Place types

In Data Commons, a “place type” is a specific geographic or administrative unit for which we provide data. This could range from broad categories such as countries, states, and provinces to more granular classifications like counties, cities, and postal codes. This page provides the DCIDs and a description of place types available in our APIs and tools.

Note: Not all data is available for all place types. Sources often don’t provide data at all levels of granularity. You can check which place types have data available for a specific variable using the Statistical Variable Explorer.

Globally available geographic divisions

These place types are generally available for Earth and/or all countries.

Place Type DCID	Place Type Description
AdministrativeArea1	A country’s first-level administrative divisions. For example, this would encompass US states, Canada’s provinces, and Japan’s prefectures.
AdministrativeArea2	A country’s second-level administrative divisions. For example, this would encompass US counties, France’s departments, or India’s divisions.
Country	A nation. Note that sources can differ on which countries are recognized. Thus, this category may include some territories and disputed regions.
City	A city.

Partially available geographic divisions

These place types represent administrative divisions that are available for some countries, but not all countries.

Place Type DCID	Place Type Description
AdministrativeArea3	A country’s third-level adminstrative divisions.
AdministrativeArea4	A country’s fourth-level administrative divisions.
AdministrativeArea5	A country’s fifth-level administrative divisions.
Town	A settlement that is bigger than a village but smaller than a city.
Village	A small clustered human settlement smaller than a town.

U.S.-specific geographic divisions

These place types can only be used for places that are contained within the United States (DCID: country/USA). See https://datacommons.org/browser/dc/base/BaseGeos for additional places defined for the U.S.

Place Type DCID	Place Type Description
State	U.S. states. For example, California or Maryland
County	U.S. counties. For example, Santa Clara County
CensusZipCodeTabulationArea	U.S. zip codes as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau. For example, 94043. While there is significant overlap, these codes don’t always correspond to the zip codes used by the US Postal Service.
CensusTract	U.S. census tracts as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau. For example, Census Tract 10
CensusBlockGroup	U.S. block groups as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau. For example, Block Group 0

India-specific administrative divisions

These place types can only be used for places that are contained within India (dcid: country/IND).

Place Type DCID	Place Type Description
State	Indian states. For example, Uttar Pradesh or Karnataka

Europe-specific administrative divisions

These place types can only be used for places that are contained within Europe (dcid: europe).

Place Type DCID	Place Type Description
EurostatNUTS1	First-level statistical subdivision within an EU member country.
EurostatNUTS2	Second-level statistical subdivision within an EU member country.
EurostatNUTS3	Third-level statistical subdivision within an EU member country.

Earth grids

These place types represent regions defined by various geographic grid systems. These place types are typically used with climate-related data.

Place Type DCID	Place Type Description
GeoGridPlace_0.25Deg	A place representing a uniform 0.25x0.25 degree grid on the surface of the earth.
GeoGridPlace_1Deg	A place representing a uniform 1x1 degree grid on the surface of the earth. Unlike IPCCPlace entities, these are not defined in the context of a country.
GeoGridPlace_4KM	A place representing a uniform 4km grid on the surface of the earth.
IPCCPlace_25	A grid on the earth’s surface approximately corresponding to 0.25-degree resolution for attaching climate-related observations. These are defined within the context of a specific country.
IPCCPlace_50	A grid on the earth’s surface approximately corresponding to 0.50-degree resolution for attaching climate related observations. These are defined within the context of a specific country.
S2CellLevel7	S2 cell at level 7 which corresponds to an average area of 5188.66 sq km.
S2CellLevel8	S2 cell at level 8 which corresponds to an average area of 1297.17 sq km.
S2CellLevel9	S2 cell at level 9 which corresponds to an average area of 324.29 sq km.
S2CellLevel10	S2 cell at level 10 which corresponds to an average area of 81.07 sq km.
S2CellLevel11	S2 cell at level 11 which corresponds to an average area of 20.27 sq km.
S2CellLevel12	S2 cell at level 12 which corresponds to an average area of 5.07 sq km.
S2CellLevel13	S2 cell at level 13 which corresponds to an average area of 1.27 sq km.
S2CellLevel14	S2 cell at level 14 which corresponds to an average area of 0.32 sq km.

Page last updated: December 17, 2024 • Send feedback about this page