Geographic Names Information System

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The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is a database of name and location information about more than two million physical and cultural features throughout the United States and its territories; the associated states of the Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, and Palau; and Antarctica. It is a type of gazetteer. It was developed by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) to promote the standardization of feature names.

Data were collected in two phases.[1] Although a third phase was considered, which would have handled name changes where local usages differed from maps, it was never begun.[2]

The database is part of a system that includes topographic map names and bibliographic references. The names of books and historic maps that confirm the feature or place name are cited. Variant names, alternatives to official federal names for a feature, are also recorded. Each feature receives a permanent, unique feature record identifier, sometimes called the GNIS identifier.[3] The database never removes an entry, "except in cases of obvious duplication."[4]

  1. ^ Monmonier 2008, p. 30.
  2. ^ Monmonier 2008, p. 31.
  3. ^ "United States Census County Based TIGER/Line 2009 Data Dictionary: Entity, Joins, Attributes and Domains". Archived from the original on June 27, 2014. Retrieved June 27, 2014.
  4. ^ Cartographic Users Advisory Council (CUAC) (April 26–27, 2007). 2007 Agency Presentation Minutes. Reston, VA: United States Geological Survey (USGS). Archived from the original on January 11, 2014.