Geographic Names, Minnesota

The source data for the Minnesota Geographic Names multipoint feature class is the USGS-GNIS data base, 'National Geographic Names Database', maintained by the United States Geological Survey for the U.S. Board on Geographic Names. State extracts are available from the Board on Geographic Names (BGN) as file geodatabases and cleaned up locally. According to USGS metadata: 'A geographic feature is any relatively permanent part of the natural or manmade landscape or seascape that has recognizable identity within a particular cultural context. The primary attributes of a geographic feature are name and location.'<br/><br/>The Geographic Names Information System file contains all geographic names in the Minnesota state extract. A layer file has also been created to represent the 'Populated Places' feature, from GNIS. A 'Populated Place' is defined by USGS as a 'Place or area with clustered or scattered buildings and a permanent human population (city, settlement, town, village)'. A 'Populated Place' may or may not be legally incorporated. Incorporated places also appear as separate features with a feature code of 'Civil'. <br/><br/>The dams layer file previously maintained by MnGeo has been removed as result of the following update by GNIS: In 2021 the following geographic features referred to as “administrative” (cultural or man-made) were removed from GNIS: airport, bridge, building, cemetery, church, dam, forest, harbor, hospital, mine, oilfield, park, post office, reserve, school, tower, trail, tunnel, and well. <br/><br/>For more information see: https://www.usgs.gov/us-board-on-geographic-names/domestic-names