OpenStreetMap Data in Layered GIS Format // Free Shapefiles

OpenStreetMap Datain
Layered GIS Format
Free shapefiles – 2022-04-29
Frederik Ramm <frederik.ramm@geofabrik.de>

Table of Contents
1 Preface...........................................................................................................................................................2
2 Introduction.................................................................................................................................................2
2.1 Versions................................................................................................................................................2
2.2 Map datum..........................................................................................................................................3
2.3 Character encoding...........................................................................................................................3
2.4 Attribute names.................................................................................................................................3
2.5 Common attributes...........................................................................................................................3
2.6 International Names.........................................................................................................................3
2.7 Layers...................................................................................................................................................4
2.8 Points and Areas................................................................................................................................4
2.9 Spillover Shape Files.........................................................................................................................4
3 Feature Catalogue - Overview................................................................................................................4
4 Point Features.............................................................................................................................................5
4.1 Places (“places”).................................................................................................................................5
4.2 Points of Interest................................................................................................................................6
4.3 Places of Worship (“pofw”)...........................................................................................................11
4.4 Natural Features (“natural”)..........................................................................................................11
4.5 Traffic Related (“traffic”)................................................................................................................12
4.6 Transport Infrastructure (“transport”).......................................................................................13
5 Line Features.............................................................................................................................................14
5.1 Roads and Paths (“roads”).............................................................................................................14
5.2 Railways, Subways, Trams, Lifts, and Cable Cars (“railways”)...........................................15
5.3 Waterways (“waterways”).............................................................................................................16
6 Polygon Features......................................................................................................................................16
6.1 Building outlines (“buildings”).....................................................................................................16
6.2 Land use and land cover (“landuse”)..........................................................................................17
6.3 Bodies of Water (“water”)..............................................................................................................17
7 Differences to Commercial “0.7” Shape Files....................................................................................18
7.1 Associated Area Layer...................................................................................................................18
7.2 Additional Layers............................................................................................................................18
7.3 Additional Feature Classes............................................................................................................18
7.4 Additional Fields..............................................................................................................................19

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OpenStreetMap Data in Layered GIS Format // Free Shapefiles

Version History and CopyrightVersionintialCreated At
2016-08-12

2
3

2016-12-07
2017-01-24

4

2017-03-02

5

2017-10-06

6

2019-01-17

7
8
9

2019-05-21
2020-01-13
2021-07-08

10
11
12

2021-08-12
2022-03-31
2022-04-29

ChangesRevamped free shape files now based on the commercially produced “0.7.0”
shapes by Geofabrik.
Updates in section 7 reflecting some changes made to the commercial shapes.
Use amenity=taxi instead of amenity=taxi_rank. See taginfo.osm.org for details.
Add waterway=dock.
Swap codes 5205 and 5208 (ford and speed camera). They were swapped in the
produced shape files. Add Buddhist, Taoist, Shintoist, Sikh and Hindu places ofworship.
Updates in chapter “Differences to Commercial “0.7” Shape Files”. Split up
feature class “farm” into “farmyard” and “farmland”.
Interprete OSM tags natural=water + water=river and natural=water +water=reservoir for feature classes “river” and “reservoir” in addition towaterway=riverbank and landuse=reservoir.
Updates in chapter “Differences to Commercial “0.7” Shape Files”.
Updates in chapter “Differences to Commercial “0.7” Shape Files”.
Only add objects with amenity=place_of_worship to pofw layer. Add
recycling:glass_bottles=yes to code 2031 (recycling_glass).
Add code 2510 (general) for general stores to poi layer.
Add code 5125 (busway).
Add 2111 (clinic).

Copyright in this document is held by Geofabrik GmbH. Some definitions have been
extracted from the OpenStreetMap Wiki at http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/. Permission is
granted to re-use this document whole or in part under the terms of the Creative Commons
Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 license.

1 Preface
The OpenStreetMap (OSM) project (www.openstreetmap.org) has collected an enormous
amount of free spatial data and the database is growing every day. Many people want to use
this data for their own GIS projects but have been hindered by the use of a non-standard
data format in the OSM project. This document describes a mapping from OSM data formats
to the usual GIS formats to make the OSM data accessible to more people.
The mapping from OSM data to other formats is not an exact science. OSM rules on how to
map certain features are often not well defined and there is no mandatory quality control.
This openness allows a lot of flexibility and is part of the reason why OSM has been able tocollect so much data in such a short time frame, but it makes using the data more difficult.
When using or exporting the data, many decisions have to be made on how to extract thedifferent features into something usable for the task at hand.
The mapping described in this document is in no way the only mapping possible, in fact
there is an infinite number of possible mappings. In this document we have specified ageneral-use mapping of the basic features like roads, waterways, different land use types,
and points of interest. Other uses might need specialized mappings, but they are out of the2

OpenStreetMap Data in Layered GIS Format // Free Shapefiles

scope of this document.
The format described in this document is used by Geofabrik to create shapefiles which areoffered for free download from download.geofabrik.de.

2 Introduction
2.1 Versions
The commercially available shape files from Geofabrik carry a version identifier in eachlayer name. The free shapes contain the name “free” in each layer name to distinguish them.

