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United States Geological Survey
Geographic Names Information System
Downloadable State and Topical Gazetteer Files
Overview:
The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) contains name and
locative information for almost 2 million physical and cultural
features located throughout the United States and its Territories. GNIS
was developed by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the
U.S. Board on Geographic Names (BGN) to promote the standardization of
feature names. GNIS is being compiled in phases. The first phase is
complete for the entire U.S., and entailed the collection of names from
Federal sources including large-scale USGS topographic maps, Office of
Coast Survey charts, U.S. Forest Service maps, and digital datasets
distributed by the Federal Communications Commission, the Federal
Aviation Administration, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The
second phase of data collection is complete or in progress for about
90% of the U.S., and captures names from State, locally, and other
published current and historical maps, charts, and texts.
Standard-Format Digital Extracts:
The USGS distributes standard-format digital extracts from GNIS that
contain information about features in each State and Territory. Four
topical extracts are also available: the Populated Places file
lists information about all cities, towns, housing subdivisions, and
neighborhoods throughout the U.S. that are described in the database,
the U.S. Concise file lists information about large physical and
cultural features, the Historical Features File includes entries for
features that no longer exist, and the Antarctica file contains entries
throughout the continent of Antarctica as approved for use by the
United States Government.
A single asterisk (*) following the name of a State or Territory
file indicates there has been no Phase II data compilation for that
file. Two asterisks (**) following the name of a State or Territory
file indicates Phase II data compilation is in progress for that
file. Phase II updates are applied to the database daily, however
the downloadable extract files are only replaced periodically as Phase
II updates are applied.
Downloadable Extract Files:
The available files are summarized as
follows:
Delimited format (pipe symbol) - Feature Names listing for
States, Territories and Outlying Areas:
| AL_deci |
AK_deci * |
AS_deci |
| AZ_deci |
AR_deci |
CA_deci |
| CO_deci |
CT_deci |
DE_deci |
| DC_deci |
FL_deci |
GA_deci |
| GU_deci |
HI_deci |
ID_deci |
| IL_deci |
IN_deci |
IA_deci ** |
| KS_deci |
KY_deci * |
LA_deci |
| ME_deci |
MH_deci |
MD_deci |
| MA_deci |
MI_deci * |
FM_deci |
| MN_deci ** |
MS_deci |
MO_deci |
| MT_deci |
NE_deci |
NV_deci |
| NH_deci |
NJ_deci |
NM_deci |
| NY_deci * |
NC_deci |
ND_deci |
| MP_deci |
OH_deci |
OK_deci |
| OR_deci |
PW_deci |
PA_deci |
| PR_deci |
RI_deci |
SC_deci |
| SD_deci |
TN_deci |
TX_deci |
| UM_deci |
UT_deci |
VT_deci |
| VA_deci |
VI_deci |
WA_deci |
| WV_deci |
WI_deci |
WY_deci |
Columnar record format - Feature names listing for States,
Territories and Outlying Areas:
| Alabama |
Alaska* |
American_Samoa |
| Arizona |
Arkansas |
California |
| Colorado |
Connecticut |
Delaware |
| District_of_Columbia |
Florida |
Georgia |
| Guam |
Hawaii |
Idaho |
| Illinois |
Indiana |
Iowa ** |
| Kansas |
Kentucky * |
Louisiana |
| Maine |
Marshall_Islands |
Maryland |
| Massachusetts |
Michigan * |
Micronesia |
| Minnesota ** |
Mississippi |
Missouri |
| Montana |
Nebraska |
Nevada |
| New_Hampshire |
New_Jersey |
New_Mexico |
| New_York * |
North_Carolina |
North_Dakota |
| Northern_Marianas |
Ohio |
Oklahoma |
| Oregon |
Palau |
Pennsylvania |
| Puerto_Rico |
Rhode_Island |
South_Carolina |
| South_Dakota |
Tennessee |
Texas |
| US_Minor_Islands |
Utah |
Vermont |
| Virginia |
Virgin_Islands |
Washington |
| West_Virginia |
Wisconsin |
Wyoming |
Thematic Listings:
- Antarctica
- Historical Features
- Historical Features_deci
- Populated Places
- Populated Places_deci
- US_Concise
Digital File Formats:
Delimited record format (pipe symbol) for States, Territories,
Outlying Areas, Populated Places and Historical Features Listings:
| Contents |
| Feature ID Number (FID) |
| State Alpha Code |
| Feature Name |
| Feature Class (Feature Type) |
| County Name |
| State Number Code (FIPS Code) |
| County Number Code (FIPS Code) |
| Primary Latitude (DMS) |
| Primary Longitude (DMS) |
| Primary Latitude (decimal degrees) |
| Primary Longitude (decimal degrees) |
| Source Latitude (DMS) |
| Source Longitude (DMS) |
| Source Latitude (decimal degrees) |
| Source Longitude (decimal degrees) |
| Elevation |
| Estimated Population |
| Federal Status |
| Cell Name |
Columnar record format - Feature Names listing for States,
Territories and Outlying Areas:
| Columns |
Contents |
| 1-9 |
Feature ID Number (FID) |
| 11-12 |
State Alpha Code |
| 14-113 |
Feature Name |
| 115-123 |
Feature Class (Feature Type) |
| 125-139 |
County Name |
| 141-156 |
Geographic Coordinates |
| 158-173 |
Source Coordinates for Linear
Features |
| 175-180 |
Elevation |
| 182-206 |
Cell Name |
Antarctica Features Listing - record format (logical record
length = 80):
| Feature Name |
ID Number |
Latitude/Longitude |
| Description - variable length (word
wrap) |
Columnar record format - Historical Features Listing:
| Columns |
Contents |
| 1-9 |
Feature ID Number (FID) |
| 11-12 |
State Alpha Code |
| 14-113 |
Feature Name |
| 115-123 |
Feature Class (Feature Type) |
| 125-139 |
County Name |
| 141-156 |
Geographic Coordinates |
| 158-173 |
Source Coordinates for Linear Features |
| 175-180 |
Elevation |
| 182-204 |
Cell Name |
Columnar record format - Populated Places Listing:
| Columns |
Contents |
| 1-9 |
Feature ID Number (FID) |
| 11-12 |
State Alpha Code |
| 14-113 |
Feature Name |
| 115-123 |
Feature Class (Feature Type) |
| 125-139 |
County |
| 141-156 |
Geographic Coordinates |
| 158-181 |
Cell Name |
| 183-188 |
Elevation |
| 190-197 |
Estimated Population |
| 199-206 |
Federal Status of Feature Name |
Columnar record format - U.S. Concise Listing:
| Columns |
Contents |
| 1-9 |
Feature ID Number (FID) |
| 11-110 |
Feature Name |
| 112-120 |
Feature Class (Feature Type) |
| 122-123 |
State |
| 125-155 |
County |
| 157-171 |
Geographic Coordinates |
| 173-178 |
Elevation |
Disclaimer:
Some of the data provided were derived from sources outside of the
U.S. Geological Survey. All data and information contained in any
of the data files are provided without guarantee as to their
completeness or correctness. Any conclusions drawn from these data and
information are the sole responsibility of the user.
Last updated: Dec 06, 2005
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