One-Minute Facts: The Welsh Village With 58 Letters

And it’s not even the longest place name in the world. Blimey.

Wales is home to the second-longest place name in the world. Let’s all take a trip to the village of….

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch

And yes, I did copy and paste that. And no, I can’t pronounce it.

The village got this name in the 1860s. Someone decided it could become a tourist attraction if it had the longest railway station name in the country.

So, they created a new name that combined local landmarks with the original village name. It means:

The church of St Mary in the hollow of the white hazel near the fierce whirlpool and the church of Tysilio by the red cave.

Luckily, you can just call it Llanfairpwll or Llanfair PG. Because Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch is a mouthful even if you’re Welsh.

And the longest place name in the world?

Taumata­whakatangihanga­koauau­o­tamatea­turi­pukaka­piki­maunga­horo­nuku­pokai­whenua­ki­tana­tahu

It’s in New Zealand. And no, I can’t pronounce that one either.