With so many places to travel, have you ever wondered which geographic location has the longest name? It turns out that place is a hill in New Zealand’s Porangahau township. At 85 letters long, "Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu" is listed in Guinness World Records as the longest place name in the world.
Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu was named after a famous Maori warrior and chief named Tamatea, who, upon learning of the death of his brother in battle with another tribe, played his flute on the hill in mourning. The English translation of Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu is “the summit where Tamatea, the man with the big knees, the slider, climber of mountains, the land-swallower who traveled about, played his nose flute to his loved one.”
Traveling to new places presents a host of challenges, with learning to speak like the locals among them. However, people visiting Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu should have no worries about New Zealanders giving them a hard time about mispronouncing this name. They tend to shorten it themselves!
All about the hill with the long name:
- Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu also goes by an even-longer name, at 105 characters: Taumata-whakatangihanga-koauau-o-Tamatea-haumai-tawhiti-ure-haea-turi-pukaka-piki-maunga-horo-nuku-pokai-whenua-ki-tana-tahu.
- Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu is located on private land, so visitors and tourists are required to ask permission to gain access and entry to the hill.
- The signboard for Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu is located 3.1 miles (5 km) away from the actual hill.