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CityData
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CityData

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CityData[name,"property"]

gives the value of the specified property for the city with the specified name.

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CityData[name]

gives a list of the full specifications of cities whose names are consistent with name.

Details

  • The full specification of a city is {"city","region","country"}, where "region" is a state, province or other administrative division.
  • Names of cities, regions, and countries are given in standard forms, such as "NewYork", "BritishColumbia", and "UnitedStates".
  • CityData["city"] gives a list of all available cities worldwide that use the name "city", sorted in order of decreasing population.
  • CityData[{"city","country"}] gives the full specifications for all available cities in the specified country that use the name "city". The results are sorted in order of decreasing population.
  • CityData[{"city","country"},"property"] gives the value of "property" for the city with the largest population in the given country that has the specified name.
  • CityData[{"city","region","country"},"property"] gives the value of "property" for the particular city represented by the full city specification {"city","region","country"}.
  • If there is more than one city with a given name in a particular region and country, the standard name for that city will contain additional identifying information, such as a county name.
  • CityData[{All,"region","country"}] gives a list of all available cities in the specified region of a country, sorted in order of decreasing population.
  • CityData[{Large,"region","country"}] gives a list of all large cities in the specified region. Large cities are typically defined as having populations above 100,000.
  • CityData[{All,"country"}] and CityData[{Large,"country"}] give all available cities and all large cities, respectively, in the specified country.
  • CityData[] or CityData[All] gives a list of all available cities in the world.
  • Typical properties for cities include:
  • "Coordinates"latitude, longitude for the city center
    "Elevation"elevation in meters of the city center
    "Latitude"latitude for the city center
    "LocationLink"URI for a map centered on the city
    "Longitude"longitude for the city center
    "Population"estimated total ordinary population
    "TimeZone"current time zone relative to UTC
  • Names and identification-related properties include:
  • "AlternateNames"alternate names
    "Country"country in which the city lies
    "FullName"primary full English name (e.g. "New York, New York")
    "Name"primary short English name (e.g. "New York")
    "Region"state, province, or other administrative division
    "RegionName"English or local name for region
  • CityData["name","property","ann"] gives various annotations associated with a property. Typical annotations include:
  • "Date"date to which the data refers
    "Description"the description of the property
    "Units"units in which the value is given
    "UnitsName"English name for the units used
    "UnitsNotation"notation for the units used
    "UnitsStandardName"Wolfram Language standard name for the units used

Examples

open allclose all

Basic Examples  (6)Summary of the most common use cases

Find all available cities in the world named London, sorted by decreasing population:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0b8cs0z09e-cdkbux
Out[1]=1

Find the population of London, England:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0b8cs0z09e-txj1p
Out[1]=1

Find the population of London, Ontario:

In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0b8cs0z09e-j7ar5y
Out[2]=2

Find the latitude and longitude of the center of London, England:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0b8cs0z09e-bbdo98
Out[1]=1

Give English names for a city:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0b8cs0z09e-jifpds
Out[1]=1
In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0b8cs0z09e-efd4px
Out[2]=2

Large cities (of over 100,000) in Ireland:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0b8cs0z09e-mfh9cb
Out[1]=1

Large cities in Ohio:

In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0b8cs0z09e-nnya57
Out[2]=2

Find all available cities in Vanuatu:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0b8cs0z09e-mo9or8
Out[1]=1

Scope  (13)Survey of the scope of standard use cases

City Names & Identification  (6)

Standard Wolfram Language names omit all spaces:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0b8cs0z09e-bcio19
Out[1]=1

Cities can be requested using names that contain spaces:

In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0b8cs0z09e-blq9gn
Out[2]=2

The "Name" property gives traditional names, with spaces:

In[3]:=3
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0b8cs0z09e-cp5zaz
Out[3]=3

Specify the Los Angeles in Chile:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0b8cs0z09e-b3e9ri
Out[1]=1

All available cities named Fresno in the world:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0b8cs0z09e-hwra94
Out[1]=1

Cities in the U.S. named Fresno:

In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0b8cs0z09e-ha84g
Out[2]=2

Specify Fresno, Texas:

In[3]:=3
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0b8cs0z09e-b09g1b
Out[3]=3

Multiple cities with the same name in a state are identified by county or other information:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0b8cs0z09e-drxdmh
Out[1]=1

The basic names are the same:

In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0b8cs0z09e-qd25b
Out[2]=2

The full names of the smaller cities contain county information:

In[3]:=3
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0b8cs0z09e-d6kpc8
Out[3]=3

Find alternate names for Beijing:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0b8cs0z09e-ftrtgf
Out[1]=1

There is no known city with the name Frog anywhere in the world:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0b8cs0z09e-ijg9zm
Out[1]=1

