a quick note to share that we have improved geocoding of IATA (International Air Transport Association) airport codes, the three letter codes you see on airline luggage tags, for example “LHR” for London’s Heathrow Airport.

We now better detect such queries, prioritize airports in the results, and also have improved the formatted string in the API result.

Here’s an example from our geocoding demo page, showing a request with query EWR:

This actually was not as trivial as hoped because of course three letter acronyms (TLAs) are also used in many other contexts, including in geography. For example “USA” is not an IATA code, nor is “NYC”, and there are many others.

Many thanks to the customer that requested these improvements..

Happy geocoding,

Ed

As a reminder, we also support queries for UN/LOCODE codes.

Last week we got off the keyboard for a bit to reflect on how far we have come as a team over the last 12 years of geocoding. What better way to do this than heading back to zero, literally?

And so the team linked up in London, where OpenCage originally started, cruised down the Thames to Greenwich and visited the Prime Meridian! Longitude: 0.

It was a great day out, and useful chance to link up in person, to look back and also forward. To brainstorm and laugh. Many thanks to all of you who have been on this journey with us over the years: our friends, our customers, the global open-source and OpenStreetMap communities that we build upon.

One evening we celebrated with some friends of the business:

And the following evening we enjoyed Yet Another Geomob London.

Thank you everyone. The reward for hard work is more hard work, and we are looking refreshed and looking forward to many more years of geocoding the world!

As always, please let us know what you think we should be working on.

Happy geocoding,

Ed

Welcome to the September 2026 edition of #fridaygeotrivia, our social media geotrivia contest.

As per tradition we play on the final Friday of the month, which this month is Friday, 25th of September, 2026, at 17:00 Berlin time, 4pm London time, 11AM New York time.

See how to play below.

The September 2026 geotrivia question:

Name country pairs that have no land border, but are separated by less than 50 km of water at their closest point, ie countries that can see each other across the water.

For example Singapore and Indonesia.

As always:

• Only one answer per toot

• You must include the hashtag #fridaygeotrivia and the emoji flag of the countries

Prizes

#fridaygeotrivia is a game with two prizes:

1. the sheer joy of geographic knowledge and pedantry.

2. the bragging rights of getting the answer first.

The #fridaygeotrivia Mastodon thread:

Post by @opencage@en.osm.town

View on Mastodon

The winner

Well done to Ciarán Ferrie, who managed to pull away from jerseybastion, who took second.

Honourable mention goes to Arend Pool.

This month’s geotrivia answer:

Show / hide answer

How to play

Anyone can join in, you just need a Mastodon account.

• Follow us on Mastodon, our account is @opencage@en.osm.town

• When the game starts we will post the question here on the blog and on Mastodon, and will embed the Mastodon question here. We highly recommend using a mastodon client you feel comfortable with. We’ve made the switch to the Elk client and are loving it, but use whatever works for you.

• Reply to the question thread on Mastodon (it will be embedded above) using the hashtag #fridaygeotrivia in your answer.

• Only one answer per response (don’t stuff multiple answers into a single reply).

• Our definition of “country” is usually (it depends on the question) any place with an ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code. Read more background about ISO and country codes in our guide.

• To get full points for an answer it is good form not just to name the relevant country but (if possible) to include the emoji flags of the country.

• While you can use a map, please do NOT use the internet to just search for an answer. That is cheating and will lead to seriously bad geokarma.

Some people have complained that the format is a bit chaotic and hard to follow. Yes. The mad chaos is part of the fun. Embrace it. The goal is just to have fun and learn. We win by playing

Thanks for playing,

Ed

one challenge we have faced is that over the years we have created more and more helpful content about geocoding generally and our services specifically. Tutorials, Guides, FAQs, we have them all. But as the amount of content has grown it becomes harder and harder to keep the overview and to find exactly what you are looking for.

So, we have now added a search to the site.

Please take it for a spin (just click on the search glass on the upper right of any page to open the search box), and let us know what you think.

Happy site searching,

Ed

one question that continually comes up with potential customers evaluating our service is “How are you on country X?”

The question is entirely understandable, as most people still think in terms of national mapping agencies releasing data. That mental model doesn’t correspond to the crowdsourced reality of OpenStreetMap, our primary data source.

Volunteers add data wherever they like, which can result in the confusing situation that one street can be perfetly mapped, and the neighbouring street is not. So there can be significant variance within a country.

And of course different countries have radically different concepts of geography. Not just different levels of administrative divisions, but different address structures and components. As a basic example, some countries have postal codes, some do not. And in those that do the concept of what a postal code represents can vary widely. Indeed some countries do not really use addresses at all. And even within a country there are often differences between regions or between rural and urban areas.

