Story: Ngāti Kahungunu

The longest place name in the world

The longest place name in the world

Two Central Hawke’s Bay Council workers, Dennis Goodley and David Blackledge, stand in front of a sign they have just fixed which marks the world’s longest name. The place is on Wimbledon Road, Porangahau, and the name means ‘The place where Tamatea, the man with the big knees, who slid, climbed and swallowed mountains, known as landeater, played his flute to his loved one’. It refers to the father of Kahungunu, Tamatea Ure Haea.

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Hawke's Bay Today
Reference: 2 December 2004
Photograph by Warren Buckland

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How to cite this page:

Mere Whaanga, 'Ngāti Kahungunu - Ancestors', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/photograph/4547/the-longest-place-name-in-the-world (accessed 26 April 2024)

Story by Mere Whaanga, published 8 Feb 2005, updated 3 Mar 2017