Commons Locations Ontology
type: Ontology
abstract: This ontology provides a very high level definition of geographic region and geopolitical entity related concepts, including, but not limited to, countries, sub-country regions such as states and provinces, and municipalities. The representation was derived from a combination of ISO 3166, the UN M49 Region codes, Geonames, the SWIFT registry, the UN FAO and CIA World Factbook, and other sources. It aims to provide a systematic description of the vocabulary used for country and geopolitical entity representation, useful for mapping among the various names and codes for countries and their subdivisions used world-wide, including but not limited to FIPA and International Olympics codes for countries, (based strictly on requirements for business applications, not broader geographic or political uses).The terms defined herein terms are reused by the OMG's LCC controlled vocabulary representing ISO 3166 country and country subdivision codes, and may be mapped to other standards and de facto standards such as those mentioned.
contributor: Elisa Kendall, Thematix Partners LLC
contributor: Evan Wallace, U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
contributor: Pete Rivett, Federated Knowledge, LLC
contributor: Roy Bell, Thematix Partners LLC
license: Copyright (c) 2015-2025 Adaptive Analytics, Inc. Copyright (c) 2015-2025 EDM Council, Inc. Copyright (c) 2015-2025 Object Management Group, Inc. Copyright (c) 2015-2025 Thematix Partners LLC Copyright (c) 2015-2017 Unisys Copyright (c) 2019-2025 agnos.ai UK Ltd. Copyright (c) 2021-2025 Federated Knowledge, LLC Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the 'Software'), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions: The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software. THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED 'AS IS', WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE. See https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT.
references: wgs84 pos#
imports: AnnotationVocabulary
imports: Classifiers
imports: CodesAndCodeSets
imports: Collections
imports: Designators
imports: Identifiers
imports: QuantitiesAndUnits
imports: TextDatatype
version IRI: Locations
change note: The https://www.omg.org/spec/Commons/20240801/Locations.rdf version of this ontology was modified to add support for WGS 84 (COMMONS-1.3-28) and add a hasPrimarySubdivision property to enable better querying (COMMONS13-35).
note: This ontology is largely derived from the Object Management Group's Languages, Countries and Codes (LCC) standard (to provide a more general ontology on which LCC can depend) and the Financial Industry Business Ontology (FIBO) Locations and Virtual Locations ontologies.
copyright: Copyright (c) 2015-2017 Unisys
copyright: Copyright (c) 2015-2025 Adaptive Analytics, Inc.
copyright: Copyright (c) 2015-2025 EDM Council, Inc.
copyright: Copyright (c) 2015-2025 Object Management Group, Inc.
copyright: Copyright (c) 2015-2025 Thematix Partners LLC
copyright: Copyright (c) 2019-2025 agnos.ai UK Ltd.
copyright: Copyright (c) 2021-2025 Federated Knowledge, LLC

alt
type: DatatypeProperty
note: WGS 84 provides the 'alt' property as an RDF property, so we declare it here to enable use in OWL. However, we have not made it equivalent to hasAltitude due to the potential semantic clash for people using 'alt' with string values or numeric values with different units.

lat
type: DatatypeProperty
note: WGS 84 provides the 'lat' property as an RDF property, so we declare it here to enable use in OWL. However, we have not made it equivalent to hasLatitude due to the potential semantic clash for people using 'lat' with string values or numeric values with different units.

long
type: DatatypeProperty
note: WGS 84 provides the 'long' property as an RDF property, so we declare it here to enable use in OWL. However, we have not made it equivalent to hasLongitude due to the potential semantic clash for people using 'long' with string values or numeric values with different units.

business center
type: Class
subclass of: municipality
definition: municipality where business is conducted, especially one that is considered a financial center
adapted from: FpML Business Center and related codes, see http://www.fpml.org/coding-scheme/business-center-7-14.xml

country
type: Class
subclass of: geopolitical entity
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: is independent
  on data range: boolean
  qualified cardinality: 1
definition: geopolitical entity representing a distinct territorial body or political entity or dependent territory
explanatory note: It may be an independent sovereign state or part of a larger state, as a non-sovereign or formerly sovereign political division, a physical territory with a government, or a geographic region associated with sets of previously independent or differently associated peoples with distinct political characteristics.

country subdivision
type: Class
subclass of: geopolitical entity
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: isClassifiedBy
  some values from: geographic region kind
definition: geopolitical entity that is a legal division of a country, dependency, or other area of special geopolitical interest related to a country or other geopolitical entity
explanatory note: In the US, the US Census Bureau and other federal agencies may group some number of other subdivisions for statistical analysis and reporting purposes, ranging from multiple states to minor civil divisions.

county
type: Class
subclass of: country subdivision
definition: political and administrative division of a country, state or province, providing certain local governmental services

federal capital area
type: Class
subclass of: country subdivision
definition: country subdivision that is or includes the municipality or capital city that acts as the seat of the federal government
example: Examples include the District of Columbia in the US, and the Canberra area in Australia.
explanatory note: The capital administrative region of some federations includes those for which the capital is situated other than within one of the states or provinces which make up the country as a whole.

federal state
type: Class
subclass of: country subdivision
definition: self-governing geopolitical unit which forms part of a wider geopolitical unit that is recognized as a country
explanatory note: This type of entity, variously referred to as a state, province or canton, has a level of self government including its own legal system and court jurisdiction, but cedes a level of autonomy to the federation of which it forms a part.
synonym: canton
synonym: province
synonym: state

geodetic coordinate system
type: Class
subclass of: Arrangement
source: what coord sys.htm
source: report.pdf
definition: three-dimensional reference system that is a global frame of reference for precisely representing the position of locations on Earth or other planetary bodies by means of geodetic coordinates
example: The three most widely used systems for indicating point locations in the United States are (1) latitude and longitude [and optionally elevation], (2) Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) system, and (3) State Plane Coordinate Systems (SPCS).
note: The unit of measure is usually decimal degrees. A point has two coordinate values, latitude and longitude. Latitude and longitude measure angles.
explanatory note: Geodetic coordinates are crucial to any technology or technique based on spatial location, including geodesy, navigation, surveying, geographic information systems, remote sensing, and cartography.

geographic region
type: Class
subclass of: region
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: hasTextualName
  min cardinality: 0
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: hasName
  on class: Name
  min qualified cardinality: 0
source: region
definition: area of land that has common features
explanatory note: A region may be defined by natural or artificial features, and may be described as part of a country or the world having definable characteristics but not always fixed boundaries.
usage note: Many cases in which a geographic region, or subclass thereof, is mapped to certain applications or a relational store, or where codes are used to identify the region, require a class to represent the name of the region. In such situations, attributes of the name, such as the dates when a particular name was in use, or was valid under certain circumstances, may be important. For other applications, such as for addressing, a text value may be required. Thus, both options are provided here, with a preference for use of the full class option, depending on the use case.

geographic region identification scheme
type: Class
subclass of: IdentificationScheme
definition: identification scheme dedicated to the unique identification of geographic regions

geographic region identifier
type: Class
subclass of: CodeElement
subclass of: Identifier
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: isMemberOf
  on class: geographic region identification scheme
  qualified cardinality: 1
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: identifies
  some values from: geographic region
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: hasTextValue
  some values from: string
definition: string of letters that indicates a code or other identifier for geographical region, assigned for the purpose of uniquely identifying it within some context

geographic region kind
type: Class
subclass of: Classifier
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: classifies
  all values from: geographic region
definition: classifier for a geographic region, including but not limited to a subdivision of a geopolitical entity, (noting that there may be more than one kind for a given country or other entity)

geopolitical entity
type: Class
subclass of: geographic region
definition: geographic area that represents a geophysical location associated with some form of political structure
example: A geopolitical entity may be any country, federal province, city or other administrative unit that represents a geophysical location

location
type: Class
definition: place or position in time and/or space, including a virtual place

municipality
type: Class
subclass of: country subdivision
definition: urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government or jurisdiction
example: A municipality can be any political jurisdiction from a sovereign state, such as the Principality of Monaco, or a small village, such as West Hampton Dunes, New York.
scope note: The territory over which a municipality has jurisdiction may encompass: - only one populated place such as a city, town, or village - several of such places (e.g., early jurisdictions in the state of New Jersey (1798-1899) as townships governing several villages, Municipalities of Mexico) - only parts of such places, sometimes boroughs of a city such as the 34 municipalities of Santiago, Chile.
explanatory note: A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district.

physical location
type: Class
subclass of: location
definition: location in physical space

region
type: Class
definition: area that is a continuous part of a surface, space, or body

territory
type: Class
subclass of: geographic region
definition: geographic area, typically considered an area of special geopolitical interest, subject to the sovereignty, control, or jurisdiction of a state or other entity
note: Certain territories are included in the ISO 3166-2 code set without an alpha 2 or alpha 3 code. In these cases, the numeric code for the subregion may have more than 3 characters in their corresponding numeric region codes.

