llanfairpwll (12 letters) or Llanfairpwllgwyngyll (20 letters)
  • Location: Isle of Anglesey, Wales, United Kingdom
  • Language: Welsh
  • Translation: "Saint Mary's Church in a hollow of white hazel near the swirling whirlpool of the church of Saint Tysilio with a red cave"
  • The longest official one-word place name in Europe.
It is said that the name was contrived in the 1860s by a local tailor, so the town's railway station has the longest name in Britain.

3. Lake Char­gogg­a­gogg­man­chaugg­a­gogg­chau­bun­a­gung­a­maugg

  • Short-forms: Lake Chaubunagungamaug (17 letters)
  • Location: a lake in Webster, Massachusetts, United States
  • Language: Nipmuc
  • Translation: "Fishing Place at the Boundaries -- Neutral Meeting Grounds"
  • Believed to be the longest official one-word place name in the United States.
Lake Char­gogg­a­gogg­man­chaugg­a­gogg­chau­bun­a­gung­a­maugg

4. Farm Tweebuffelsmeteenskootmorsdoodgeskietfontein

  • Location: North West province of South Africa
  • Language: Afrikaans
  • Translation: "The spring (lit. 'fountain') where two buffaloes were cleanly killed with a single shot" (or perhaps "shot stone dead")
  • The longest one-word place name in Africa.

5. Azpilicuetagaraycosaroyarenberecolarrea (39 letters)

  • Location: Azpilkueta, Navarra, Spain.
  • Language: Basque
  • Translation: The low field of high pen of Azpilkueta
Azpikueta, Navara
Azpikueta, Navara

Story written and published on 20.12.2014

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