2.2 Map datum
All coordinates are unprojected WGS84 (EPSG:4326).

2.3 Character encoding
All strings are encoded in UTF-8.

2.4 Attribute names
All attribute names are lower case and are less than 11 characters long so that they are nottruncated in shapefiles.

2.5 Common attributes
Most tables/shape files will have the following columns/attributes:
Attribute PostGIS Type
Description
id
VARCHARId of this feature. Unique in this layer.
(4 Bytes)
osm_idVARCHAROSM Id taken from the Id of this feature (node_id, way_id, or relation_id) in the(10)
OSM database. In case several features in the OSM database are joined into one
feature, this is one of the Ids. This Id is not necessarily unique because one OSM
object can result in several geometry objects.
Also note that when doing shape file exports, this will be exported as a
VARCHAR type since shape files don't support long integers.
code
SMALLINT
4 digit code (between 1000 and 9999) defining the feature class. The first one or(2 Bytes)
two digits define the layer, the last two or three digits the class inside a layer.
fclass
VARCHAR(40) Class name of this feature. This does not add any information that is not alreadyin the “code” field but it is better readable.
name
VARCHAR(100) Name of this feature, like a street or place name. If the name in OSM contains
obviously wrong data such as “fixme” or “none”, it will be empty.

The code and the combination of layer name and fclass always contains the same
information.

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OpenStreetMap Data in Layered GIS Format // Free Shapefiles

2.6 International Names
In OpenStreetMap, every feature can have many names. The standard name is always thename used on the ground, locally, usually the name as it would be written on a sign. Theremay be any number of additional names in different languages, plus also a specific“international name”. In cases where the local script is not latin script, the internationalname will often contain a transcribed version of the standard name.
By default, Geofabrik shape files will always carry the standard name, the one that is given
in OSM's “name” tag. If you need additional name (e.g. international name or names in a
specific language), that can be arranged in the paid shape service – please contact us.

2.7 Layers
In OSM there are no layers in the traditional GIS sense. All features are in one big coherent
database.
For the purpose of the mapping described in this document, the features stored in the OSM
database are extracted into different layers depending on their type.
All layers defined in this document use the “osm_” prefix for their names.

2.8 Points and Areas
The availability of high-resolution aerial imagery has led to many POI features being
recorded as areas (building or site outlines), not points, in OpenStreetMap. You will, forexample, often find a restaurant or hotel drawn as an area. Features drawn as area in
OpenStreetMap will be written to the layer with an _a suffix. Features drawn als line/point
in OpenStreetMap will be written to the layer without an _a suffix.

2.9 Spillover Shape Files
When a certain layer becomes too large for one shape file (shape files are limited to 2 GB insize), it will automatically spill over into additional shape files. A shape file named“osm_pois_v07_1.shp” will have spillover shape files names “osm_pois_v07_2.shp”,“osm_pois_v07_3.shp” and so on.

3 Feature Catalogue - Overview
The following layers are available:
Geometry Code

Layer

page

Description

Point
10xx places

5

Cities, towns, suburbs, villages,...

2xxx pois

6

Points of Interest, therein:

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OpenStreetMap Data in Layered GIS Format // Free Shapefiles

Geometry Code

Layer

page

Description

20xx

Public facilities such as government offices, post office, police, ...

21xx

Hospitals, pharmacies, ...

22xx

Culture, Leisure, ...

23xx

Restaurants, pubs, cafes, ...

24xx

Hotel, motels, and other places to stay the night

25xx

Supermarkets, bakeries, ...

26xx

Banks and atms

27xx

Tourist information, sights, museums, ...

29xx

Miscellaneous points of interest

3xxx pofw

11

Places of worship such as churches, mosques, ...

41xx natural

12

Natural features

52xx traffic

12

Traffic related

50xx transport

13

Parking lots, petrol (gas) stations, ...

51xx roads

14

Roads, tracks, paths, ...

61xx railway

16

Railway, subways, light rail, trams, ...

81xx waterways

17Rivers, canals, streams, ...

15xx buildings

17

Building outlines

72xx landuse

17

Forests, residential areas, industrial areas,...

82xx water18

Lakes, ...

Line

Polygon4 Point Features
4.1 Places (“places”)
Location for cities, towns, etc. Typically somewhere in the centre of the town.
Additional attributes:
Attribute
PostGIS Typepopulation INTEGER

Description
Number of people living in this place

OSM Tags
population=*

Note that for many places the population is not available and will be set to 0. For islands the
population is always 0.
The following feature classes exist in this layer:
code1000 place
1001 place

city

1002

town

place

fclassDescription
As defined by national/state/provincial
government. Often over 100,000 people
As defined by national/state/provincial
government. Generally smaller than a city,
between 10,000 and 100,000 people

OSM Tags
place=city (but see 1005)
place=town

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OpenStreetMap Data in Layered GIS Format // Free Shapefiles

code1003 place

1004

place

1005

place

1010
1020
1030
1031

place
place
place
place

1040
1041
1050

place
place
place

fclassvillage

Description
OSM Tags
As defined by national/state/provincial
place=village
government. Generally smaller than a town, below
10,000 people
hamletAs defined by national/state/provincial
place=hamlet
government. Generally smaller than a village, justa few houses
national_capital A national capital
place=city with (a)is_capital=country or (b)admin_level=2 or (c)capital=yes and no
admin_level set
suburbNamed area of town or city
place=suburb
islandIdentifies an island
place=island
farm
Named farm
place=farmdwelling
Isolated dwelling (1 or 2 houses, smaller thanplace=isolated_dwelling
hamlet)regionA region label (used in some areas only)
place=region
countyA county label (used in some areas only)
place=county
locality
Other kind of named place
place=locality

