Retirement Notice: This item is in mature support as of May 2023 and will retire in December 2025. A new version of this item is available for your use. Esri recommends updating your maps and apps to use the new version. World Country Boundaries provides 2022 boundaries for the countries of the world. The layer is designed to be used for mapping and analysis. It can be enriched with additional attributes using data enrichment tools in ArcGIS Online.World Country Boundaries use December 2021 source from Garmin International, Inc and were published in October 2022. Other administrative boundaries for this country are also available:RegionCountryFirst Order Administrative Division

World Countries is a detailed dataset of country level boundaries which can be used at both large and small scales. It has been designed to be used as a basemap and includes an additional Disputed Boundaries layer that can be used to edit boundaries to fit a users needs and view of the political world.

Included are attributes for local and official names and country codes, along with continent and display fields. Particularly useful are the Land_Type and Land_Rank fields which separate polygons based on their size. These attributes can be used for rendering at different scales by providing the ability to turn off small islands which may clutter small scale views.

Small-scale world country boundaries. Based off ESRI World Countries, but with added, separate polygons for Hong Kong and Taiwan. These additions are not intended to be precise boundaries. Rather, they are intended to provide a general region to highlight agricultural export destinations.

The geoBoundaries Global Database of Political Administrative Boundaries Database is an online, open license resource of boundaries (i.e., state, county) for every country in the world. Currently 199 total entities are tracked, including all 195 UN member states, Greenland, Taiwan, Niue, and Kosovo. Comprehensive Global Administrative Zones (CGAZ) is a set of global composites for administrative boundaries. Disputed areas are removed and replaced with polygons following US Department of State definitions. It has three boundary levels ADM0, ADM1, and ADM2, clipped to international boundaries (US Department of State), with gaps filled between borders. This dataset is part of CGAZ. It was ingested from version 6.0.0 of Global Composite Files with DBF_DATE_LAST_UPDATE=2023-09-13. It shows boundaries at level ADM0 (country-level boundaries).

World Countries is a detailed layer of country level boundaries which is best used at large scales (e.g. below 1:2m scale). For a more generalized layer to use at small-to-medium scales, refer to the World Countries (Generalized) layer. It has been designed to be used as a layer that can be easily edited to fit a users needs and view of the political world. Included are attributes for name and ISO codes, along with continent information. Particularly useful are the Land Type and Land Rank fields which separate polygons based on their areal size. These attributes are useful for rendering at different scales by providing the ability to turn off small islands which may clutter small scale views.This dataset represents the world countries as they existed in January 2015.

