U.S. Geographic Names Information System (GNIS)

The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) actively seeks data from and partnerships with Government agencies at all levels and other interested organizations. The GNIS is the Federal standard for geographic nomenclature. The U.S. Geological Survey developed the GNIS for the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, a Federal inter-agency body chartered by public law to maintain uniform feature name usage throughout the Government and to promulgate standard names to the public. The GNIS is the official repository of domestic geographic names data; the official vehicle for geographic names use by all departments of the Federal Government; and the source for applying geographic names to Federal electronic and printed products of all types. See http://geonames.usgs.gov for additional information.

Data and Resources

Field Value
access_constraints ["Use Constraints: None. Acknowledgement of the U.S. Geological Survey would be appreciated in products derived from these data.", "Access Constraints: None"]
bbox-east-long 180.000000
bbox-north-lat 76.786171
bbox-south-lat 42.509211
bbox-west-long -180.000000
contact-email gnis_manager@usgs.gov
coupled-resource []
dataset-reference-date [{"type": "publication", "value": "1981-05-01"}]
frequency-of-update asNeeded
licence ["Although these data have been processed successfully on a computer system at the U.S. Geological Survey, no warranty expressed or implied is made by the USGS regarding the utility of the data on any other system, nor shall the act of distribution constitute any such warranty. The Geological Survey will warrant the delivery of this product in computer-readable format."]
metadata-date 2009-08-18
metadata-language eng; USA
metadata_type geospatial
progress underDevelopment
resource-type dataset
responsible-party [{"name": "U.S. Geological Survey", "roles": ["pointOfContact"]}]
spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[-180.0, 42.509211], [180.0, 42.509211], [180.0, 76.786171], [-180.0, 76.786171], [-180.0, 42.509211]]]}
spatial_harvester true
temporal-extent-begin 1974-01-01
Groups
  • AmeriGEOSS
  • National Provider
  • North America
Tags
  • amerigeo
  • amerigeoss
  • antarctica
  • borough
  • census-area
  • ckan
  • commonwealth
  • county
  • current
  • district
  • economy
  • environment
  • feature-class
  • feature-coordinates
  • feature-county
  • feature-description
  • feature-designation
  • feature-history
  • feature-identification
  • feature-name
  • feature-state
  • geo
  • geographic-feature
  • geographic-name
  • geographical-feature
  • geographical-name
  • geoss
  • historical
  • imagerybasemapsearthcover
  • inlandwaters
  • location
  • municipio
  • national
  • north-america
  • official-feature-name
  • outlying-area
  • parish
  • place-name
  • populated-place
  • society
  • state
  • structure
  • territory
  • topographic-map
  • transportation
  • united-states
  • utilitiescommunication
  • variant-name
isopen False
metadata_created 2025-11-19T21:39:54.726502
metadata_modified 2025-11-19T21:39:54.726509
notes The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) actively seeks data from and partnerships with Government agencies at all levels and other interested organizations. The GNIS is the Federal standard for geographic nomenclature. The U.S. Geological Survey developed the GNIS for the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, a Federal inter-agency body chartered by public law to maintain uniform feature name usage throughout the Government and to promulgate standard names to the public. The GNIS is the official repository of domestic geographic names data; the official vehicle for geographic names use by all departments of the Federal Government; and the source for applying geographic names to Federal electronic and printed products of all types. See http://geonames.usgs.gov for additional information.
num_resources 12
num_tags 48
title U.S. Geographic Names Information System (GNIS)