Administrative boundaries of selected certified International Dark Sky Places

This is a publication of maps of areas certified as "International Dark Sky Places" (IDSP) by DarkSky International (formerly the International Dark-Sky Association). The maps are provided as shapefiles. IDSP are areas where communities or responsibles (e.g. park managers) have taken steps to ensure the protection of the night sky from light pollution. They satisfy minimum criteria regarding the level of light pollution, but having a light-pollution free sky (e.g. in the desert) isn't sufficient for certification. The borders presented in the map are based on the IDSP applications, which are available from DarkSky International's website (under "Documents > Application" on each Place's webpage). In some cases, the IDSP managers were able to provide a digital boundary file. In others, the digital boundary was created by georeferencing a map from the application, which varied in quality. All boundaries in this file should therefore be considered approximate, and DarkSky International or the Place manager should be contacted in case of questions or discrepancies. The boundaries in this file are as of June, 2024. Most boundaries have been checked and approved by the Place managers. However, once again, this file should not be considered the authoritative definition of the boundary, and boundaries are potentially subject to change.