Overview The Office of the Geographer and Global Issues at the U.S. Department of State produces the Large Scale International Boundaries (LSIB) dataset. The current edition is version 11.4 (published 24 February 2025). The 11.4 release contains updated boundary lines and data refinements designed to extend the functionality of the dataset. These data and generalized derivatives are the only international boundary lines approved for U.S. Government use. The contents of this dataset reflect U.S. Government policy on international boundary alignment, political recognition, and dispute status. They do not necessarily reflect de facto limits of control. National Geospatial Data Asset This dataset is a National Geospatial Data Asset (NGDAID 194) managed by the Department of State. It is a part of the International Boundaries Theme created by the Federal Geographic Data Committee. Dataset Source Details Sources for these data include treaties, relevant maps, and data from boundary commissions, as well as national mapping agencies. Where available and applicable, the dataset incorporates information from courts, tribunals, and international arbitrations. The research and recovery process includes analysis of satellite imagery and elevation data. Due to the limitations of source materials and processing techniques, most lines are within 100 meters of their true position on the ground. Cartographic Visualization The LSIB is a geospatial dataset that, when used for cartographic purposes, requires additional styling. The LSIB download package contains example style files for commonly used software applications. The attribute table also contains embedded information to guide the cartographic representation. Additional discussion of these considerations can be found in the Use of Core Attributes in Cartographic Visualization section below. Additional cartographic information pertaining to the depiction and description of international boundaries or areas of special sovereignty can be found in Guidance Bulletins published by the Office of the Geographer and Global Issues: https://data.geodata.state.gov/guidance/index.html Contact Direct inquiries to internationalboundaries@state.gov. Direct download: https://data.geodata.state.gov/LSIB.zip Attribute Structure The dataset uses the following attributes divided into two categories: ATTRIBUTE NAME | ATTRIBUTE STATUS CC1 | Core CC1_GENC3 | Extension CC1_WPID | Extension COUNTRY1 | Core CC2 | Core CC2_GENC3 | Extension CC2_WPID | Extension COUNTRY2 | Core RANK | Core LABEL | Core STATUS | Core NOTES | Core LSIB_ID | Extension ANTECIDS | Extension PREVIDS | Extension PARENTID | Extension PARENTSEG | Extension These attributes have external data sources that update separately from the LSIB: ATTRIBUTE NAME | ATTRIBUTE STATUS CC1 | GENC CC1_GENC3 | GENC CC1_WPID | World Polygons COUNTRY1 | DoS Lists CC2 | GENC CC2_GENC3 | GENC CC2_WPID | World Polygons COUNTRY2 | DoS Lists LSIB_ID | BASE ANTECIDS | BASE PREVIDS | BASE PARENTID | BASE PARENTSEG | BASE The core attributes listed above describe the boundary lines contained within the LSIB dataset. Removal of core attributes from the dataset will change the meaning of the lines. An attribute status of “Extension” represents a field containing data interoperability information. Other attributes not listed above include “FID”, “Shape_length” and “Shape.” These are components of the shapefile format and do not form an intrinsic part of the LSIB. Core Attributes The eight core attributes listed above contain unique information which, when combined with the line geometry, comprise the LSIB dataset. These Core Attributes are further divided into Country Code and Name Fields and Descriptive Fields. County Code and Country Name Fields “CC1” and “CC2” fields are machine readable fields that contain political entity codes. These are two-character codes derived from the Geopolitical Entities, Names, and Codes Standard (GENC), Edition 3 Update 18. “CC1_GENC3” and “CC2_GENC3” fields contain the corresponding three-character GENC codes and are extension attributes discussed below. The codes “Q2” or “QX2” denote a line in the LSIB representing a boundary associated with areas not contained within the GENC standard. The “COUNTRY1” and “COUNTRY2” fields contain the names of corresponding political entities. These fields contain names approved by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names (BGN) as incorporated in the ‘"Independent States in the World" and "Dependencies and Areas of Special Sovereignty" lists maintained by the Department of State. To ensure maximum compatibility, names are presented without diacritics and certain names are rendered using common cartographic abbreviations. Names for lines associated with the code "Q2" are descriptive and not necessarily BGN-approved. Names rendered in all CAPITAL LETTERS denote independent states. Names rendered in normal text represent dependencies, areas of special sovereignty, or are otherwise presented for the convenience of the user. Descriptive Fields The following text fields are a part of the core attributes of the LSIB dataset and do not update from external sources. They provide additional information about each of the lines and are as follows: ATTRIBUTE NAME | CONTAINS NULLS RANK | No STATUS | No LABEL | Yes NOTES | Yes Neither the "RANK" nor "STATUS" fields contain null values; the "LABEL" and "NOTES" fields do. The "RANK" field is a numeric expression of the "STATUS" field. Combined with the line geometry, these fields encode the views of the United States Government on the political status of the boundary line. ATTRIBUTE NAME | | VALUE | RANK | 1 | 2 | 3 STATUS | International Boundary | Other Line of International Separation | Special Line A value of “1” in the “RANK” field corresponds to an "International Boundary" value in the “STATUS” field. Values of ”2” and “3” correspond to “Other Line of International Separation” and “Special Line,” respectively. The “LABEL” field contains required text to describe the line segment on all finished cartographic products, including but not limited to print and interactive maps. The “NOTES” field contains an explanation of special circumstances modifying the lines. This information can pertain to the origins of the boundary lines, limitations regarding the purpose of the lines, or the original source of the line. Use of Core Attributes in Cartographic Visualization Several of the Core Attributes provide information required for the proper cartographic representation of the LSIB dataset. The cartographic usage of the LSIB requires a visual differentiation between the three categories of boundary lines. Specifically, this differentiation must be between: International Boundaries (Rank 1); Other Lines of International Separation (Rank 2); and Special Lines (Rank 3). Rank 1 lines must be the most visually prominent. Rank 2 lines must be less visually prominent than Rank 1 lines. Rank 3 lines must be shown in a manner visually subordinate to Ranks 1 and 2. Where scale permits, Rank 2 and 3 lines must be labeled in accordance with the “Label” field. Data marked with a Rank 2 or 3 designation does not necessarily correspond to a disputed boundary. Please consult the style files in the download package for examples of this depiction. The requirement to incorporate the contents of the "LABEL" field on cartographic products is scale dependent. If a label is legible at the scale of a given static product, a proper use of this dataset would encourage the application of that label. Using the contents of the "COUNTRY1" and "COUNTRY2" fields in the generation of a line segment label is not required. The "STATUS" field contains the preferred description for the three LSIB line types when they are incorporated into a map legend but is otherwise not to be used for labeling. Use of the “CC1,” “CC1_GENC3,” “CC2,” “CC2_GENC3,” “RANK,” or “NOTES” fields for cartographic labeling purposes is prohibited. Extension Attributes Certain elements of the attributes within the LSIB dataset extend data functionality to make the data more interoperable or to provide clearer linkages to other datasets. The fields “CC1_GENC3” and “CC2_GENC” contain the corresponding three-character GENC code to the “CC1” and “CC2” attributes. The code “QX2” is the three-character counterpart of the code “Q2,” which denotes a line in the LSIB representing a boundary associated with a geographic area not contained within the GENC standard. To allow for linkage between individual lines in the LSIB and World Polygons dataset, the “CC1_WPID” and “CC2_WPID” fields contain a Universally Unique Identifier (UUID), version 4, which provides a stable description of each geographic entity in a boundary pair relationship. Each UUID corresponds to a geographic entity listed in the World Polygons dataset. These fields allow for linkage between individual lines in the LSIB and the overall World Polygons dataset. Five additional fields in the LSIB expand on the UUID concept and either describe features that have changed across space and time or indicate relationships between previous versions of the feature. The “LSIB_ID” attribute is a UUID value that defines a specific instance of a feature. Any change to the feature in a lineset requires a new “LSIB_ID.” The “ANTECIDS,” or antecedent ID, is a UUID that references line geometries from which a given line is descended in time. It is used when there is a feature that is entirely new, not when there is a new version of a previous feature. This is generally used to reference countries that have dissolved. The “PREVIDS,” or Previous ID, is a UUID field that contains old versions of a line. This is an additive field, that houses all Previous IDs. A new version of a feature is defined by any change to the

