I came across an article in Condé Nast Traveller the other day about a town with a name that cannot be printed. It made me wonder what other outrageous place names exist in the world.
In my childhood I had heard about the town in Wales with the longest name in the world: Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. It is often shortened to Llanfairpwllgwyngyll. Not that it really matters as few people can pronounce it. Nearby Gorsafawddacha'idraigodanheddogleddollônpenrhynareurdraethceredigion, a name contrived for publicity, changed its name to Golf Halt in 2007, presumably because the name was too long to print on signs and maps.
Speaking of long names, did you know El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles de Porciúncula is the official name of Los Angeles and Krungthep Mahanakhon Amonrattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilokphop Noppharatratchathani Burirom-udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amonphiman Awatansathit Sakkathattiya Witsanu Kamprasit the official name for Bangkok?
Neither name does well in travel marketing brochures, hence the shorter versions.
And as we are on the subject of travel marketing, Iceland, the Mosquito Coast (Nicaragua), Boring (in Oregon and Maryland), Disappointment Islands (Polynesia) and Sveti Stefan (in Montenegro and Macedonia) hold the top spots for most make-me-wanna-go-there names.
At least Newfoundland makes up for it by having a town called Happy Adventure, which incidentally is in the same province as Dildo and Come-by-Chance.
We have all snickered at names like Hell (in both Norway and Michigan), Intercourse (two in the USofA) and Wank (in Germany). But who knew there were places such as Bong County (Liberia), Blow me down (Newfoundland) and More Tomorrow (Belize)?
Luckily there is now a web site with all the unusual names in the world. Check it out here.
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