So it is perhaps not surprising, given all this complexity, that for years we have struggled to answer this seemingly basic question.

Happily, OSM this month turned 22 years old, and much of the world is now very well mapped. Indeed, in many parts of the world, OSM is the best data available at any price.

In this context I am pleased to announce that we are now regularly publishing a geocoding API coverage report where we break down coverage by country, assigning each a basic “great”, “good”, or “coarse” score.

Obviously the score needs to be put in the context of the complexity of reality, and is no substitute for actual testing (which is why we offer a free trial), but we hope this helps prospective customers more quickly assess whether our service can be a good match for their needs.

One final point: if you are evaluating different geocoding providers, I can highly recommend our Geocoding Buyer’s Guide where we discuss all the factors you should consider to avoid the dreaded “I wish I had thought of that before we bought” feeling.

Happy geocoding,

Ed

Welcome to the August 2026 edition of #fridaygeotrivia, our social media geotrivia contest.

As per tradition we play on the final Friday of the month, which this month is Friday, 28th of August, 2026, at 17:00 Berlin time, 4pm London time, 11AM New York time.

See how to play below.

The August 2026 geotrivia question:

Name countries where at least one permanent major river (300+ km) flows through the country or along its borders, but no major river rises within it.

For example Egypt 🇪🇬, famous for the mighty Nile, has no other major river arising in its territory.

As always:

• Only one answer per toot

• You must include the hashtag #fridaygeotrivia and the emoji flag of the countries

Prizes

#fridaygeotrivia is a game with two prizes:

1. the sheer joy of geographic knowledge and pedantry.

2. the bragging rights of getting the answer first.

The #fridaygeotrivia Mastodon thread:

Post by @opencage@en.osm.town

View on Mastodon

The winner

It was a tie between Arend Pool and Jocelyn

This month’s geotrivia answer:

Show / hide answer

How to play

Anyone can join in, you just need a Mastodon account.

• Follow us on Mastodon, our account is @opencage@en.osm.town

• When the game starts we will post the question here on the blog and on Mastodon, and will embed the Mastodon question here. We highly recommend using a mastodon client you feel comfortable with. We’ve made the switch to the Elk client and are loving it, but use whatever works for you.

• Reply to the question thread on Mastodon (it will be embedded above) using the hashtag #fridaygeotrivia in your answer.

• Only one answer per response (don’t stuff multiple answers into a single reply).

• Our definition of “country” is usually (it depends on the question) any place with an ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code. Read more background about ISO and country codes in our guide.

• To get full points for an answer it is good form not just to name the relevant country but (if possible) to include the emoji flags of the country.

• While you can use a map, please do NOT use the internet to just search for an answer. That is cheating and will lead to seriously bad geokarma.

Some people have complained that the format is a bit chaotic and hard to follow. Yes. The mad chaos is part of the fun. Embrace it. The goal is just to have fun and learn. We win by playing

Thanks for playing,

Ed

since we launched our spreadsheet geocoding tool last year, it has become one of the primary ways people start using our service.

Many thanks to everyone who has taken the time to share feedback with us about how we can make the service even simpler. Based on that feedback and questions we’ve been continually fine-tuning the service and the help pages that explain how things work, especially for less technical users.

It has been eye-opening to see all the different ways the people want to use the service,and indeed all the different preconceptions people have about how such a service should work. As ever, making something “simple”, is incredibly complex.

I am pleased to say we’ve just completed another round of fixes and polishing. Many of these fixes are only visible if you run into the strange edge cases that we’ve been confronted with over the last year.

But one noticeable change is that you can now start the process without having a free-trial account. Now, after you’ve configured your settings for the spreadsheet, we guide you into the sign-up process, so that we can email you once your file is ready.

Please keep your feedback - about spreadsheet uploading but also all of our other services - coming!

Happy geocoding,

Ed

Hi everyone,

This month we’re taking a summer break, so no #fridaygeotrivia, our a social media geotrivia contest this month.

We will see you in August. Until then you can practice by reviewing past questions.

Enjoy the summer break.

Ed

Here is an example of the cathedrals of Germany that we created using Matthew’s XofY tool.

1. Can you introduce yourself and tell us a bit about your OpenStreetMap journey? What first got you hooked on mapping?

I started adding parks and playgrounds when my daughter was born. Both as a simple pastime while she napped, but also a way to explore more things to do with her as she got older. Editing the map is a lovely way to learn more about the world.

