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agency bullet Pre-Positioned Country files format (Unicode UTF-8)



Note:
  • The pre-positioned files, including the single large file, are delimited using Tabs.
  • The fields containing names information, SHORT_FORM, GENERIC, FULL_NAME_RO, FULL_NAME_RG, and possibly NOTE, are encoded using Unicode UTF-8.
Field Name
Field Description
Field Type
Field Width
RC

Region Font Code.  A code that determines the character mapping used in fields containing feature names information rendered in Roman script.
1 = Americas/Western Europe;
2 = Eastern Europe;
3 = Africa/Middle East;
4 = Russia/ Central Asia;
5 = Asia/Pacific;
6 = Vietnam.

 Number 1
UFI Unique Feature Identifier.  A number which uniquely identifies a feature. Number 38
UNI Unique Name Identifier.  A number which uniquely identifies a feature name. Number 38
LAT Latitude of the feature in ± decimal degrees; DD; (± dd.dddddd):
no sign (+) = North;
negative sign (-) = South
Number 10
LONG Longitude of the feature in ± decimal degrees; DD; (± ddd.dddddd):
no sign (+) = East;
negative sign (-) = West.		 Number 11
DMS_LAT Latitude of the feature in ± degrees, minutes, and seconds; DMS; (±ddmmss):
no sign (+) = North;
negative sign (-) = South.		 Number 7
DMS_LONG

Longitude of the feature in ± degrees, minutes, and seconds; DMS; (±dddmmss) :
no sign (+) = East;
negative sign (-) = West.

 Number 8
MGRS Military Grid Reference System coordinates. MGRS is an alpha-numeric system for expressing UTM/UPS coordinates. A single alpha-numeric value references an area that is unique for the entire earth. Character 15
JOG Joint Operations Graphic reference. Character 7
FC

Feature Classification: Nine (9) major feature categories into which similar feature designations are grouped.
A = Administrative region feature type
P = Populated place feature type
V = Vegetation feature type
L = Locality or area feature type
U = Undersea feature type
R = Streets, highways, roads, or railroad feature type
T = Hypsographic feature type
H = Hydrographic feature type
S = Spot feature type

 Character 1
DSG Feature Designation Code.  A two to six-character code used to identify the type of feature a name is applied to. For a description of these codes/values, please see the "Look-up Tables..." section on the GNS Offered Services page. Character 6
PC Populated Place Classification.  A numerical scale identifying the relative importance of a populated place. The scale ranges from 1 (high) to 5 (low). The scale could also include NULL (no value) as a value for populated places with unknown or undetermined relative importance. Number 1
CC1 Primary Geopolitical Code. A two alphabetic character code from the Geopolitical Entities and Codes (formerly FIPS 10-4 standard) that uniquely identifies a feature's primary geopolitical entity (countries, dependencies, and areas of special sovereignty). For a description of these codes/values, please see the "Look-up Tables..." section on the GNS Offered Services page. Character 255
ADM1 First-order administrative division code. A two character alpha-numeric code from the Geopolitical Entities and Codes (formerly FIPS 10-4 standard) that describes the primary administrative division of a feature, similar to a state level in the United States. For a description of these codes/values, please see the "Look-up Tables..." section on the GNS Offered Services page. Character 2
POP Population figures (no longer maintained). Number 38
ELEV Elevation in meters (no longer maintained). Number 126
CC2 Secondary Geopolitical Code. A two alphabetic character code from the Geopolitical Entities and Codes (formerly FIPS 10-4 standard) that uniquely identifies the geopolitical entity of a particular feature name if different than the feature's primary geopolitical entity (applies only to international features). For a description of these codes/values, please see the "Look-up Tables..." section on the GNS Offered Services page. Character 255
NT

