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This policy provides guidance when considering and applying generic terms to geographic names. The primary purpose of the generic term is to describe the feature part of a place name, eg River or Maunga.

At its hui on 31 March 2025, the Board considered this report on a proposal to make Te Puaitaha Canyon the official name of a fully submerged canyon feature immediately west of Te Puaitaha / Breaksea Sound. The proposal was notified for one month so that the public could make submissions supporting or objecting to the proposed name.

This companion book to the Māori Oral History Atlas focuses on ways of understanding Māori place names

New Zealand’s vast undersea area is largely unmapped. More than 1000 features on the ocean floor are named but there could potentially be thousands more.

New Zealand’s authority on place names, the New Zealand Geographic Board Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa (Geographic Board), is committed to restoring original Māori place names.