Nominatim
Nominatim is an open source geocoding tool that lets you look up addresses and locations using a geographic database. It can translate addresses into geographic coordinates and vice versa.
geocoding
open-source
address-lookup
reverse-geocoding
Nominatim: Open Source Geocoding Tool
Nominatim is an open source geocoding tool that lets you look up addresses and locations using a geographic database. It can translate addresses into geographic coordinates and vice versa.
What is Nominatim?
Nominatim is an open source geocoding tool developed by the OpenStreetMap community. It utilizes OpenStreetMap data to enable searching for places and addresses and converting them into geographic coordinates (latitude and longitude). Some key features of Nominatim include:
- Reverse geocoding - convert geographic coordinates into meaningful addresses and locations
- Forward geocoding - convert addresses and place names into geographic coordinates
- Search by name, street address, city, postal code, country, etc.
- Output formats like JSON, XML, HTML, etc.
- Completely free and open source software under the 2-clause BSD license
- Utilizes volunteered geographic data from OpenStreetMap, making it more up-to-date than some other geocoders
- Can be self-hosted for high-traffic uses
- API access for integrating geocoding into applications
Nominatim is useful for developers, data scientists, or anyone who needs to convert locations into geographic data or vice versa. Some common use cases are adding location search/mapping features to websites/apps, analyzing location-based data, store locator services, etc.
Nominatim Features
Features
- Reverse geocoding to find addresses from geographic coordinates
- Forward geocoding to find geographic coordinates from addresses
- Search by name, street address, postal code, etc
- Structured data output in JSON, XML, etc
- Can be self-hosted and integrated into other applications
- Uses OpenStreetMap data
Pricing
- Open Source
Pros
Free and open source
Self-hostable, no reliance on external APIs
Can handle large volumes of queries
Integrates with OpenStreetMap data
Customizable and extensible
Cons
Requires setting up and managing your own database
Data quality depends on OpenStreetMap completeness
No official support offered
Can be resource intensive to host yourself
Official Links
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