A rather unremarkable hill in New Zealand has become world-famous for one feature alone, namely: its name, believed to be the longest place name on Earth. With 85 characters and 40 syllables, the toponym is a mouthful for most, though indigenous Polynesians or the most talented linguists might have a better row with it.
The tongue-twisting nomenclature is pronounced, Taumata whakatangi hangakoauau o tamatea turi pukakapiki maunga horo nuku pokai whenua kitanatahu. And all but the bravest of non-native speakers might wind up speechless before even opening their mouths to utter it.
The road sign leading up to the place with the longest name in the world. This image was cropped and color corrected. (itravelNZ/CC BY 2.0)
The 1,000-foot hill is situated near Pōrangahau in Hawke’s Bay on New Zealand’s North Island. Its huge name has been shortened to “Taumata Hill” by locals, but the original proper noun encompasses an entire story which translated into English by Atlas Obscura goes thus: 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….