Microproduct Data GuideIntermediate

GeoNames Daily Gazetteer Dumps

Daily place-name and coordinate dumps from GeoNames for building searchable destination gazetteers with source attribution.

Start the Guide Open Official Source
Report a Problem

At a Glance

Difficulty
Intermediate — some data preparation helps
Size
Medium · 0.001–1 GB
Formats
TSV, ZIP
Access
Download
API Key
Not Required
Provider
GeoNames
Updates
Daily
Last Verified
Sep 28, 2026
Source Type
Community Source
Data Terms
GeoNames attribution licence; credit GeoNames and review any source-specific restrictions.
  • Python Syntax Checked

From Source to Product Signal

Test a Product Idea in Four Steps

GeoNames publishes daily place-name dumps. Start with the small Andorra country archive and retain its attribution. Place names and representative coordinates are imperfect and do not define exact administrative boundaries.

1

Check the Setup

  • Python 3.10 or newer
  • An internet connection
  • The requests Python package
2

Access the Data

  1. 1.Review the official export terms and source attribution requirements.
  2. 2.Download one small country archive rather than the global dump.
  3. 3.Inspect the tab-separated place records and retain their GeoNames IDs.
Open Official Source
3

Run the Python Example

Install the packages, then run the notebook cell.

python -m pip install requests

import csv
import io
from zipfile import ZipFile
import requests

response = requests.get("https://download.geonames.org/export/dump/AD.zip", timeout=30)
response.raise_for_status()
archive = ZipFile(io.BytesIO(response.content))
with archive.open("AD.txt") as file:
    rows = csv.reader(io.TextIOWrapper(file, encoding="utf-8"), delimiter="\t")
    for row in list(rows)[:5]:
        print(row[0], row[1], row[4], row[5])
4

Test a Useful Signal

Inspect an Andorran Place Index

Evaluate a bounded place-name dump for a destination search prototype.

  1. 01Keep GeoNames identifiers, names, coordinates, and download date.
  2. 02Compare the first five rows with their official GeoNames pages.
  3. 03Explain attribution duties and why point coordinates are not exact boundaries.

Related Datasets

Dataset Details

GeoNames is a community source. Last verified 2026-09-28. Temporal coverage: current gazetteer with daily dump updates.

Geography

Global

Formats

TSVZIP

Provider

GeoNames

Data Terms

GeoNames attribution licence; credit GeoNames and review any source-specific restrictions.

Send Feedback