Geographic Names Information System: National Geographic Names Data Base, Populated Places in the United States

The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) was developed by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) to meet major national needs regarding geographic names and their standardization and dissemination. This dataset consists of standard report files written from the National Geographic Names Data Base, one of five data bases maintained in the GNIS. A standard format data file for each of the fifty States, the District of Columbia and the four Insular Territories of the United States is included, as well as a file that provides a Cross-Reference to USGS 7.5 x 7.5 minute quadrangle maps. The records in the data files are organized in an alphabetized listing of all of the names in a particular state or territory. The other variables available in the dataset include: Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) state/county codes, Geographic Coordinates-- latitude and longitude to degrees, minutes, and seconds followed by a single digit alpha directional character, and a GNIS Map Code that can be used with the Cross-Reference file to provide the name of the 7.5 x 7.5 minute quadrangle map that contains that geographic feature.