EARLIER THIS MONTH, the town of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwll-llantysiliogogogoch went viral (as it does every now and then), when Channel 4 weatherman Liam Dutton nailed its pronunciation on tv.
However, the town isn’t the longest place name in the world.
Its 58 letters puts it ahead of American lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg’s 45 and South African famr Tweebuffelsmeteenskootmorsdoodgeskietfontein’s 44, but as this infographic from Volunteering Solutions shows, it pales in comparison to a town in New Zealand.
Located on the country’s North Island, mountain Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu (shortened to Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu) contains 85 letters. More than most text messages. The short versiAnd it’son has 57.
Here’s how that looks on a sign:
It is a small hill near Porangahau and the name translates as:
The summit where Tamatea, the man with the big knees, the slider, climber of mountains, the land-swallower who travelled about, played his nose flute to his loved one.
And you pronounce it like this:
So, there you have it.
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