what will my country be called?
Confusion over NZ islands' names
New Zealanders are to be asked what they would like to call their two main islands, currently North and South.
The country's Geographic Board, which assigns and approves place name changes, has announced consultations on alternative English and Maori names.
The move follows the discovery that the geographically correct names, used for 200 years, were not legally registered.
The discovery was made by board researchers investigating Maori names for the two islands.
The Geographic Board wants to allow English or Maori names to be used in the future, but this aim is complicated by the fact that competing Maori words exist for each island.
They include Te Ika a Maui (the fish of Maui) for the North Island and Te Wai Pounamu (the canoe of Maui) for the South Island.
Maui was a mythological Maori demi-god who is said to have caught New Zealand while fishing from his brother's canoe.
Maori names appeared on early maps of New Zealand including charts by Captain James Cook, the British explorer and map-maker who claimed the territory for Britain.
"This is part of our country's history of European exploration and settlement. It was only from the 1950s that Maori names stopped appearing on official maps," said board chairman Dr Don Grant.