4.2 Points of Interest
This layer has an associated area layer (see section 2.8).
The following feature classes exist in this layer:
code
layer
20xx public
2001
2002
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011

fclassDescription

OSM Tags

policefire_station
post_box
post_office
telephonelibrary
town_hallcourthouseprisonembassy

A police post or station.
A fire station.
A post box (for letters).
A post office.
A public telephone booth.
A library.
A town hall.
A court house.
A prison.
An embassy or consulate.

2012

community_centre

2013

nursing_home

2014

arts_centre

2015

graveyard

A public facility which is mostly
used by local associations forevents and festivities.
A home for disabled or elderly
amenity=nursing_homepersons who need permanentcare.
A venue at which a variety of arts amenity=arts_centre
are performed or conducted, andmay well be involved with thecreation of those works, and run
occasional courses.
A graveyard.
amenity=grave_yard or
landuse=cemeteryamenity=police
amenity=fire_station
amenity=post_box
amenity=post_officeamenity=telephoneamenity=libraryamenity=townhall
amenity=courthouseamenity=prison
amenity=embassy oroffice=diplomatic
amenity=community_centre

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code
2016
2030

2031

recycling_glass

Description
A place where markets are held.
A place (usually a container)
where you can drop waste forrecycling.
A place for recycling glass.

2032
2033
2034

recycling_paper
recycling_clothes
recycling_metal

A place for recycling paper.
A place for recycling clothes.
A place for recycling metal.

university
schoolkindergarten
collegepublic_building

Education
A university.
A school.
A kindergarten (nursery).
A college.
An unspecified public building.

208x
2081
2082
2083
2084
2099
21xx
2101
2110
2111

layer

OSM Tags
amenity=marketplaceamenity=recycling withnone of the specifics below… recycling:glass=yes or
recycling:glass_bottles=yes… recycling:paper=yes… recycling:clothes=yes…
recycling:scrap_metal=yes

amenity=university
amenity=school
amenity=kindergarten
amenity=college
amenity=public_building

healthpharmacy
hospitalclinic

2120
2121
2129
22xx
2201
2202
2203
2204
2205
2206

fclassmarket_place
recycling

doctors
dentistveterinary

A pharmacy.
A hospital.
A medical centre that does not
admit inpatients.
A medical practice.
A dentist's practice.
A veterinary (animal doctor)

amenity=pharmacy
amenity=hospitalamenity=clinic
amenity=doctors
amenity=dentist
amenity=veterinary

leisuretheatrenightclubcinemapark
playground
dog_park

225x
2251

sports_centre

2252

pitch

2253

swimming_pool

2254
2255
2256

tennis_court
golf_course
stadium2257

ice_rink

A theatre.
amenity=theatre
A night club, or disco.
amenity=nightclub
A cinema.
amenity=cinema
A park.
leisure=park
A playground for children.
leisure=playgroundAn area where dogs are allowed to leisure=dog_park
run free without a leash.
Sports
A facility where a range of sports leisure=sports_centre
activities can be pursued.
An area set aside for a specificleisure=pitch
sport.
A swimming pool or water park. amenity=swimming_pool,
leisure=swimming_pool,
sport=swimming,
leisure=water_park
A tennis court.
sport=tennis
A golf course.
leisure=golf_course
A stadium. The area of theleisure=stadium
stadium may contain one orseveral pitches.
An ice rink.
leisure=ice_rink

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code
layer
23xx catering
2301
2302
2303
2304

fclassrestaurant
fast_food
cafe
pub
bar

2305
food_court
2306
biergarten
2307
24xx

accommodation(indoor)

2401
2402
2403

hotel
motel
bed_and_breakfast

2404

guesthouse2405

hostel2406

chalet2420
2421

shelter

2422
2423

camp_site
alpine_hut2424

caravan_site

25xx
2501
2502
2503

2504
2505

Description
OSM Tags
Catering services
A normal restaurant.
amenity=restaurant
A fast-food restaurant.
amenity=fast_food
A cafe.
amenity=cafe
A pub.
amenity=pub
A bar. The difference between aamenity=bar
pub and a bar is not clear but pubs
tend to offer food while bars do
not.
A common seating area withamenity=food_court
various fast-food vendors.
An open-air area where food and amenity=biergarten
drinks are served.