2. You’ve mentioned using geocoding to turn lists of addresses into mapping adventures, for example tracking down drive in movie theaters. Can you walk us through your “OSM sleuthing” workflow and share some of your favorite discoveries?

For many years I was obsessed with odd things you can find on aerials (ex: jet sprint boat race lakes). Things that aren’t tricky to find, so long as you know, roughly, where to look. Many oddities will have someone keeping track of them with a list of addresses but for OSM, we can do one better! Geocoding with Nominatim or OpenCage makes for a great start to nailing down the exact locations of these things.

3. As a member of the OpenStreetMap US Board, what are your priorities for supporting the community? What opportunities and challenges do you see for OSM in the United States?

We can get further by all rowing in the same direction. Finding places where we can help sort out the common ground between mappers, app developers, imagery providers, educators, etc., is always a huge win. It’s why I’m so proud of the multitude of working groups we have and the great work we support through those groups.

Fundraising is always top of mind as a board member. I would love to be able to hire a few more technical staff and navigating the ever changing landscape of where memberships and grants are coming from continues to be a challenge.

4. A lot of people assume that mapping is just about adding roads or buildings. What are some of the more unusual or niche projects you’ve worked on, and why do those kinds of contributions matter?

I strongly recommend everyone have at least one really niche tag or type of map data that they are super obsessed over. Preferably something super weird. It’s largely all volunteer work so if we’re not having fun then we’re gonna burn ourselves out! We need more things mapped and ALSO more tools, tutorials, and hype videos to help folks stay engaged.

Here’s some things I’ve been obsessive about to help give folks a sense of what I mean:

A map showing school mascots around the world.

I wrote a long tutorial for a JOSM plugin to help add sidewalk coverage.

I got really into learning about nautical beacon tagging and ended up making a whole website to view blinking lights.

I spent a few hours adding Wikidata tagging so folks could sort out the two different competing restaurants named Taco Time.

5. OpenStreetMap is powered by a global community of volunteers. What advice would you give to someone who wants to move beyond simple edits and start exploring, investigating, and contributing in more creative ways?

Honestly, see what other folks are doing. Join us in the OSM US Slack, the OSM World Discord, on the OSM specific Mastodon server, or any of the million other places mappers are meeting up and sharing ideas, insights, and schemes. I am constantly finding new ways of doing things, new tags, new tools, and inspiration from folks in these spaces.

6. OpenStreetMap recently celebrated its 20th anniversary. Looking ahead, where would you like to see the project and its community 20 years from now?

I’m very lucky to be part of a large and long running community group here at OpenStreetMap US. A huge part of the success is having dedicated and consistent staff that can grow in their roles without having to split time paying their bills with other work. I would love to see more local chapters grow and have support staff for local programs, regional outreach, specific tech needs etc. We have a lot of work to still do and the sky is the limit.

Matthew’s journey shows that mapping is about more than documenting what exists. It is a way to explore, learn, and connect with the world around us. His creative approach reminds us that every mapper can bring something unique to OpenStreetMap, whether through a niche interest or a community project. Thank you, Matthew, for sharing your story and for the energy you bring to the OSM community.

Happy mapping

Danielle

Please let us know if your community would like to be part of our interview series here on our blog. If you are or know of someone we should interview, please get in touch, we’re always looking to promote people doing interesting things with open geo data.

I hope you are enjoying the summer.

Today we have a quick note to share that we’ve launched a visual refresh of our GDPR / data protection page.

Specifically:

• The page now has a table of contents for easier browsing.

• We now explicitly list our third-party subprocessors in a table for easier scanning

• We now explicitly list our data deletion schedule in a table for easier scanning

• We now explicitly list the Technical & Organisational Measures (TOMs).

• Clarified that geocoding queries are NEVER used for AI training.

• As with all of our pages, it is now also available in Markdown format (via the “Copy Page” toggle at the top of the content, or appending .makrdownto the URL

• The Change History of the page was getting a bit long (GDPR took effect more than seven years ago!) so it is now hidden behind a clickable toggle.

Just to be clear: there has been absolutely no change in our commitment to and practices around data protection generally and GDPR specifically. This is just a visual update to make the page a bit easier to browse. Just as before, we have no desire or ability to track our customers’ users, and geocoding API users can optionally specify no_record=1 in their API request, in which case we keep no record of their geocoding query.

We continuously roll out tweaks and improvements to improve the privacy and security of our users - for example the recent addition of key obfuscation - and welcome your suggestions of how we could do more.

Happy (private) geocoding,

Ed