Collections of Cities  (3)

Find all available cities in Tuvalu:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0b8cs0z09e-b1m74r
Out[1]=1

Find large cities (population above 100,000) in Belgium:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0b8cs0z09e-kunr6
Out[1]=1
In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0b8cs0z09e-dx7al6
Out[2]=2

Find all available cities in the state of Illinois:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0b8cs0z09e-dj8f7j

City Information  (4)

The coordinates of the center of Chicago:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0b8cs0z09e-j13w60
Out[1]=1

The elevation of Chicago in meters:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0b8cs0z09e-frbdaj
Out[1]=1

A link to a web-based map of the city:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0b8cs0z09e-pykl8r
Out[1]=1

The region in which Chicago lies:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0b8cs0z09e-omvlt8
Out[1]=1

Applications  (9)Sample problems that can be solved with this function

Create a function to find the nearest large cities to a given position in the U.S.:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0b8cs0z09e-fglms9
Out[1]=1

Find the three large cities nearest Champaign, Illinois:

In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0b8cs0z09e-fwrb3y
Out[2]=2

Plot the positions of all available cities in Japan:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0b8cs0z09e-cjut9r
Out[1]=1

Find city names that occur in both Germany and Belgium:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0b8cs0z09e-gtkavi
Out[1]=1

Make a rank plot of the populations of cities in several U.S. states:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0b8cs0z09e-dmfvdl
Out[1]=1

Plot the large cities in Australia, with tooltips for their names:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0b8cs0z09e-mmsrv2
Out[1]=1

Plot larger cities with larger, transparent disks:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0b8cs0z09e-eu9aw
Out[1]=1

Find a traveling salesman tour of the large cities in Germany:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0b8cs0z09e-df6i7a
Out[1]=1

Make a 3D contour map of Colorado based on the elevations of its cities:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0b8cs0z09e-vnaf1
Out[1]=1

Make a scatter plot of population versus elevation for cities in Colorado:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0b8cs0z09e-3g2gt
Out[1]=1

Properties & Relations  (2)Properties of the function, and connections to other functions

CityData gives cities listed in order of decreasing population:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0b8cs0z09e-ioex55
Out[1]=1

CountryData can give the largest cities in a country:

In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0b8cs0z09e-fod5nv
Out[2]=2

Make a Lambert azimuthal projection map, centered on New York City:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0b8cs0z09e-icwj9p
Out[1]=1

Possible Issues  (3)Common pitfalls and unexpected behavior

CityData includes only complete cities, not parts of cities:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0b8cs0z09e-bkt8es
Out[1]=1

Sometimes the name of a city, region and country can all be the same:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0b8cs0z09e-f7done
Out[1]=1

There can be multiple cities in one state with the same name:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0b8cs0z09e-1ufjf
Out[1]=1

The smaller ones have county or other identifying information:

In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0b8cs0z09e-n4d0ca
Out[2]=2

Neat Examples  (2)Surprising or curious use cases

Find the 10 most common city names in the world:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0b8cs0z09e-i2z189
Out[1]=1

Find the countries where cities named San Jose exist:

In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0b8cs0z09e-boeaa3
Out[2]=2

Find the capital cities in the world with the smallest recorded populations:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0b8cs0z09e-hppy8
Out[1]=1

Find the populations:

In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0b8cs0z09e-gl9iz0
Out[2]=2
Wolfram Research (2007), CityData, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/CityData.html (updated 2014).
✖
Wolfram Research (2007), CityData, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/CityData.html (updated 2014).

Text

Wolfram Research (2007), CityData, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/CityData.html (updated 2014).

✖
Wolfram Research (2007), CityData, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/CityData.html (updated 2014).

CMS

Wolfram Language. 2007. "CityData." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. Last Modified 2014. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/CityData.html.

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Wolfram Language. 2007. "CityData." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. Last Modified 2014. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/CityData.html.

APA

Wolfram Language. (2007). CityData. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/CityData.html

✖
Wolfram Language. (2007). CityData. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/CityData.html

BibTeX

@misc{reference.wolfram_2025_citydata, author="Wolfram Research", title="{CityData}", year="2014", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/CityData.html}", note=[Accessed: 25-March-2025 ]}

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@misc{reference.wolfram_2025_citydata, author="Wolfram Research", title="{CityData}", year="2014", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/CityData.html}", note=[Accessed: 25-March-2025 ]}

BibLaTeX

@online{reference.wolfram_2025_citydata, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={CityData}, year={2014}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/CityData.html}, note=[Accessed: 25-March-2025 ]}

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@online{reference.wolfram_2025_citydata, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={CityData}, year={2014}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/CityData.html}, note=[Accessed: 25-March-2025 ]}