A hotel.
A motel.
A facility offering bed andbreakfast.
A guesthouse. The difference
between hotel, bed and breakfast,and guest houses is not a strict
one and OSM tends to use
whatever the facility calls itself.
A hostel (offering cheap
accomodation, often bunk beds indormitories).
A detached cottage, usually selfcatering.
(outdoor)All sorts of small shelters toprotect against bad weather
conditions.
A camp site or camping ground.
An alpine hut is a building
typically situated in mountains
providing shelter and often foodand beverages to visitors.
A place where people withcaravans or motorhomes can stayovernight or longer.

tourism=hotel
tourism=motel
tourism=bed_and_breakfast
tourism=guest_house

tourism=hostel

tourism=chalet

amenity=shelter

tourism=camp_site
tourism=alpine_hut

tourism=caravan_site

shoppingsupermarket
bakerykiosk

mall
department_store

A supermarket.
A bakery.
A very small shop usually sellingcigarettes, newspapers, sweets,
snacks and beverages.
A shopping mall.
A department store.

shop=supermarket
shop=bakery
shop=kiosk

shop=mall
shop=department_store

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code
2510

2511

2512
2513
2514

2515
2516
2517
2518

2519
2520
2521
2522
2523
2524
2525
2526
2527
2528
2529

2530
2541
2542
2543

2544
2546
2547
2561
2562
2563
2564
2565

layer

fclassDescription
OSM Tags
generalA general store, offering a broad shop=general
range of products on a small area.
Exists usually in rural and remoteareas.
convenience
A convenience store is a small
shop=convenience
shop selling a subset of items you
might find at a supermarket.
clothes
A clothes or fashion store.
shop=clothes
floristA store stelling flowers.
shop=florist
chemist
A shop selling articles of personal shop=chemist
hygiene, cosmetics, and householdcleaning products.
bookshopA book shop.
shop=books
butcher
A butcher.
shop=butcher
shoe_shop
A shoe shop.
shop=shoes
beverages
A place where you can buy
shop=alcohol,
alcoholic and non-alcoholic
shop=beverages
beverages.
opticianA place where you can buy
shop=optician
glasses.
jeweller
A jewelry shop.
shop=jewelry
gift_shop
A gift shop.
shop=gift
sports_shop
A shop selling sports equipment. shop=sports
stationery
A shop selling stationery for
shop=stationery
private and office use.
outdoor_shop
A shop selling outdoor equiment. shop=outdoor
mobile_phone_shop A shop for mobile phones.
shop=mobile_phone
toy_shopA toy store.
shop=toys
newsagent
A show selling mainly newspapers shop=newsagent
and magazines.
greengrocer
A shop selling fruit andshop=greengrocer
vegetables.
beauty_shop
A shop that provides personal
shop=beauty
beauty services like a nail salon ortanning salon.
video_shop
A place where you can buy films. shop=video
car_dealership
A car dealership.
shop=carbicycle_shop
A bicycle shop.
shop=bicycle
doityourself
A do-it-yourself shop where you shop=doityourself andcan buy tools and building
shop=hardware
materials.
furniture_shop
A furniture store.
shop=furniturecomputer_shop
A computer shop.
shop=computer
garden_centre
A place selling plants andshop=garden_centre
gardening goods.
hairdresser
A hair salon.
shop=hairdresser
car_repair
A car garage.
shop=car_repair
car_rental
A place where you can rent a car. amenity=car_rental
car_wash
A car wash.
amenity=car_wash
car_sharing
A car sharing station.
amenity=car_sharing

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code
2566

layer

fclassbicycle_rental

Description
A place where you can rent
bicycles.
A travel agency.
A place where you can wash
clothes or have them cleaned.
An unspecified vending machine.

OSM Tags
amenity=bicycle_rental

2567
2568

travel_agent
laundry

2590

vending_machine

2591
2592

vending_cigarette
vending_parking

A cigarette vending machine.
A vending machine for parking
tickets.

bankatm

A bank.
amenity=bank
A machine that lets you withdraw amenity=atm
cash from your bank account.

2600
2601
2602

money

2700
2701

tourism
tourist_info2704

tourist_map

2705

tourist_board

2706

tourist_guidepost

2721
2722
2723
2724
2725
2731
2732
2733
2734

attraction
museummonument
memorialart
castleruinsarchaeologicalwayside_cross

2735
2736
2737
2741
2742
2743
2744

wayside_shrine
battlefieldfort
picnic_site
viewpointzoo
theme_park

2900
2901
2902
2903

information
Something that provides
information to tourists; may or
many not be manned.
A map displayed to informtourists.
A board with explanations aimed
at tourists.
A guide post.
destinations
A tourist attraction.
A museum.
A monument.
A memorial.
A permanent work of art.
A castle.
Ruins of historic significance.
An excavation site.
A wayside cross, not necessarily
old.
A wayside shrine.
A historic battlefield.
A fort.
A picnic site.
A viewpoint.
A zoo.
A theme park.

shop=travel_agency
shop=laundry,
shop=dry_cleaning
amenity=vending_machinewith none of the specifics
below
vending=cigarettes
vending=parking_tickets

tourism=information withnone of the specifics below
tourism_information andinformation=map
and information=board
and information=guidepost
tourism=attraction
tourism=museum
historic=monument
historic=memorial
tourism=artwork
historic=castle
historic=ruins
historic=archaeological_site
historic=wayside_criss
historic=wayside_shrine
historic=battlefieldhistoric=fort
tourism=picnic_site
tourism=viewpoint
tourism=zoo
tourism=theme_park

miscpoi
toiletbench
drinking_water

Public toilets.
amenity=toilets
A public bench.
amenity=bench
A tap or other source of drinking amenity=drinking_water
water.

