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New Zealand's highest mountain was originally named Mt Cook by Captain John Lort Stokes in honour of James Cook, who was the first European to circumnavigate New Zealand in 1770, though he did not sight the mountain.

Mt Cook's indigenous name is Aorangi, or Aoraki, which means "Cloud Piercer" in the Ngāi Tahu dialect of the Māori language.

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15y ago

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