# Which state, county, country has the longest name? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 21, 2013, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-state-county-country-has-the-longest-name/656285 "2013-04-21T03:28:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2013, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-state-county-country-has-the-longest-name/656285/1 "2013-04-21T03:28:07Z")
Idle subjects, but hey. Not allowed are things like, “The blahblahblah division _of_ Her Majesty’s blahblahblah etc.” Name should be freestanding. A nice sad-eyed girl I just met at Barnes & Noble told me that such along official name was a claim to fame of Rhode Island. I’ll have to take her word for it. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2013, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-state-county-country-has-the-longest-name/656285/2 "2013-04-21T03:42:32Z")
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has a pretty long name. ---
**Author:** ![Indian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@Indian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indian)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2013, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-state-county-country-has-the-longest-name/656285/3 "2013-04-21T03:53:52Z")
The city of [Bangkok.](http://www.into-asia.com/bangkok/introduction/fullname.php) _Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Ayuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit_😉 ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2013, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-state-county-country-has-the-longest-name/656285/4 "2013-04-21T03:58:22Z")
Well, according to above cite, we have a winner “for any geographic location.” The city of angels, the great city, the residence of the Emerald Buddha, the impregnable city (of Ayutthaya) of God Indra, the grand capital of the world endowed with nine precious gems, the happy city, abounding in an enormous Royal Palace that resembles the heavenly abode where reigns the reincarnated god, a city given by Indra and built by Vishnukarn. But I refuse to see this tread peeter out yet. Plus, a contemporary Thai speaker today would not even be able to understand that phrase. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2013, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-state-county-country-has-the-longest-name/656285/5 "2013-04-21T04:43:33Z")
[Top 5 Longest Place Names in the World](http://pigjockey.com/2010/03/13/top-5-longest-place-names-in-the-world/) (ETA: Gives honorable mention to Bangkok.) ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2013, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-state-county-country-has-the-longest-name/656285/6 "2013-04-21T06:38:26Z")
If we’re talking states of the USA, I’d say The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations would fit the bill. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2013, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-state-county-country-has-the-longest-name/656285/7 "2013-04-21T06:40:21Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > A nice sad-eyed girl I just met at Barnes & Noble told me that such along official name was a claim to fame of Rhode Island. I’ll have to take her word for it. Or you could, like, check Wikipedia: **[State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhode_Island)**. (No entry for _nice, sad-eyed girl_, though.) ETA: Damn you to hell, **jayjay**! ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2013, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-state-county-country-has-the-longest-name/656285/8 "2013-04-21T06:43:44Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > [Top 5 Longest Place Names in the World](http://pigjockey.com/2010/03/13/top-5-longest-place-names-in-the-world/) [We know a song about that (first) one.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hchOYs_d_Bw) ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2013, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-state-county-country-has-the-longest-name/656285/9 "2013-04-21T08:15:29Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > [We know a song about that (first) one.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hchOYs_d_Bw) Reminds me of a song about a gentleman named Eddie Kushi Katchi Kama Tosa Nira Tosa Noka Sama Kama Wacky Brown. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2013, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-state-county-country-has-the-longest-name/656285/10 "2013-04-21T09:16:40Z")
The original official name of Los Angeles was El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles del Río de Porciúncula (The Town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels of the River of Porciuncula). ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2013, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-state-county-country-has-the-longest-name/656285/11 "2013-04-21T10:36:00Z")
For “longest,” do you mean most letters or most syllables? And do you count the offical names or the ones people really use when they refer to a place? The Welsh one (#2 in the link) is usually just Llanfair PG in common speech, 4 syllables, shorter than Llanfihangel Genau’r Glyn, 7 syllables in speech. I’ve never heard anyone say anything other than “Rhode Island” in speech, though the long version is well known. “South Carolina” (5 syllables) is longer in common use. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2013, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-state-county-country-has-the-longest-name/656285/12 "2013-04-21T12:14:40Z")
My old Guinness Book of Records mentioned Sutton-under-Whitestonecliffe as the longest non-contrived place name in Britain. > **[Sutton-under-Whitestonecliffe](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sutton-under-Whitestonecliffe)** > > Sutton-under-Whitestonecliffe is a village and civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the North Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated on the A170 at the foot of Sutton Bank, about three miles east of Thirsk. > The village is mentioned in the Domesday Book as Sudtune in the Yarlestre hundred. The manor was recorded as in the possession of Orm, son of Gamal, but was granted to Hugh, son of Baldric after the Norman invasion. > The village lies within ... ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2013, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-state-county-country-has-the-longest-name/656285/13 "2013-04-21T12:27:20Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > [Top 5 Longest Place Names in the World](http://pigjockey.com/2010/03/13/top-5-longest-place-names-in-the-world/) > [@](#): > > With a whopping 105 letters, “ **Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateahaumaitawhitiurehaea-turipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu** ” is officially the longest place name in the world. It is the Māori name for a hill in southern Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand. > > It’s shortened to “Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu” (57 letters) in the New Zealand Geographic Placenames Database, and **often shortened even further to “Taumata”** , for ease of conversation by the locals. [bloding mine] You say whatever the hell that is, I say “tautmata.” ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2013, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-state-county-country-has-the-longest-name/656285/14 "2013-04-22T15:56:20Z")
By the way, Lake Chargoggagoggmanchaugagoggchaubunagungamaugg (which is right near the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations) supposedly means “Fishing place at the boundaries – neutral meeting ground.” (This was humorously translated as “You fish on your side of the lake, I fish on my side of the lake, nobody fish in the middle”.) And they spelled it wrong on the sign. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2013, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-state-county-country-has-the-longest-name/656285/15 "2013-04-22T16:10:32Z")
> [@cjepson](#): > > And they spelled it wrong on the sign. Who can blame them? ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2013, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-state-county-country-has-the-longest-name/656285/16 "2013-04-22T17:12:50Z")
> [@cjepson](#): > > By the way, Lake Chargoggagoggmanchaugagoggchaubunagungamaugg (which is right near the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations) supposedly means “Fishing place at the boundaries – neutral meeting ground.” (This was humorously translated as “You fish on your side of the lake, I fish on my side of the lake, nobody fish in the middle”.) > > And they spelled it wrong on the sign. Guy lands on desert island in middle of ocean. Finds three synagogues. Runs into island guy, who says there’s just him and one other guy, Moishe, on the island. –But I don’t get it, there are two people here and you have three shuls? –Well, one’s for me. One’s for him. The third one neither of us would be caught dead in. (An elaboration of the “ask two Jews, get three opinions” line.)