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Appendix C.--Geographic Names Information System
(GNIS) Feature Class Definitions
The feature class terms and abbreviations currently consist of nine or fewer letters and were
chosen for computer search and retrieval purposes. They do not necessarily represent
terminology for the identification of all kinds of cultural and natural features. Although some of
the terms may agree with dictionary definitions, they represent more generalized categories.
Some commonly used generics are listed in parentheses at the end of each entry to assist in
understanding the range of cultural and natural entities represented by the term. Refer to the
Reference Data Base to retrieve all generics encountered in geographic names compilation. In
most instances a example, archipelago or islands would be categorized as island. The terms and
the definitions are as follows:
airport - manmade facility maintained for the use of
aircraft (airfield, airstrip, landing field, landing strip).
arch - natural arch-like opening in a rock mass (bridge, natural
bridge, sea arch).
area - any one of several areally extensive natural features not
included in other categories (badlands, barren, delta, fan, garden).
arroyo - watercourse or channel through which water may
occasionally flow (coulee, draw, gully, wash).
bar - natural accumulation of sand, gravel, or alluvium forming
an
underwater or exposed embankment (ledge, reef, sandbar, shoal, spit).
basin - natural depression or relatively low area enclosed by
higher land (amphitheater, cirque, pit, sink).
bay - indentation of a coastline orshoreline enclosing a part of
a
body of water; a body of water partly surrounded by land (arm, bight, cove, estuary, gulf, inlet,
sound).
beach - the sloping shore along a body of water that is
washed by
waves or tides and is usually covered by sand or gravel (coast, shore, strand).
bench - area of relatively level land on the flank of an
elevation
such as a hill, ridge, or mountain where the slope of the land rises on one side and descends on
the opposite side (level).
bend - curve in the course of a stream and (or) the land within
the
curve; a curve in a linear body of water (bottom, loop, meander).
bridge - manmade structure carrying a trail, road, or other
transportation system across a body of water or depression (causeway, overpass, trestle).
building - a manmade structure with walls and a roof for
protection of people and (or) materials, but not including church, hospital, or school.
canal - manmade waterway used by watercraft or for
drainage,
irrigation, mining, or water power (ditch, lateral).
cape - projection of land extending into a body of water (lea,
neck,
peninsula, point).
cave - natural underground passageway or chamber, or a
hollowed
out cavity in the side of a cliff (cavern, grotto).
cemetery - a place or area for burying the dead (burial,
burying
ground, grave, memorial garden).
channel - linear deep part of a body of water through
which the
main volume of water flows and is frequently used as aroute for watercraft (passage, reach, strait,
thoroughfare,
throughfare).
church - building used for religious worship (chapel,
mosque,
synagogue, tabernacle, temple).
civil - a political division formed for administrative purposes
(borough, county, municipio, parish, town, township).
cliff - very steep or vertical slope (bluff, crag, head, headland,
nose,
palisades, precipice, promontory, rim, rimrock).
crater - circular-shaped depression at the summit of a
volcanic
cone or one on the surface of the land caused by the impact of a meteorite; a manmade
depression caused by an explosion (caldera, lua).
crossing - a place where two or more routes of
transportation
form a junction or intersection (overpass, underpass).
dam - water barrier or embankment built across the course of
a
stream or into a body of water to control and (or) impound the flow of water (breakwater, dike,
jetty).
falls - perpendicular or very steep fall of water
in the course of a stream (cascade, cataract, waterfall).
flat - relative level area within a region of greater relief
(clearing,
glade, playa).
forest - bounded area of woods, forest, or grassland under
the
administration of a political agency (see "woods") (national forest, national grasslands, State
forest).
gap - low point or opening between hills or mountains or in a
ridge
or mountain range (col, notch, pass, saddle, water gap, wind gap).
geyser - eruptive spring from which hot water and (or)
steam and
in some cases mud are periodically thrown.
glacier - body or stream of ice moving outward and
downslope
from an area of accumulation; an area of relatively permanent snow or ice on the top or side of a
mountain or mountainous area (icefield, ice patch, snow patch).
gut - relatively small coastal waterway connecting larger
bodies of
water or other waterways (creek, inlet, slough).
harbor - sheltered area of water where ships or other
watercraft
can anchor or dock (hono, port, roads, roadstead).
hospital - building where the sick or injured may receive
medical or surgical attention (infirmary).
island - area of dry or relatively dry land surrounded by
water or
low wetland (archipelago, atoll, cay, hammock, hummock, isla, isle, key, moku, rock).
isthmus - narrow section of land in a body of water
connecting
two larger land areas.
lake - natural body of inland water (backwater, lac, lagoon,
laguna,
pond, pool, resaca, waterhole).
lava - formations resulting from the consolidation of molten
rock
on the surface of the Earth (kepula, lava flow).
levee - natural or manmade embankment flanking a stream
(bank,
berm).
locale - place at which there is or was human activity; it
does not
include populated places, mines, and dams (battlefield, crossroad, camp, farm, ghost town,
landing, railroad siding, ranch, ruins, site, station, windmill).
mine - place or area from which commercial minerals are or
were
removed from the Earth; not including oilfield (pit, quarry, shaft).
military (historical) - place or facility formerly used for
various
aspects of or relating to military activity.
oilfield - area where petroleum is or was removed from the
Earth.
other - category for miscellaneous named entities
that
cannot readily be placed in the other feature classes listed here.
park - place or area set aside for recreation or preservation of
a
cultural or natural resource and under some form of government administration; not including
National or State forests or Reserves (national historical landmark, national park, State park,
wilderness area).
pillar - vertical, standing, often spire-shaped, natural rock
formation (chimney, monument, pinnacle, pohaku, rock tower).
plain - a region of general uniform slope, comparatively level
and
of considerable extent (grassland, highland, kula, plateau, upland).
po - (post office) an official facility of the U.S. Postal Service
used
for processing and distributing mail and other postal material.
ppl - (populated place) place or area with clustered or scattered
buildings and a permanent human population (city, settlement, town, village).
range - chain of hills or mountains; a somewhat linear,
complex
mountainous or hilly area (cordillera, sierra).
rapids - fast-flowing section of a stream, often shallow and
with
exposed rock or boulders (riffle, ripple).
reserve - a tract of land set aside for a specific use (does
not
include forests, civil divisions, parks).
reservoir - artificially impounded body of water (lake,
tank).
ridge - elevation with a narrow, elongated crest which can be
part
of a hill or mountain (crest, cuesta, escarpment, hogback, lae, rim, spur).
school - building or group of buildings used as an
institution for
study, teaching, and learning (academy, college, high school, university).
sea - large body of salt water (gulf, ocean).
slope - a gently inclined part of the Earth's surface (grade,
pitch).
spring - place where underground water flows naturally to
the
surface of the Earth (seep).
stream - linear body of water flowing on the Earth's surface
(anabranch, awawa, bayou, branch, brook, creek, distributary, fork, kill, pup, rio, river, run,
slough).
summit - prominent elevation rising above the surrounding
level
of the Earth's surface; does not include pillars, ridges, or ranges (ahu, berg, bald, butte, cerro,
colina, cone, cumbre, dome, head, hill, horn, knob, knoll, mauna, mesa, mesita, mound, mount,
mountain, peak, puu, rock, sugarloaf, table, volcano).
swamp - poorly drained wetland, fresh or saltwater,
wooded or
grassy, possibly covered with open water (bog, cienega, marais, marsh, pocosin).
tower - a manmade structure, higher than its diameter,
generally
used for observation, storage, or electronic transmission.
trail - route for passage from one point to another; does not
include
roads or highways (jeep trail, path, ski trail).
tunnel - linear underground passageway open at both
ends.
unknown - unknown.
valley - linear depression in the Earth's surface that
generally
slopes from one end to the other (barranca, canyon, chasm, cove, draw, glen, gorge, gulch, gulf,
hollow, ravine).
well - manmade shaft or hole in the Earth's surface used to
obtain
fluid or gaseous materials.
woods - small area covered with a dense growth of trees;
does
not include an area of trees under the administration of a political agency (see "forest").
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