Name Type:
C = Conventional: A commonly used English-language name approved by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names (BGN) for use in addition to, or in lieu of, a BGN-approved local official name or names, e.g., Rome, Alps, Danube River.
N = Approved: The BGN-approved local official name for a geographic feature. Except for countries with more than one official language; there is normally only one such name for a feature wholly within a country.
NS = Non-Roman Script: The non-Roman script form of the BGN-approved local official name for a geographic feature. Except for countries with more than one official language; there is normally only one such name for a feature wholly within a country.
D = Unverified: A name from a source whose official status cannot be verified by the BGN.
DS = Unverified Non-Roman Script: The non-Roman script form of a name from a source whose official status cannot be verified by the BGN.
H = Historic: A name of a feature whose current existence can no longer be verified. (OBSOLETE SOON)
HS = Historic Non-Roman Script: The non-Roman script form of a name of a feature whose current existence can no longer be verified. (Retired)
P = Provisional: A geographic name of an area for which the territorial status is not finally determined or not recognized by the United States.
PS = Provisional Non-Roman Script: The non-Roman script form of a geographic name of an area for which the territorial status is not finally determined or not recognized by the United States.
V = Variant: A former name, name in local usage, or other spelling found on various sources.
VA = Anglicized variant: An English-language name that is derived by modifying the local official name to render it more accessible or meaningful to an English-language user.
VS = Variant Non-Roman Script: The non-Roman script form of a former name, name in local usage, or other spelling found on various sources.

For a description of these codes/values, please see the "Look-up Tables..." section on the GNS Offered Services page.

 Character 2
LC

Language Code. A three alphabetic character code (ISO 639-3) uniquely identifying the language assigned to a feature name. For a description of these codes/values, please see the "Look-up Tables..." section on the GNS Offered Services page.

 Character 3
SHORT_FORM A part of the full name that could substitute for the full name (Unicode UTF-8). Character 128
GENERIC The descriptive part of the full name such as Mount, River, or Sea (Unicode UTF-8) - (generally does not apply to populated place names). Character 128
SORT_NAME_RO Sort name - reading order. A form of the full name that allows for alphabetical sorting of the file into gazetteer sequence. For Roman script names, all character/diacritic combinations and special characters are substituted with QWERTY (visible U.S. English keyboard) characters, all characters are upper-cased, numerals are converted to lower-case characters (0-9 = a-j), spaces are stripped out, and commas replaced with a space.  This field also includes non-roman script based names which are stripped of vowel markings. This field is included for the benefit of the end user of the data to aid in the sorting of names if required. Character 255
FULL_NAME_RO Full name - reading order. The full name is the complete name that identifies a named feature.  The full name is output in reading order, "Mount Everest", vs. reversed generic, "Everest, Mount", as stored in the database. Character 255
FULL_NAME_ND_RO Full name - reading order with no diacritics. Same as the full name but the character/diacritic combinations and special characters are substituted with QWERTY (visible U.S. English keyboard) characters while still maintaining casing and spaces. This field also includes non-roman script based names which are stripped of vowel markings. Character 255
SORT_NAME_RG Sort name - reversed generic. A form of the full name that allows for alphabetical sorting of the file into gazetteer sequence. For Latin based names, all character/diacritic combinations and special characters are substituted with QWERTY (visible U.S. English keyboard) characters, all characters are upper-cased, numerals are converted to lower-case characters (0-9 = a-j), spaces are stripped out, and commas replaced with a space. This field also includes non-roman script based names which are stripped of vowel markings. This field is included for the benefit of the end user of the data to aid in the sorting of names if required. Character 255
FULL_NAME_RG Full name - reversed generic. The full name is the complete name that identifies a named feature. The full name is output in reversed generic, "Everest, Mount," as stored in the database, vs. reading order, "Mount Everest." Character 255
FULL_NAME_ND_RG Full name - reversed generic with no diacritics. Same as the full name but the character/diacritic combinations and special characters are substituted with QWERTY (visible U.S. English keyboard) characters while still maintaining casing and spaces. This field also includes non-roman script based names which are stripped of vowel markings. Character 255
NOTE This field holds a geopolitical policy note concerning the feature, populated when CC1 and ADM1 are NULL, and it could contain multiple notes (may contain data in Unicode UTF-8). If multiple notes are present, they will be delimited by semicolon followed by four spaces (1:note1; 2:note2; 3:note3; etc...). Character 4000
MODIFY_DATE The date a new feature was added or any part of an existing feature was modified (YYYY-MM-DD). Character 10
 
 
Point of Contact: GEOnet Names Server
NGA Campus East
phone 571-557-5959, DSN 547-5959
geonames@nga.mil

Document last modified April 16, 2013
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