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The NZGB engages with international naming authorities on Antarctic, undersea, regional and global place naming matters.

Proposed railway station names.

Tangata whenua place names of Aotearoa New Zealand, pre European settlement. Download the second edition of these maps and learn about the updates made in 2023.

Proposed, approved, altered and amended geographic names.

Proposed, adopted, discontinued and corrected geographic feature names

David John Albert (Bert) Lyttle, Bernard Head, James (Jim) Dennistoun, Arthur Talbot, Bernard Tennent and John (Jack) Robert Murrell.

Two journeys of discovery led to the naming of these features in Fiordland’s Tamatea / Dusky Sound.

Botanist Joseph Banks’ hope of New Zealand being the ‘great southern continent’ were dashed when the HMB Endeavour rounded the southernmost point of Stewart Island / Rakiura and only ocean lay beyond. In 1998 the Ngāi Tahu Treaty settlement restored the original Māori name to the cape.

Named after the naturalist Joseph Banks, Banks Peninsula was shown on maps as an island for forty years until an 1809 survey.

Alternative official names for this Te Ika-a-Māui North Island feature recognise the great Pacific navigator Kupe and Sir Hugh Palliser, who was a key supporter of Cook in the British Admiralty.

While the HMB Endeavour was under repair in Meretoto / Ship Cove, Cook took a small boat and crew to explore Queen Charlotte Sound / Tōtaranui.

Discover the stories of the naming of this maunga.

Mystery surrounds why Cook named this island group ‘Poor Knights’.

Discover the story of Te Moana-a-Toitehuatahi, later named Bay of Plenty by Cook in 1769.

Tuia - Encounters 250: Cook’s place names around New Zealand - Dusky Sound

The stories of over 260 place names associated with Lieutenant James Cook’s voyages to New Zealand in the late 1700s.

A tale from He Korero Pūrākau Mo Ngā Taunahanahatanga a Ngā Tūpuna (Place Names Of The Ancestors) - A Māori Oral History Atlas

Learn about how the New Zealand Geographic Board Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa came into existence.

Publications about traditional and current place naming produced by the New Zealand Geographic Board.

Making place names official enables clear communication and connections between people, places, and information. They identify where we are as we go about our everyday business.

The First World War through place names. Paschendale Ridge in Westland National Park / Tai Poutini National Park, Passchendaele Ice Fall and Passchendaele Peak in South Main Divide.

The First World War through place names. Gallipoli Heights, Antarctica.

The First World War through place names. Forrest Hill, North Shore.

The First World War through place names. Cradock Channel, Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana.