.GEOJSON File Format – Objects and members

GeoJSON

A GeoJSON text is a JSON text holding one GeoJSON object. This page follows RFC 7946 (2016), read 2026-11-12. The media type is application/geo+json.

Object types

Every GeoJSON object has a type member, one of these nine case-sensitive strings:

typeRequired membersMeaning
Pointcoordinates: a positionOne point.
MultiPointcoordinates: an array of positionsSeveral points.
LineStringcoordinates: an array of 2 or more positionsA line through the positions.
MultiLineStringcoordinates: an array of LineString coordinate arraysSeveral lines.
Polygoncoordinates: an array of linear ringsThe first ring is the outside; any others are holes.
MultiPolygoncoordinates: an array of Polygon coordinate arraysSeveral polygons.
GeometryCollectiongeometries: an array of geometry objectsMixed geometries. Nesting should be avoided, and so should collections of one part or one type where a multi-type would do.
Featuregeometry (a geometry or null), properties (an object or null)A thing with a shape and attributes.
FeatureCollectionfeatures: an array of Feature objectsA set of features.

Processors may treat a geometry with an empty coordinates array as a null object.

Positions

  • A position is an array of numbers: longitude, latitude, and optionally altitude in metres above or below the WGS 84 ellipsoid. Implementations should not extend positions beyond three elements.
  • The coordinate reference system is always WGS 84 (OGC CRS84) in decimal degrees. The 2008 specification’s crs member is no longer used; another system may be used only by prior arrangement between the parties.
  • Precision: the RFC notes that six decimal places amount to about 10 centimetres.
  • A linear ring is a closed LineString of four or more positions; the first and last positions must hold identical values, and should also be written identically.
  • Rings follow the right-hand rule: outer rings counter-clockwise, holes clockwise. Readers should not reject polygons that do not follow it, because the 2008 specification did not require it.
  • Lines and rings that cross the antimeridian (180° longitude) should be cut in two there, so that no line wraps the long way round the Earth.

Other members

MemberOnMeaning
bboxAny objectBounding box: all minimums for each axis, then all maximums, such as [west, south, east, north] or with altitudes. Across the antimeridian, west is greater than east.
idFeatureAn identifier, a string or a number.
Foreign membersAny objectMembers the RFC does not define, such as title. Allowed, but their meaning is up to the reader; a foreign member named coordinates or geometry does not make an object a geometry or feature.

The defining members must not appear on the wrong objects: Features and FeatureCollections must not have coordinates or geometries; FeatureCollections and geometries must not have geometry or properties; Features and geometries must not have features.

Changes from the 2008 specification

Appendix B of RFC 7946 lists the changes from the 2008 GeoJSON specification, among them that the crs member is no longer used. Appendix C notes that streams of GeoJSON texts can use JSON text sequences (RFC 7464), which are outside the RFC’s scope.

Example

{
  "type": "FeatureCollection",
  "features": [{
    "type": "Feature",
    "id": 1,
    "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [-0.1276, 51.5072] },
    "properties": { "name": "London" }
  }]
}