Talk:New Zealand place names/GA1

GA Review
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Reviewer: dramatic (talk) 02:40, 8 March 2011 (UTC)

Sorry, I've never done a GA review, butr wanted to make some specific comments on the article content:dramatic (talk) 02:40, 8 March 2011 (UTC)

Aspects missing
The article needs to cover some of the technicalities of New Zealand names, specifically:
 * Only a small percentage of place names are official and are listed in the New Zealand Gazetteer of Official Geographic Names - the Gazetteer only lists places which have been named or renamed as a result of a decision by the New Zealand Geographic Board or as a result of an Act of Parliament. All other names are unofficial, established by usage or declaration by local authorities (in the case of suburbs and streets). These are documented by Land Information New Zealand via Topographic Maps. LINZ states:
 * Recorded names are names that have appeared in at least two publicly available authoritative publications or databases. They are unofficial because they were not assigned, altered, discontinued or approved by the NZGB. Many of the place names recorded on official maps are outside the NZGB's functions and jurisdiction, such as homesteads, light houses or tracks. Other recorded names, like Wellington, were commonly in use before the creation of the NZGB, and consequently have not yet been processed by the NZGB to become official. You can search the New Zealand Place Names Database (archived) for recorded names.
 * The database mentioned includes every name included on a LINZ map until 31 October 2008. Note that the coordinates given are those of the location of the name on the map, not the point coordinate of the feature itself. It is not clear how names recorded from 2009 onwards will be documented. Most major New Zealand towns are unofficial/recorded names, e.g. Auckland, Hamilton, Gisborne.


 * As a result of the above, the current section on unofficial names may need renaming to "Colloquial names". dramatic (talk) 02:40, 8 March 2011 (UTC)


 * I had a go at adding some of the above information into the article. I kept the heading unofficial in the end but added a paragraph about recorded names at the start. I also added more information about how the NZGB makes names official under post-colonial recognition AIR corn (talk) 06:10, 19 March 2011 (UTC)

Secondly, one of the atlases of New Zealand published in recent years mentions how the hinterland of central third the North Island has 90% of place names in Māori, a result of not having been opened up to European settlement until the time Māori names became acceptable. This is certainly worthy of inclusion if we can track down the source. dramatic (talk) 02:40, 8 March 2011 (UTC)


 * the first sentence of post-colonial recognition says "...although some [Maori names] persisted in the north and central regions of the North Island". This is sourced to Te Ara and adapted from this sentence "Māori names survived European settlement mostly in places with significant Māori populations in the central North Island and Northland." It would be good to change "some" to "90 percent", but I haven't found the source yet. I don't feel the current source gives enough information to quantify how many survived (I felt some was safe), but will keep looking a more specific source. AIR corn (talk) 06:10, 19 March 2011 (UTC)


 * Hi, I have been travelling for the last two weeks and internet time was more restricted than I expected. I only just realised someone had started this review so sorry for the late reply. All should be good now and I will see what I can do this weekend. AIR corn (talk) 12:22, 17 March 2011 (UTC)