This cover was prepared by FAO-GIS to obtain a generalized map of the world to be placed by users on Web. The original map was downloaded from ESRI, then it has been modified and updated for lines and attributes. This map covers only main countries (no islands or small countries were placed). If you want to use also the islands or small countries you should refer to cover ISL_LL.

The Gridded Population of the World, Version 3 (GPWv3): National Administrative Boundaries are derived from the land area grid to show the outlines of pixels (cells) that contain administrative Units in GPWv3 on a per-country/territory basis. The National Boundaries data are derived from the pixels as polygons and thus have rectilinear boundaries at large scale. Note that the polygons that outline the countries and territories are not official representations; rather, they represent the area covered by the statistical data as provided. The national/territorial boundaries are designed for cartographic use with the GPWv3 population raster data sets. GPWv3 is produced by the Columbia University Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) in collaboration with Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT).

This dataset displays level 0 world administrative boundaries. It contains countries. This dataset was created based on this dataset, where shapes are dissolved according to "iso3 country code" field, to retrieve sovereign countries shapes.

The international land border between the United States and Canada is the longest in the world at almost 8,900 kilometers. It includes the border between Canada and the continental U.S. as well as the border between Alaska and northern Canada.

The Global Administrative Unit Layers (GAUL) is an initiative implemented by FAO within the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS) and AfricaFertilizer.org projects. The GAUL compiles and disseminates the best available information on administrative units for all the countries in the world, providing a contribution to the standardization of the spatial dataset representing administrative units. The GAUL always maintains global layers with a unified coding system at country, first (e.g. departments) and second administrative levels (e.g. districts). Where data is available, it provides layers on a country by country basis down to third, fourth and lowers levels. The overall methodology consists in a) collecting the best available data from most reliable sources, b) establishing validation periods of the geographic features (when possible), c) adding selected data to the global layer based on the last country boundaries map provided by the UN Cartographic Unit (UNCS), d) generating codes using GAUL Coding System and e) distribute data to the users (see TechnicalaspectsGAUL2015.pdf). Because GAUL works at global level, unsettled territories are reported. The approach of GAUL is to deal with these areas in such a way to preserve national integrity for all disputing countries (see TechnicalaspectsGAUL2015.pdf and G2015_DisputedAreas.dbf). GAUL is released once a year and the target beneficiary of GAUL data is the UN community and other authorized international and national partners. Data might not be officially validated by authoritative national sources and cannot be distributed to the general public. A disclaimer should always accompany any use of GAUL data. 5 territories have been updated respect to the previous release. Moreover, the coastline of American countries or other special areas have been updated using Open Street Map (see ReleaseNoteGAUL2015.pdf). GAUL keeps track of administrative units that has been changed, added or dismissed in the past for political causes. Changes implemented in different years are recorded in GAUL on different layers. For this reason the GAUL product is not a single layer but a group of layers, named "GAUL Set" (see ReleaseNoteGAUL2015.pdf). GAUL 2015 is the eighth release of the GAUL Set.

