Geographic Names Information System

Geographic Names Information System

The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is a database that contains name and locative information about more than two million physical and cultural features located throughout the United States of America and its territories. It is a type of gazetteer. GNIS was developed by the United States Geological Survey in cooperation with the United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) to promote the standardization of feature names.

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. The database never removes an entry, "except in cases of obvious duplication".[1]

Contents

Name changes

The GNIS accepts proposals for new or changed names for U.S. geographical features. The general public can make proposals at the GNIS web site and can review the justifications and supporters of the proposals.

Other authorities

  • The Bureau of the Census defines Census Designated Places which are a subset of locations in the National Geographic Names Database.
  • U.S. Postal Service Publication 28 gives standards for addressing mail. In this publication, the postal service defines two-letter state abbreviations, street identifiers such as boulevard (BLVD) and street (ST), and secondary identifiers such as suite (STE).
  • The names of post offices have historically been used to back up claims about the name of a community.[dubious ]

See also

References

  1. ^ Cartographic Users Advisory Council (CUAC) (April 26–27, 2007). "2007 Agency Presentation Minutes". Reston, VA: US Geological Survey. http://cuac.wustl.edu/annualmtg2007.htm. 

Further reading

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Geographic Names Information System — oder GNIS ist eine Datenbank, die Namen und Informationen über den Namen und die Lage von nahezu zwei Millionen geographischen Objekten in den Vereinigten Staaten und den abhängigen Territorien enthält. GNIS wurde vom United States Geological… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Geographic Names Information System — El Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) es una base de datos que alberga nombres e información sobre localidades geográficas y alberga más de 2 millones de localidades geográficas y culturales por todo los Estados Unidos y sus territorios.… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Geographic Names Information System — Le Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) ou Système d Information des Noms Géographiques, indexe plus de deux millions de références physiques et culturelles à travers les États Unis et ses dépendances territoriales. Le GNIS fut élaboré par… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Geographical Names Information System — Geographic Names Information System oder GNIS ist eine Datenbank, die Namen und Informationen über den Namen und die Lage von nahezu zwei Millionen geographischen Objekten in den Vereinigten Staaten und den abhängigen Territorien enthält. GNIS… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • BC Geographical Names Information System — The BC Geographical Names Information System (BCGNIS) is a geographic name database for British Columbia, which is run and maintained by the Base Mapping and Geomatic Services Branch of the Integrated Land Management Bureau . The database… …   Wikipedia

  • United States Board on Geographic Names — The United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) is a United States federal body whose purpose is to establish and maintain uniform usage of geographic names throughout the U.S. government.[1] Contents …   Wikipedia

  • Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names — The Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names (abbreviated Getty TGN or GTGN) is a product of the J. Paul Getty Trust included in the Getty Vocabulary Program. The Thesaurus includes names and other information about places such as cities, countries,… …   Wikipedia

  • Geographic information system — GIS redirects here. For other uses, see GIS (disambiguation). A geographic information system, geographical information science, or geospatial information studies is a system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present… …   Wikipedia

  • Geographic information systems in China — Geographic information systems (GIS) are becoming an increasingly important component of business, healthcare, security, government, trade, media, transportation and tourism industries and operations in China and GIS software are playing an… …   Wikipedia

  • GEOnet Names Server — The GEOnet Names Server (GNS) provides access to the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency s (NGA) and the U.S. Board on Geographic Names (BGN) database of geographic feature names and locations for locations outside the United States. The… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”