Data Sources From which we derived the Populated Places Database.

• Many places (over 2 million)
• Many alternate names (nearly 3 million)
• Names transliterated consistently according to published standard

• No coverage in U.S.
• Many records with poor coordinate precision (1 minute)
• Uneven depth of coverage in different countries and areas of countries
• USBGN standard transliteration not current preferred local method for some areas

• Comprehensive (for U.S.); complementary to GNS
• Good Populations for U.S. (2000 Census)
• Definitive Names (USBGN standard)

• U.S. Only

Global Gazetteer (download)

• Population for many places (over 100,000)
• More comprehensive than GNS for a few countries
• Name rendering more in keeping with local preferences in some areas (including some names in local scripts)

• Poor coordinate precision
• Some coordinates missing (particularly for urban agglomerations)

• Very good coordinate accuracy
• Consistent worldwide coverage

• Omits secondary cities in urban areas
• Poor name rendering
• No population data

• Consistent worldwide coverage

• Omits secondary cities in urban areas
• Built-up area polygons frequently include other places than the one named
• Poor name rendering
• No population data

• Large number of populations
• Many alternate names

• Mexico only
• No diacritics in names

• Provides populations and alternate names for some places missed by other datasets
• Good coverage of places and their relationships in urban areas

• Poor coordinate accuracy in some areas
• Older populations (mostly early 1990s)