It's unofficial – NZ map mishap

EXPERTS researching alternative Maori names for New Zealand's two main islands were startled to find that their English names – the North Island and the South Island – were never made legal, officials said yesterday.

To repair the 200-year-old oversight, the country's Geographic Board, which assigns and approves all New Zealand place names, said it would take steps to legally name the islands.

The board had spent several years exploring a process for formally recognising alternative Maori names – Te Ika a Maui and Te Wai Pounamou – when it noticed that the islands had never been given official names, chairman Don Grant said.