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Feb 19, 2012

Top 8 Longest Place Names In The World

The world is full of amazing locations and some are simply too good for commonly mundane names. Below is a list of places that have drifted far from the economy of words and have instead hung their hat on sheer length.

 

1. Taumata­whakatangihanga­koauau­o­tamatea­turi­pukakapiki­maunga­horo­nuku­pokai­whenua­kitanatahu (85 letters)

  • Short-forms: Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu (57 letters)
  • Location: A hill on North Island, New Zealand
  • Language: Māori

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Taumata­whakatangihanga­koauau­o­tamatea­turi­pukakapiki­maunga­horo­nuku­pokai­whenua­kitanatahu is the Māori name for a hill, 305 metres (1,001 ft) high, close to Porangahau, south of Waipukurau in southern Hawke's Bay, New Zealand.

The name is often shortened to Taumata by the locals for ease of conversation. The New Zealand Geographic Placenames Database, maintained by Land Information New Zealand (LINZ), records the name as "Taumata­whakatangihanga­koauau­o­tamatea­pokai­whenua­ki­tana­tahu". It has gained a measure of fame as it is the longest place-name found in any English-speaking country, and it is the second longest place-name in the world, according to Wises New Zealand Guide and reported in the New Zealand Herald.

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2. Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantys-iliogogogoch (58 letters)

  • Short-forms: Llanfairpwllgwyngyll (20 letters)
  • Location: a village in Anglesey, Wales, United Kingdom
  • Language: Welsh

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Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch is a large village and community on the island of Anglesey in Wales, situated on the Menai Strait next to the Britannia Bridge and across the strait from Bangor. This village has the longest place name in Europe and one of the longest place names in the world. The short form of the village's name is Llanfairpwllgwyngyll, also spelled Llanfair Pwllgwyngyll. It is commonly known as Llanfair PG or Llanfairpwll.

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3. Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagung-amaugg (45 letters)

  • Short-forms: Lake Chaubunagungamaug (17 letters)
  • Location: a lake in Massachusetts, United States
  • Language: Nipmuc

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Lake Chaubunagungamaug, also known as Webster Lake, is a lake in the town of Webster, Massachusetts, United States. It is located near the Connecticut border and has a surface area of 1,442 acres (5.84 km2).

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4. Tweebuffelsmeteenskootmorsdoodgeskietfontein (44 letters)

  • Location: South Africa
  • Language: Afrikaans

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Tweebuffelsmeteenskootmorsdoodgeskietfontein is a farm in the North West province of South Africa, located about 200 km west of Pretoria and 20 km east of Lichtenburg whose 44-character name has entered South African folklore in much the same way that Llanfairpwllgwyngyll-gogerychwyrndrobwll-llantysilio-gogogoch railway station has entered British folklore. The name was used as the title for an Afrikaans lyric written by Fanus Rautenbach and performed by Anton Goosen.

 

 

5. Äteritsiputeritsipuolilautatsijänkä (35 letters)

  • Location: Lapland, Finland
  • Language: Finnish (northern dialect)

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Äteritsiputeritsipuolilautatsijänkä is a bog region in Savukoski, Lapland in Finland. The name is 35 letters long and is the longest place name in Finland.

 

 

6. Pekwachnamaykoskwaskwaypinwanik (31 letters)

  • Location: a lake in Manitoba and Nunavut, Canada
  • Language: Inuktitut

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Pekwachnamaykoskwaskwaypinwanik Lake is a lake of Manitoba. The name is Cree for "where the wild trout are caught by fishing with hooks." It is the longest place name in Canada at 31 letters long.

 

 

7. Venkatanarasimharajuvaripeta (28 letters)

  • Location: a village in Andhra Pradesh, India
  • Language: Telugu

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Venkatanarasimharajuvaripeta or Venkatanarasimha Rajuvaripet is a railway station in Andhra Pradesh on the border with Tamil Nadu, India with the distinction of having the longest name among all stations on the Indian Railway system. It is on the Renigunta-Arakkonam section of Southern Railway.

 

 

8. Mamungkukumpurangkuntjunya (26 letters)

  • Location: a hill in South Australia, Australia
  • Language: Pitjantjatjara

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Mamungkukumpurangkuntjunya Hill is a hill in South Australia. The name means "where the devil urinates" in the regional Pitjantjatjara language. It is the longest official place name in Australia.

Source: Wikipedia.org