World Countries (Generalized) represents generalized boundaries for the countries of the world as of August 2022. The generalized political are very effective at a global or continental level.This layer's geography was developed by Esri and sourced from the National Geographic Society the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (The World Factbook) and Garmin International, Inc for use as a world basemap. It is updated annually as country names or significant borders change.

This raster dataset is a grid of world countries. These are the standard country boundaries. Also included is a DBF (countries.dbf) giving the country name for each country "number" in the grid and has demographic factors similar to the Admin1 table. This dataset is part of the LandScan 2012 Global Population Database.

World Administrative Divisions represents the boundaries for the first-level administrative divisions of the world.

Excellent world shapefile maps with national boundaries, first order admin (provinces, states, etc.), disputed areas, coastlines, populated areas and more at various scale levels.

World Countries (Generalized) is a generalized layer of country level boundaries which can be used at small to medium scales (e.g. down to 1:2m scale). The boundaries have been generalized to support faster rendering at small scales. Included are attributes for name and ISO codes, along with country affiliation information.

International boundaries provided by United Nations Clear Map. The United Nations Clear Map (hereinafter “Clear Map”) is a background reference web mapping service produced to facilitate “the issuance of any map at any duty station, including dissemination via public electronic networks such as Internet” and “to ensure that maps meet publication standards and that they are not in contravention of existing United Nations policies” in accordance with the in the Administrative Instruction on “Regulations for the Control and Limitation of Documentation – Guidelines for the Publication of Maps” of 20 January 1997 (http://undocs.org/ST/AI/189/Add.25/Rev.1) Clear Map is created for the use of the United Nations Secretariat and community. All departments, offices and regional commissions of the United Nations Secretariat including offices away from Headquarters using Clear Map remain bound to the instructions as contained in the Administrative Instruction and should therefore seek clearance from the UN Geospatial Information Section (formerly Cartographic Section) prior to the issuance of their thematic maps using Clear Map as background reference. Disclaimers: The designations employed and the presentation of material on this map do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Credits (Attribution) Produced by: United Nations Geospatial Contributor: UNGIS, UNGSC, Field Missions CONTACT US: Your feedback is appreciated and should be sent directly to: Email:Clearmap@un.org / gis@un.org (UNCLASSIFIED) © UNITED NATIONS 2018 More information on the United Nations Clear Map website at https://geoportal.dfs.un.org/arcgis/sharing/rest/content/items/541557fd0d4d42efb24449be614e6887/data

United Nations map (known as UNmap) is a worldwide geospatial database consisting of country and geographic name information on a global scale. The data is designed for the production of cartographic documents and maps, including their dissemination via public electronic networks, for the Secretariat of the United Nations.The United Nations maintains the Data as a courtesy to those who may choose to access the Data. The Data is provided “as is”, without warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including, without limitation, warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement.

Disclaimers: - The boundaries and names shown and the designations used on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations. - The designations employed and the presentation of material on this map do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. - Dotted line represents approximately the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir agreed upon by India and Pakistan. - The final status of Jammu and Kashmir has not yet been agreed upon by the parties. - Final boundary between the Republic of Sudan and the Republic of South Sudan has not yet been determined. - Final status of the Abyei area is not yet determined. - A dispute exists between the Governments of Argentina and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning sovereignty over the Falkland Islands (Malvinas).

Generalization parametrisation for the data is developed based on the work of Douglas and Peucker (1973), Wang (1996) and the Polynomial Approximation with Exponential Kernel algorithm.The adequate generalized data should be used for the intended dissemination scale and not rely on software or platform-automated generalization as some specific geographic features are removed at scales. For instance, the region of Abyei is not included at the scale of 1:25 million but is included at lower scales.

Maps produced using this layer should be featured with the appropriate disclaimer depending on the shown area.

Source: United Nations International and Administrative Boundaries Resources

This political map of the World shows national boundaries, country names, and major ocean features.

This dataset displays level 0 world administrative boundaries. It contains countries as well as non-sovereign territories (like, for instance, French overseas).

The Gridded Population of the World, Version 3 (GPWv3): National Administrative Boundaries are derived from the land area grid to show the outlines of pixels (cells) that contain administrative Units in GPWv3 on a per-country/territory basis. The National Boundaries data are derived from the pixels as polygons and thus have rectilinear boundaries at large scale. Note that the polygons that outline the countries and territories are not official representations; rather, they represent the area covered by the statistical data as provided. The national/territorial boundaries are designed for cartographic use with the GPWv3 population raster data sets. GPWv3 is produced by the Columbia University Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) in collaboration with Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT).