Leaf: Geographical Names
Dataset: OpenStreetMap — place=*, name=*
OSM contains named place points globally, from cities to hamlets, plus named topographic features. It is the primary open dataset for geocoding and place labelling.
osmnx access
import osmnx as ox
ox.settings.cache_folder = ".cache/"
# All named places in an area
places = ox.features_from_place(
"Denmark",
tags={"place": ["city", "town", "village", "hamlet", "suburb"]}
)
# Geocode a place name to coordinates + boundary polygon
gdf = ox.geocode_to_gdf("Aarhus, Denmark")Geofabrik layer
gis_osm_places_free_1.shp — point layer, fields: osm_id, code, fclass (city/town/village/hamlet/suburb/island…), name, population.
Key OSM tags
| Tag | Meaning |
|---|---|
place=city | City (typically > 100k pop.) |
place=town | Town |
place=village | Village |
place=hamlet | Hamlet |
place=suburb | Suburb or named neighbourhood |
place=island | Island |
place=locality | Named uninhabited location |
name=* | Primary name (local language) |
name:en=* | English name |
population=* | Population estimate (sparse) |