Geological Survey
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Geographic Name Information System
The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is the official federal database of names for places, features, and areas in the United States. It was developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the U.S. Board on Geographic Names (BGN) to standardize geographic names for federal use and to serve as a comprehensive source for public information.
Here are some of the key features and characteristics of GNIS:
1. Comprehensive Coverage:
| • | GNIS contains information on over 2 million physical and cultural geographic features in the United States and its territories, as well as Antarctica. |
| • | The features are categorized into a variety of classes, including populated places, lakes, streams, mountains, valleys, airports, churches, bridges, and cemeteries, among many others. |
2. Standardized and Official:
| • | It serves as the official repository of domestic geographic names data for the U.S. government. |
| • | The database is the source for applying geographic names to all federal electronic and printed products. |
3. Unique Identifiers:
| • | Each feature in the database is assigned a unique and permanent feature record identifier, often called a GNIS ID. This ID is a standard federal key for accessing, integrating, or reconciling data from multiple datasets. |
4. Data Attributes:
| • | For each feature, GNIS provides the official, federally recognized name. |
| • | It also includes information about the feature's location, such as its state, county, and geographic coordinates. |
| • | In addition to the official name, the database records historical and variant names, and may include bibliographic references to books or historic maps that confirm the name. |
5. Public Accessibility and Use:
| • | The GNIS is publicly available and can be searched through the USGS Domestic Names Search Application. |
| • | Users can search for a feature by name, feature type, location, and other criteria. The results can be viewed on a map and downloaded for use in other applications, such as GIS software. |
| • | New names and changes to existing names can be submitted to the U.S. Board on Geographic Names for consideration. |