World Atlas GitHub
v3.0.0-beta.1 Built from Natural Earth 5.1.2

World geography,
ready to draw.

A convenient redistribution of Natural Earth’s vector data as quantized TopoJSON, maintained as a successor to the original world-atlas package.

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Public domain dataFree for commercial use and modification
ReproducibleVersioned sources with verified checksums
CompatibleOriginal artifact names and object structure

Install

A small package with
a familiar interface.

Choose a resolution, import the topology, and convert its country collection with topojson-client.

Terminalnpm
npm install @cublya/world-atlas topojson-client
JavaScriptES modules
import { feature } from "topojson-client";
import world from "@cublya/world-atlas/countries-50m.json"
  with { type: "json" };

const countries = feature(world, world.objects.countries);

Boundary views

One source. Two geopolitical views.

The default files apply a documented UN-style sovereign-state policy. Alternate files preserve Natural Earth’s independent map units. “UN-style” describes this project’s boundary policy; these files are not official United Nations cartographic products.

Defaultcountries-*.json

UN-style view

Use this view for maps organized around UN-recognized sovereign states.

  • CrimeaUkraine
  • KosovoSerbia
  • Northern CyprusCyprus
  • SomalilandSomalia
  • BaikonurKazakhstan
  • Western SaharaSeparate territory
Alternatecountries-independent-*.json

Independent map-unit view

Use this view when Kosovo, Northern Cyprus, Somaliland, Western Sahara, and similar Natural Earth map units should remain separate. 

import world from
  "@cublya/world-atlas/
countries-independent-50m.json"
  with { type: "json" };

Features expose properties.boundaryView. Merged default features also expose policyMergedMapUnits.

Coverage

Pick the scale that fits the map.

Natural Earth generalizes small-scale data by omitting microstates. Use 10m or 50m whenever complete UN country coverage matters.

Resolution UN members Observer states Best for
10mLarge scale 193 / 193 2 / 2 Detailed maps and close views
50mMedium scale 193 / 193 2 / 2 General-purpose world maps
110mSmall scale 165 / 193 1 / 2 Compact global overviews

Coverage is measured against 193 UN member states and the two non-member observer states: the Holy See and the State of Palestine.

File reference

Pre-built TopoJSON at three resolutions.

Coordinates are spherical longitude and latitude in decimal degrees. Geometry is quantized but not projected.

{ }

countries-110m.json

Small scale · UN-style

A TopoJSON file containing the geometry collections countries and land, derived from Natural Earth’s 1:110m Admin 0 country boundaries.

Download
{ }

countries-50m.json

Medium scale · UN-style

A TopoJSON file containing the geometry collections countries and land, derived from Natural Earth’s 1:50m Admin 0 country boundaries.

Download
{ }

countries-10m.json

Large scale · UN-style

A TopoJSON file containing the geometry collections countries and land, derived from Natural Earth’s 1:10m Admin 0 country boundaries.

Download
±

countries-independent-*.json

10m · 50m · 110m

The same object structure as the default country files, preserving Natural Earth’s independent map units when present in source data.

Details
◇

land-*.json

10m · 50m · 110m

TopoJSON files containing the land geometry collection, derived from Natural Earth’s physical land boundaries.

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Data model

The original shape, with useful metadata.

Country files preserve the familiar objects.countries and objects.land collections used by world-atlas 2.x.

01

Country identifier

country.id is the three-digit ISO 3166-1 numeric code when one exists, such as "528" for the Netherlands. Non-ISO map units in the independent view may omit it.

02

Country properties

Every feature includes name and boundaryView. ISO codes, sovereignty, classification, notes, and policy merge metadata are included when available.

03

Land geometry

In country topologies, land is computed by merging country arcs, ensuring consistent shared boundaries. Standalone land files use Natural Earth physical vectors.

Source and license

Open by default.

Generated artifacts are derived from Natural Earth 5.1.2. Natural Earth places its raster and vector map data in the public domain: commercial use, modification, and redistribution are permitted without permission or required attribution.

The build code is ISC-licensed. Source URLs, archive checksums, quantization, boundary views, and output names are recorded in source.json.

Natural Earth terms Data license

Rebuilding

Reproducible from source.

The build downloads pinned Natural Earth archives, verifies their SHA-256 checksums, and regenerates every committed artifact.

TerminalNode.js 20+
git clone https://github.com/cublya/world-atlas.git
cd world-atlas
npm ci
npm run build
npm run validate