Leaf: Geographical Names
Dataset: Natural Earth — ne_10m_populated_places
Natural Earth provides a curated point dataset of globally significant populated places, cross-referenced to multiple authoritative gazetteer sources. It includes ADM0 (country) and ADM1 (first-level) name associations and a scalerank field for symbol filtering.
Python load
import geopandas as gpd
places = gpd.read_file("ne_10m_populated_places.shp")
# Filter by rank for display
major = places[places["scalerank"] <= 5]Key attributes
| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
NAME | Primary place name |
NAME_EN | English name |
FEATURECLA | Feature class (Populated place) |
SCALERANK | Display prominence (0 = most prominent) |
POP_MAX | Maximum population estimate |
ADM0NAME | Country name |
ADM1NAME | First-level administrative unit name |
SOV0NAME | Sovereignty name |