Overview

 The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) contains name

 and locative information about almost 2 million physical and

 cultural features located throughout the United States and its

 Territories.  GNIS was developed by the U.S. Geological Survey

 in cooperation with the U.S. Board on Geographic Names (BGN)

 to promote the standardization of feature names.  GNIS is

 being compiled in phases.  The first phase is complete for the

 entire U.S., and entailed the collection of names from Federal

 sources including large-scale USGS topographic maps, Office

 of Coast Survey charts, U.S. Forest Service maps, and digital

 datasets distributed by the Federal Communications Commission,

 the Federal Aviation Administration, and the U.S. Army Corps

 of Engineers.  The second phase of data collection is complete

 or in progress for about 80% of the U.S., and captures names

 from State, locally, and other published current and

 historical maps, charts, and texts.

 Standard-Format Digital Extracts

 --------------------------------

 The USGS distributes standard-format digital extracts from

 GNIS that contain information about features in each State and

 Territory.  Four thematic extracts are also available.  The

 Populated Places file lists information about all cities, towns,

 housing subdivisions, and neighborhoods throughout the U.S. that

 are described in the database.  The U.S. Concise file lists

 information about large physical and cultural features. The

 historical file includes entries for features that no longer exist.

 The Antarctica file contains entries throughout the continent of

 Antarctica as approved for use by the United States Government.   

 A single asterisk (*) following the name of a State or

 Territory file indicates there has been no Phase II data

 compilation for that file.  Two asterisks (**) following the

 name of a State or Territory file indicates Phase II data

 compilation is in progress for that file.  Phase II updates

 are applied to the database daily.  The files in the GNIS

 subdirectory are replaced periodically as Phase II updates are

 applied.  

 Directory Contents

 ------------------

 The contents of the GNIS subdirectory are summarized as

 follows:

     00README                      This file.

Thematic Listings:

     pop_places.gz

     pop_places_deci.gz

     us_concise.gz

     hist_feature.gz

     hist_feature_deci.gz

     antarctica.gz

Columnar Record Format - Feature Names Listing for States, Territories

and Outlying Areas:

     alabama.gz                  alaska.gz*

     american_samoa.gz**         arizona.gz          

     arkansas.gz                 california.gz**

     colorado.gz                 connecticut.gz**

     delaware.gz                 district_of_columbia.gz

     florida.gz                  georgia.gz

     guam.gz* *                  hawaii.gaz**

     idaho.gz                    illinois.gz**

     indiana.gz                  iowa.gz**

     kansas.gz                   kentucky.gz*

     louisiana.gz                maine.gz**

     maryland.gz                 massachusetts.gz**

     michigan.gz*                micronesia.gz**

     minnesota.gz**              mississippi.gz

     missouri.gz                 montana.gz

     nebraska.gz                 nevada.gz

     new_hampshire.gz**          new_jersey.gz

     new_mexico.gz               north_carolina.gz**

     north_dakota.gz             ohio.gz

     oklahoma.gz                 oregon.gz

     pennsylvania.gz             puerto_rico.gz**

     rhode_island.gz**           south_carolina.gz

     south_dakota.gz             tennessee.gz

     texas.gz**                  utah.gz

     vermont.gz**                virginia.gz

     virgin_islands.gz**         washington.gz

     west_virginia.gz            wisconsin.gz**

     wyoming.gz

Digital File Formats - Columnar and Delimited

---------------------------------------------

Columnar record format - Feature Names Listing for States, Territories

and Outlying Areas:

     Columns                    Contents

    1-2                       State Alpha Code

    4-53                       Feature Name

    55-63                      Feature Type

    65-79                      County Name

    81-96                      Geographic Coordinates

    98-113                     Source Coordinates for Linear Features

    115-120                    Elevation

    122-146                    Cell Name

Columnar record format - Populated Places Listing:

     Columns                    Contents

    1-2                       State Alpha Code        

    4-53                       Feature Name

    55-63                      Feature Type

    65-79                      County

    81-96                      Geographic Coordinates

    98-125                     Cell Name

    127-132                    Elevation

    134-139                    Estimated Population

    141-148                    Federal Status of Feature Name

Columnar record format - U.S. Concise Listing:

     Columns                     Contents

    1-50                        Feature Name

    52-60                       Feature Type

    62-92                       County

    94-109                      State

    111-125                     Geographic Coordinates   

    127-131                     Elevation

Columnar record format - Historical Features Listing:

     Columns                     Contents

    1-2                        State Alpha Code

    4-53                        Feature Name

    55-63                       Feature Type

    65-79                       County Name

    81-96                       Geographic Coordinates

    98-113                      Source Coordinates for Linear Features

    115-120                     Elevation

    122-146                     Cell Name

Record format (Logical record length = 66) - Antarctica Features Listing:

               Column 1                              Column 2

Row 1    -     Name - variable length                Latitude/Longitude

Row 2(+) -     Description - variable length (word wrap)

Quote and Comma Delimited Format - Feature Names Listing for States, Territories

and Outlying Areas:

     AL_deci.gz                  AK_deci.gz*

     AS_deci.gz**                AR_deci.gz          

     AR_deci.gz                  CA_deci.gz**

     CO_deci.gz                  CT_deci.gz**

     DE_deci.gz                  DC_deci.gz

     FL_deci.gz                  GA_deci.gz

     GU_deci.gz* *               HI_deci.gaz**

     ID_deci.gz                  IL_deci.gz**

     IN_deci.gz                  IA_deci.gz**

     KS_deci.gz                  KY_deci.gz*

     LA_deci.gz                  ME_deci.gz**

     MD_deci.gz                  MA_deci.gz**

     MI_deci.gz*                 MH_deci.gz**

     MN_deci.gz**                MS_deci.gz

     MO_deci.gz                  MT_deci.gz

     NE_deci.gz                  NV_deci.gz