USGS Fact Sheet 127–95: Geographic Names Information System

Geographic Names Information System

By U.S. Geological Survey

Archived Publication—Most of the information contained in this publication is no longer current and is not expected to be updated.

Summary -or- Abstract

The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, contains information about the proper names for places, features, and areas in the Nation. This information is available for the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and the territories and outlying areas of the United States, as well as for Antarctica. The GNIS consists of four separate data bases: the National Geographic Names Data Base (NGNDB), the Antarctica Geographic Names Data Base (AGNDB), the Geographic Cell Names Data Base (GCNDB - formerly the Topographic Map Names Data Base, TMNDB), and the Reference Data Base (RDB).

First posted August 1998

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Suggested citation:

U.S. Geological Survey, 1995, Geographic Names Information System: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 127–95, 2 p., available only online at https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/1995/0127/.