---
name: "v.in.geonames"
section: "1grass"
platform: "linux"
package: "grass-doc"
version: "8.4.1-1"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/v.in.geonames"
---

# v.in.geonames(1grass)

Imports geonames.org country files into a vector points map.

## NAME

**v.in.geonames**  - Imports geonames.org country files into a vector points map.

## KEYWORDS

vector, import, gazetteer

## SYNOPSIS

**v.in.geonames**\
 **v.in.geonames --help**\
 **v.in.geonames** **input**=*name* **output**=*name*  \[--**overwrite**\]  \[--**help**\]  \[--**verbose**\]  \[--**quiet**\]  \[--**ui**\]

### Flags:

- **--overwrite**

  Allow output files to overwrite existing files

- **--help**

  Print usage summary

- **--verbose**

  Verbose module output

- **--quiet**

  Quiet module output

- **--ui**

  Force launching GUI dialog

### Parameters:

- **input**=*name* **\[required\]**

  Name of uncompressed geonames file (with .txt extension)

- **output**=*name* **\[required\]**

  Name for output vector map

## DESCRIPTION

*v.in.geonames* imports Geonames.org country files (Gazetteer data) into a GRASS vector points map. The country files can be downloaded from the GeoNames Data Dump Server. Only original files can be processed (unzip compressed file first). These Geonames files are encoded in UTF-8 which is maintained in the GRASS database.

## NOTES

*v.in.geonames* calls *v.in.ascii* to import data into GRASS.

The current DB connection is used to write the database table (see *db.connect*). If importing into a DBF database, the original column names longer that 10 characters are shortened to 10 characters to meet the DBF column name restrictions. If this is a problem consider choosing another database driver with *db.connect* (eg. to SQLite driver).

The main ’geoname’ table has the following fields\

```
geonameid         : integer id of record in geonames database
name              : name of geographical point (utf8) varchar(200)
asciiname         : name of geographical point in plain ascii characters, varchar(200)
alternatenames    : alternatenames, comma separated varchar(4000)
latitude          : latitude in decimal degrees (wgs84)
longitude         : longitude in decimal degrees (wgs84)
feature class     : see https://www.geonames.org/export/codes.html, char(1)
feature code      : see https://www.geonames.org/export/codes.html, varchar(10)
country code      : ISO-3166 2-letter country code, 2 characters
cc2               : alternate country codes, comma separated, ISO-3166 2-letter country code, 60 characters
admin1 code       : fipscode (subject to change to iso code), isocode for the us and ch, see file admin1Codes.txt for display names of this code; varchar(20)
admin2 code       : code for the second administrative division, a county in the US, see file admin2Codes.txt; varchar(80)
admin3 code       : code for third level administrative division, varchar(20)
admin4 code       : code for fourth level administrative division, varchar(20)
population        : integer
elevation         : in meters, integer
gtopo30           : average elevation of 30’x30’ (ca 900mx900m) area in meters, integer
timezone          : the timezone id (see file https://download.geonames.org/export/dump/timeZones.txt)
modification date : date of last modification in yyyy-MM-dd format
```

## EXAMPLE

Download and import geonames for Czech Republic.\

```
wget https://download.geonames.org/export/dump/CZ.zip
unzip CZ.zip
v.in.geonames input=CZ.txt output=geonames_cz
```

## REFERENCES

- •

  GeoNames Web site

- •

  GeoNames Data Dump Server

## SEE ALSO

*db.connect,* *v.in.ascii,* *v.select*

## AUTHOR

Markus Neteler

## SOURCE CODE

Available at: v.in.geonames source code (history)

Accessed: Monday Feb 24 17:51:45 2025

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