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code
2904

layer

2905
2906
2907
2921
2922
2923

2950
2951
2952
2953
2954
2955
2961
2962
2963
2964

fclassfountain

Description
OSM Tags
A fountain for cultural, decorative, amenity=fountainor recreational purposes.
hunting_standA hunting stand.
amenity=hunting_standwaste_basket
A waste basket.
amenity=waste_basket
camera_surveillance A surveillance camera.
man_made=surveillance
emergency_phone An emergency telephone.
amenity=emergency_phone,
emergency=phone
fire_hydrant
A firy hydrant.
amenity=fire_hydrant,
emergency=fire_hydrant
emergency_access An emergency access point
highway=emergency_access(signposted place in e.g. woods the _point
location of which is known toemergency services).
tower
A tower of some kind.
man_made=tower and noneof the specifics below
tower_comms
A communications tower.
man_made=tower andtower:type=communicationwater_tower
A water tower.
man_made=water_tower
tower_observation An observation tower.
man_made=tower andtower:type=observation
windmillA windmill.
man_made=windmill
lighthouse
A lighthouse.
man_made=lighthousewastewater_plant
A wastewater treatment plant.
man_made=wastewater_pla
ntwater_well
A facility to access underground man_made=water_well
aquifers.
water_mill
A mill driven by water. Often
man_made=watermill
historic.
water_works
A place where drinking water is man_made=water_works
processed.

4.3 Places of Worship (“pofw”)
This layer has an associated area layer (see section 2.8).
The following feature classes exist in this layer:
code
layer
3000 pofw
3100 pofw

3101
3102
3103
3104
3105
3106
3107
3108
3109

pofw
pofw
pofw
pofw
pofw
pofw
pofw
pofw
pofw

fclassDescription
Places of worshipchristian
A christian place of worship(usually a church) without one ofthe denominations below.
christian_anglican
A christian place of worshipwhere the denomination ischristian_catholic
known. (Note to German users:
christian_evangelical“protestant” is “evangelisch” inchristian_lutheran
German; “evangelical” ischristian_methodist “evangelikal” in German.)christian_orthodox
christian_protestantchristian_baptist
christian_mormon

OSM Tags
amenity=place_of_worship +religion=christian+ denomination=anglican+ denomination=catholic+ denomination=evangelical+ denomination=lutheran+ denomination=methodist+ denomination=orthodox+ denomination=protestant+ denomination=baptist+ denomination=mormon
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code
layer
3200 pofw

fclassjewish3300

pofw

muslim

3301
3302
3400

pofw
pofw
pofw

muslim_sunni
muslim_shia
buddhist

3500

pofw

hindu

3600

pofw

taoist3700

pofw

shintoist

3800

pofw

sikh

Description
OSM Tags
A jewish place of worshipamenity=place_of_worship +(usually a synagogue).
religion=jewish
A muslim place of worhsip,
amenity=place_of_worship +(usually a mosque) without one of religion=muslim
the denominations below.
A Sunni muslim place of worship. + denomination=sunni
A Shia muslim place of worship. + denomination=shia
A Buddhist place of worship.
amenity=place_of_worship +religion=buddhist
A Hindu place of worship.
amenity=place_of_worship +religion=hindu
A Taoist place of worship.
amenity=place_of_worship +religion=taoist
A Shintoist place of worship.
amenity=place_of_worship +religion=shintoist
A Sikh place of worship.
amenity=place_of_worship +religion=sikh

4.4 Natural Features (“natural”)
The following feature classes exist in this layer:
code
layer
4101 natural

spring

4103
4111
4112
4113
4121
4131
4132
4141

glacierpeak
cliff
volcanotreemine
cave_entrance
beach

naturalnaturalnaturalnaturalnaturalnaturalnaturalnaturalfclassDescription
OSM Tags
A spring, possibly source of a natural=springstream.
A glacier.
natural=glacier
A mountain peak.
natural=peak
A cliff.
natural=cliff
A volcano.
natural=volcano
A tree.
natural=tree
A mine.
natural=mine
A cave entrance.
natural=cave_entrance
A beach. (Note that beaches are natural=beach
only rarely mapped as point
features.)

4.5 Traffic Related (“traffic”)
This layer exists both as area and as point layer (see section 2.8).
The following feature classes exist in this layer:
code layer
fclass
5201 traffic traffic_signals
5202 traffic mini_roundabout

5203
5204

traffic
traffic

stop
crossing

Description
Traffic lights.
A small roundabout without physicalstrucutre, usually just painted onto theroad surface.
A stop sign.
A place where the street is crossed bypedestrians or a railway.

OSM Tags
highway=traffic_signals
highway=mini_roundabouthighway=stop
highway=crossing,railway=level_crossing

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code layer
5205 traffic fordfclass5206

traffic

motorway_junction

5207

traffic

turning_circle

5208

traffic

speed_camera

5209

traffic

street_lamp

5250
5251
5260

traffic
traffic
traffic

fuelserviceparking

Description
A place where the road runs through ariver or stream.
The place where a slipway enters or leaves
a motorway.
An area at the end of a street where
vehicles can turn.
A camera that photographs speeding
vehicles.
A lamp illuminating the road.
Fuel and Parking
A gas station.
A service area, usually along motorways.
A car park of unknown type.

