The World’s Top 5 Longest Place Names:

The world really is a weird and wonderful place full of beauty, laughter and some very strange places from Virgin Street to Bucket of Blood Street and some that simply challenge your lung-power. Here we’re going to look at the world’s longest place names, but please for your own safety have a large glass of water and a deep breath before trying to pronounce them. So let’s get down to it!

Azpilicuetagaraycosaroyarenberecolarrea

Fifth place is held by Spain with this 39 letter beauty spot, it’s nowhere near the contender for the top but extraordinary none the less. Located in Azpilkueta, Navarra, it’s Basque for “The low field of high pen of Azpilkueta”. Navarra is one of the greenest regions in Europe with over 70% of electricity coming from renewable sources and for a long time was seen by the EU as the ideal outcome for all of Europe.

Tweebuffelsmeteenskootmorsdoodgeskietfontein

In a very close fourth with 44 letters, this farm is located in the North West province of South Africa. It’s Afrikaans for “The spring where two buffaloes were cleanly killed with a single shot” and holds the title for the longest one-word place name in Africa. Anton Goosen has a song titled ‘Tweebuffelsmeteenskootmorsdoodgeskietfontein’ on his 2014 album Putonnerwater. South Africa seems to love their long place names, they also have the smaller ‘Bovenendvankeelafsnysleegte’ a farm in the Upper Karoo, and although this doesn’t make the cut for this particular list, it’s still undoubtedly impressive.

Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg

Coming in third place with a slightly more impressive 45 letters is the US. Lake Chaubunagungamaug, the shortened and more common name for this otherwise beautiful location, is located in Webster, Massachusetts. Deriving from the Nipmuck language, it means “Fishing Place at the Boundaries – Neutral Meeting Grounds” and is the longest official one-word place name in the United States. This appeared, in all its glory, as a potential street address for the fictional Dragonfly Inn in TV’s Gilmore Girls.

Llanfair­pwllgwyngyll­gogery­chwyrn­drobwll­llan­tysilio­gogo­goch

In second place with 58 letters is a location much closer to home for me, Wales. Also known as Llanfair PG or Llanfairpwll, This is Europe’s longest place name with many believing it holds the world title. Llanfair PG is Welsh for “Saint Mary’s Church in a hollow of white hazel near the swirling whirlpool of the church of Saint Tysilio with a red cave”. For anyone thinking about trying to pronounce this, Blackadder put it best “You need half a pint of phlegm in your throat just to pronounce the place names.” The name was used as a password for Dildano’s headquarters in the 1960’s cult film ‘Barbarella’.

Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu

At number 1, New Zealand with an astonishing 85 letters! Taumata, the shortened version of this behemoth, is located on the North of the island and is Māori for “The summit where Tamatea, the man with the big knees, the climber of mountains, the land-swallower who traveled about, played his nose flute to his loved one”. This is, according to the Guinness Worlds Records, officially the world’s longest place name. Taumata appears in numerous songs and popular culture including Quantum Jump’s “The lone Ranger” and, weirdly enough, a Mountain Dew jingle.

So there we have it, next time you moan about having to enter those “long” addresses, feel sorry for the Kiwi’s having to type in their favorite picnic spot at the summit of Tamatea, or those Welshmen catching the train in Llanfair PG. I personally won’t be complaining unless the address is longer than the alphabet, a new rule I think. There are obviously plenty more place names that are insanely long, but you have to stop at some point and anything less than 35 characters doesn’t seem anywhere near as mammoth as 85!