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Geographical Sciences

This guide contains information on selected resources for research in Geography. It includes both print and electronic resources. Many electronic resources, such as indexes and journals, are available to ASU-affiliated users only.

United States Place Names

Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) - GNIS contains entries for almost 2,000,000 geographic features in the United States. Each entry includes information about Federally recognized names for features in the United States, including the State, county, and geographic coordinates. Produced by the US Board of Geographic Names and the US Geological Survey.

US Gazetteer - The US Gazetteer is a list of United States place names that were included in the 1990 census. Since it was derived from census data, this database only contains names for populated places.

National Association of Counties (NACo) - NACo provides a database of county information, searchable by city or state.

US States, Place Names

  • Georgia Place Names - A site containing place names of settlements, most with linked maps.
  • Kentucky Place Names - Alphabetical list of community names that eventually became the book Kentucky Place Names.
  • Minnesota Place Names - A guide to historical Minnesota place names sponsored by the Minnesota Historical Society

World Place Names

  • NGA GEOnet Names Server (GNS) - GEOnet Names Server (GNS) is the official repository of standard spellings of all foreign geographic names, sanctioned by the United States Board on Geographic Names (US BGN).
  • Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names - The Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names (TGN) provides information on place names related to art, art history and related subjects, such as history archeology, and geography.
  • JewishGen  - A searchable database that provides information on the location of populated places in Eastern Europe, many of which no longer exist.

Country Place Names

Planetary Place Names

The ASU Library acknowledges the twenty-three Native Nations that have inhabited this land for centuries. Arizona State University's four campuses are located in the Salt River Valley on ancestral territories of Indigenous peoples, including the Akimel O’odham (Pima) and Pee Posh (Maricopa) Indian Communities, whose care and keeping of these lands allows us to be here today. ASU Library acknowledges the sovereignty of these nations and seeks to foster an environment of success and possibility for Native American students and patrons. We are advocates for the incorporation of Indigenous knowledge systems and research methodologies within contemporary library practice. ASU Library welcomes members of the Akimel O’odham and Pee Posh, and all Native nations to the Library.