5261

traffic

parking_site

A surface car park.

5262
5263

traffic
traffic

5270

traffic

5301
5302
5303
5311
5321
5331
5332

traffic
traffic
traffic
traffic
traffic
traffic
traffic

parking_multistorey A multi storey car park.
parking_undergroun An underground car park.
dparking_bicycle
A place to park your bicycle.
Water Trafficslipway
A slipway.
marinaA marina.
pier
A pier.
dam
A dam.
waterfall
A waterfall.
lock_gate
A lock gate.
weir
A barrier built across a river or stream.

OSM Tags
highway=ford
highway=motorway_junction
highway=turning_circle
highway=speed_camera
highway=street_lamp
amenity=fuelhighway=services
amenity=parking withnone of the specifics
below
amenity=parking and...
… parking=site… parking=multi-storey… parking=undergroundamenity=bicycle_parking
leisure=slipway
leisure=marina
man_made=pierwaterway=dam
waterway=waterfall
waterway=lock_gate
waterway=weir

Note: Most of the 53xx type objects do sometimes appear as linear features in OSM as well but
those are not yet available in the shape files.

4.6 Transport Infrastructure (“transport”)
This layer exists both as area and as point layer (see section 2.8).
The following feature classes exist in this layer:
code
layer
fclass5601 transport railway_station

Description
A larger railway station of mainline
rail services.
A smaller, local railway station, or
subway station.

5602

transport railway_halt

5603

transport tram_stop

A tram stop.

5621

transport bus_stop

A bus stop.

OSM Tags
railway=station
railway=halt, or
public_transport=stop_position +train=yes
railway=tram_stop, or
public_transport=stop_position +tram=yeshighway=bus_stop, or
public_transport=stop_position +bus=yes
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code
layer
fclass5622 transport bus_stationtransport taxi_rank

Description
A large bus station with multiple
platforms.
A taxi rank.

565x
5651

transport airport

Air Traffic
A large airport.

5652

transport airfieldA small airport or airfield.

5655
5656

transport helipadtransport apron

A place for landing helicopters.
A apron (area where aircraft areparked)

5641

566x
5661
567x
5671

transport ferry_terminal

Water Traffic
A ferry terminal.

Other Traffictransport aerialway_station A station where cable cars or lifts
alight.

OSM Tags
amenity=bus_station
amenity=taxi

amenity=airport or
aeroway=aerodrome unless
type=airstrip
aeroway=airfield,
military=airfield,
aeroway=aeroway with
type=airstrip
aeroway=helipad
aeroway=apron

amenity=ferry_terminal

aerialway=station

5 Line Features
5.1 Roads and Paths (“roads”)
All kinds of roads from motorways to gravel tracks as well as cycleways, footpaths, etc.
Additional attributes:
Attribute
PostGIS Typeref
VARCHAR(20)onewayVARCHAR(1)maxspeedlayerbridgetunnelSMALLINT
SMALLINT
VARCHAR(1)VARCHAR(1)Description
Reference number of this road ('A 5', 'L 605', ...)Is this a oneway road? “F” means that only driving
in direction of the linestring is allowed. “T” meansthat only the opposite direction is allowed. “B”(default value) means that both directions are ok.
Max allowed speed in km/h
Relative layering of roads (-5, ..., 0, ..., 5)
Is this road on a bridge? (“T” = true, “F” = false)
Is this road in a tunnel? (“T” = true, “F” = false)

OSM Tags
ref=*oneway=*maxspeed=*layer=*
bridge=*tunnel=*Roads of type 5111 (motorway) and 5112 (trunk) are always oneway.
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The following feature classes exist in this layer:
code layer
511x roads
5111 roads
5112 roads
5113 roads
5114 roads
5115 roads
512x roads
5121 roads
5122 roads
5123 roads
5124 roads
5125 roads

fclassDescription

513x
5131
5132
5133
5134
5135
514x
5141

roads
roads
roads
roads
roads
roads
roads
roads

5142

roads

5143
5144
5145
5146
5147
515x
5151

roads
roads
roads
roads
roads
roads
roads

Major roads
Motorway/freeway
Important roads, typically divided
Primary roads, typically national.
Secondary roads, typically regional.
Tertiary roads, typically local.
Minor Roads
unclassified
Smaller local roads
residential
Roads in residential areas
living_street
Streets where pedestrians have priority
pedestrian
Pedestrian only streets
buswayDedicated roads for bus, usually closed forany mode of transport except public
transport.
Highway links (sliproads/ramps)
motorway_link Roads that connect from one road to anotherof the same of lower category.
trunk_link
primary_link
secondary_link
tertiary_link
Very small roads
service
Service roads for access to buildings, parking
lots, etc.
track
For agricultural use, in forests, etc. Often
gravel roads.
track_grade1
Tracks can be assigned a “tracktype” from 1(asphalt or heavily compacted) to 5 (hardly
track_grade2
visible). A detailed description is here:
track_grade3
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Tracktyptrack_grade4etrack_grade5
Paths unsuitable for cars
bridleway
Paths for horse riding

5152

roads

cycleway

Paths for cycling

5153

roads

footway

Footpaths

5154

roads

path

Unspecified paths

5155

roads

steps

5199

roads

unknown

Flights of steps on footpaths
Unknown
Unknown type of road or path

motorwaytrunk
primary
secondarytertiary

OSM Tags
highway=motorway
highway=trunk
highway=primary
highway=secondary
highway=tertiary
highway=unclassified
highway=residential
highway=living_street
highway=pedestrian
highway=busway

highway=motorway_link
highway=trunk_link
highway=primary_link
highway=secondary_link
highway=tertiary_link
highway=service
highway=track without
tracktype specification… with tracktype=grade1… with tracktype=grade2… with tracktype=grade3… with tracktype=grade4… with tracktype=grade5
highway=bridleway or
highway=path withhorse=designatedhighway=cycleway or
highway=path withcycle=designatedhighway=footway or
highway=path with
foot=designatedhighway=path without
cycle/foot/horse=designatedhighway=steps
highway=road

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5.2 Railways, Subways, Trams, Lifts, and Cable Cars (“railways”)
Railways do not have a name attribute. Instead, they have the following additional
attributes:
Attribute
PostGIS Type
layer
SMALLINT
bridgeVARCHAR(1)tunnel
VARCHAR(1)Description
Relative layering of railways/roads (-5, ..., 0, ..., 5)
Is this road on a bridge? (“T” = true, “F” = false)
Is this road in a tunnel? (“T” = true, “F” = false)

OSM Tags
layer=*
bridge=*tunnel=*The following feature classes exist in this layer:
code
layer
6101 railways

fclassrail

6102

railwayslight_rail

6103
6104
6105
6106
6107
6108

railwaysrailwaysrailwaysrailwaysrailwaysrailwayssubwaytram
monorailnarrow_gauge
miniaturefunicular

6109

railways

rack

6111
6112

railwaysrailwaysdrag_liftchair_lift

6113
6114

railwaysrailways

cable_car
gondola6115
6119

railwaysrailways

goods
other_lift

Description
Regular railway tracks.
Light railway tracks, often commuter
railways.
Underground railway tracks.
Tram tracks (may be incident with roads).
A monorail track.
A narrow gauge railway track.
A miniature railway track.
A funicular, or cable railway usually on asteep incline.

OSM Tags
railway=rail (unlesstraction=* also set)
railway=light_rail

railway=subway
railway=tram
railway=monorailrailway=narrow_gauge
railway=miniature
railway=funicular, or
railway=rail withtraction=funicular
A rack railway
railway=rack, or
railway=rail withtraction=rack orrailway=rail with
rack=yesAn overhead tow-line for skiers.
aerialway=drag_lift
An open chairlift run.
aerialway=chair_lift or
high_speed_chair_lift
A cabin cable car run.
aerialway=cable_car
An aerialway where the cabins go around in aerialway=gondolaa circle,
An aerialway for the transport of goods.
aerialway=goods
Another type of lift.
aerialway=one ofplatter, t-bar, j-bar,magic_carpet, zip_line,
rope_tow, or mixed_lift

5.3 Waterways (“waterways”)
Additional attributes:
Attribute
PostGIS Type
width
SMALLINT

Description
Width of the waterway in metres.

OSM Tags
width=*

The following feature classes exist in this layer:
code
layer
8101 waterways

fclassriver

Description
A large river.

OSM Tags
waterway=river

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code
layer
8102 waterways
8103 waterways
8104 waterways

fclassstreamcanaldrain

Description
A smaller river or stream.
An artificial waterway.
A small drainage ditch or similar structure.

OSM Tags
waterway=stream
waterway=canalwaterway=drain

Note that in OSM larger rivers are often available as polygon geometries and line geometries;
the line geometry will then run through the middle of the river in the direction of the waterflow.

6 Polygon Features
Polygon features are extracted from simple polygons and from multipolygons in OSM.

6.1 Building outlines (“buildings”)
Buildings don't have a name attribute.
Additional attributes:
Attribute
PostGIS Type
type
VARCHAR(20)Description
OSM Tags
The type of building, if specified in OSM; otherwise building=(anything
empty.
other than yes)

The following feature classes exist in this layer:
code
layer
1500 buildings

fclassDescription
Building outlines

building=*

6.2 Land use and land cover (“landuse”)
The following feature classes exist in this layer:
code
layer
7201 landuse

forestfclassDescription
A forest or woodland.

7202

landusepark

A park.

7203
7204
7206
7207
7208

landuselanduselanduselanduselanduseresidential
industrial
cemeteryallotments
meadow

7209
7210
7211

landuselanduselanduse

7212
7213

landuselanduseA residential area.
An industrial area.
A cemetery or graveyard.
An area with small private gardens.
A meadow, possibly used for grazing
cattle.
commercial
A commercial area.
nature_reserve
A nature reserve.
recreation_ground An open green space for general
recreation.
retailAn area mainly used by shops.
military
Military landuse, usually no access forcivilians.

OSM Tags
landuse=forest,
natural=wood
leisure=park,
leisure=common
landuse=residential
landuse=industrial
landuse=cemeterylanduse=allotments
landuse=meadow
landuse=commercial
leisure=nature_reserve
leisure=recreation_ground or
landuse_recreation_groundlanduse=retaillanduse=military

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code
layer
7214 landuse
7215 landuse

fclassDescription

OSM Tags
A quarry.
landuse=quarry
An area used for growing fruit-bearing landuse=orchard
trees.
An area used for growing grapes.
landuse=vineyard
An area where scrub grows.
landuse=scrub
An area where grass grows.
landuse=grass
Heath areas.
natural=heath
A national park.
boundary=national_park

quarryorchard

7216
7217
7218
7219
7220

landuselanduselanduselanduselandusevineyard
scrub
grass
heath
national_park

7228

landusefarmlandAgricultural land (areas where crops
are grown)

landuse=farmland

7229

landusefarmyard

Area of land with farm buildings andthe shrubbery/trees around them.

landuse=farmyard

6.3 Bodies of Water (“water”)
The following feature classes exist in this layer:
code
layer
8200 water

fclass
water

8201

water

reservoir

Description
Unspecified bodies of water. Typically lakes,
but can also be larger rivers, harbours, etc.
Artificial lakes, typically above a dam.

8202

water

river

Polygons for larger rivers.

8203

water

dock

8211
8221

water
water

glacier
wetlandDock (to repair ships, don't confuse it with
the American term “dock”)
Glaciers
Wetlandnatural=water + water!
=river/reservoir
landuse=reservoir,
natural=water +water=reservoir
waterway=riverbank,natural=water +water=riverwaterway=docknatural=glaciernatural=wetland

Note that in OSM larger rivers are often available as polygon geometries and line geometries;
the line geometry will then run through the middle of the river in the direction of the waterflow.

7 Differences to Commercial “0.7” Shape Files
Geofabrik offers an extended version of these shapes, for arbitrary areas, commercially.
These 0.7 files contain the following extensions compared to the free files:

7.1 Associated Area Layer
As described in section 2.8, some features are drawn at OpenStreetMap sometimes as areaand sometimes as points. Geofabrik's paid shape files contain centroids of the areas if afeature class exists both as area and as point.

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7.2 Additional Layers
The following additional layers are available in the commercial shape files:
Geometry
Point

Code
521x
64xx

Layer
traffic
power

Description
Barriers on roads and paths, e.g. lift gates or bollards
Power generators, substations, ...

Line
11xx
boundaries
Borders between countries ...
55xx
barriers
Natural or man-made barrier lines like fence, hedges or walls
66xx
powerlines
Power lines
67xx
aeroways
Runways and taxiways at airports
83xx
coastline
Coastline
53xx, 54xx, nonop
Roads and railways planned, under construction, or disused
55xx, 56xx,
62xx, 63xx,
64xx, 65xx
91xx
cycle_route_segme Roads which are part of cycle routes not provided by thentsroutes layer.
Polygon12xx

adminareas

Administrative areas (countries, states, counties, ...)

90xx

routesRoutes for cycling, hiking, moutain bikes, nordic walking
and running

MultiLineString

7.3 Additional Feature Classes
The following layers have additional features in the paid shape files:
code(s)
1005
1099

layer
placesplaces

565x
5671
2524
2525
2529
2530
2541
2544
2923
4103
4121
5208
5209
5160
521x, 522x
523x
7210

transport
transport
pois
pois
pois
pois
pois
pois
pois
naturalnaturaltraffic
traffic
roads
traffic
traffic
landusefclass(es)/description
national_capital
named_place – something tagged area=yes in OpenStreetMap and carrying a
name but with no other meaningful information
airport, airfield, helipad
aerialway_station
outdoor_shop
mobile_phone_shop
beauty_shop
video_shop
car_dealership
furniture_shop
emergency_access_point
glaciertree
speed_camera
street_lamp
ferrybarriers on roads and paths, e.g. lift gates and bollards
traffic calming
nature_reserve
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code(s)
7220
7221
7222
7223
7224
7225
7226
7227
8211
611x

layer
landuselanduselanduselanduselanduselanduselanduselandusewater
railways

fclass(es)/description
national_park
basin
village_green
plant_nurserybrownfield
greenfield
construction
railway
glacierdrag_lift, chair_lift, cable_car, gondola, goods, other_lift

7.4 Additional Fields
The following fields are additionally available in the paid shape files:
Layer

Attributeall layers

lastchange

naturalelevation

roads
roads

maxspeedsurfacerailwayselectrrailways

servicetraffic

refbuildings
buildings

heightlevelsPostGIS
Description
OSM Tags
Type
TIMESTA Last change of this feature. Comes from theMP
OSM last_changed attribute. Reflects
WITHOUT changes in the attributes of a feature;
TIME
changes in the geometry will not necessarily
ZONEchange this.
INTEGER Height of the feature above mean sea level, elevation=*in metres.
SMALLINT Max allowed speed in km/h
maxspeed=*
VARCHAR( The surface of the roadsurface=*20)
VARCHAR Electrificationelectrified=*(25)
VARCHAR Type of minor track if it is any
service=*(20)
VARCHAR Reference number (motorway junctions)
ref=*
(8)
SMALLINT Height of the building.
height=*SMALLINT Number of floors
building:levels=*20