virtual location
type: Class
subclass of: location
disjoint with: physical location
definition: place that does not exist in any single physical location
example: a network-based location without geographic boundaries

has altitude
type: DatatypeProperty
sub property of: hasNumericValue
source: altitude
range: decimal
definition: the height or vertical elevation of a point above a reference surface
note: Altitude measurements are usually based on a given reference datum, such as mean sea level.

has business center
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: has municipality
range: business center
definition: identifies a location where business is conducted, and hence the business calendar used to adjust dates

has city name
type: DatatypeProperty
sub property of: hasTextualName
definition: indicates the name of a typically large, permanent, and densely settled place
adapted from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City
adapted from: https://www.gleif.org/en/about-lei/common-data-file-format/current-versions/level-1-data-lei-cdf-3-1-format
explanatory note: Typical working definitions for small-city populations start at around 100,000 people. Common population definitions for an urban area (city or town) range between 1,500 and 50,000 people, with most U.S states using a minimum between 1,500 and 5,000 inhabitants. Some jurisdictions set no such minima.
usage note: This property should be used in cases where a formal individual for the business center or municipality is not available. Note that Geonames could be used as a source in cases where an individual is desired. Use the property cmns-loc;hasMunicipality in cases where an individual is available. Also note that with respect to an address, this property may stand in for any village, town, or city of any size.

has country
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: has region
range: country
definition: indicates a country, such as one that is recognized by the United Nations
adapted from: https://www.gleif.org/en/about-lei/common-data-file-format/current-versions/level-1-data-lei-cdf-3-1-format

has county
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: has subdivision
range: county
definition: indicates a country subdivision providing certain local governmental services

has coverage area
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: has region
range: geographic region
definition: indicates a geographic region in which some service is provided, or to which some policy applies, or in which something is available

has latitude
type: DatatypeProperty
sub property of: hasNumericValue
source: latitude
range: Datatype
  on datatype: decimal
  with restrictions:
    max inclusive: 90
  with restrictions:
    min inclusive: -90
definition: the angle formed by the intersection of a line perpendicular to the Earth's (or other celestial body's) surface at a point and the plane of the Equator
note: Points north of the Equator have positive latitude values, while points south have negative values. Latitude values range from minus 90 to plus 90 degrees. Lines of latitude are also called parallels because a particular value of latitude forms a circle parallel to the Equator.

has location
type: ObjectProperty
range: location
definition: relates something to a location, which might be physical or virtual

has longitude
type: DatatypeProperty
sub property of: hasNumericValue
source: longitude
range: Datatype
  on datatype: decimal
  with restrictions:
    max inclusive: 180
  with restrictions:
    min inclusive: -180
definition: the angle between a plane that passes through the point and the North and South poles, and a reference plane
note: The reference plane is known as the prime meridian. The most common prime meridian passes through Greenwich, United Kingdom. Other examples of prime meridians in use pass through Paris and Bogota. Longitude values range from minus 180 to plus 180 degrees.

has maximum latitude
type: DatatypeProperty
sub property of: has latitude
range: decimal
definition: indicates the highest value / maximum for latitude with respect to a range

has maximum longitude
type: DatatypeProperty
sub property of: has longitude
range: decimal
definition: indicates the highest value / maximum for longitude with respect to a range

has minimum latitude
type: DatatypeProperty
sub property of: has latitude
range: decimal
definition: indicates the lowest value / latitude with respect to a range

has minimum longitude
type: DatatypeProperty
sub property of: has longitude
range: decimal
definition: indicates the lowest value / longitude with respect to a range

has municipality
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: has region
range: municipality
definition: indicates a business center, city, or municipality
usage note: Note that certain greater metropolitan areas span multiple counties or states (e.g., the greater Washington, D.C. area, which includes parts of Maryland and Virginia, and divided/disputed cities such as Jerusalem), thus hasMunicipality is a subproperty of hasRegion rather than hasSubdivision.

has primary subdivision
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: hasDirectPart
sub property of: has subdivision
range: country subdivision
definition: identifies the most immediate and main subdivision of a country, such as a state or province
usage note: This property is intended for use when using RDF entailment or other inferencing to query for only the primary subdivisions of a geopolitical entity and eliminate references to smaller subdivisions, such as counties, from being returned in results, if present in the data set.

has region
type: ObjectProperty
range: geographic region
definition: indicates a demarcated area on the surface of the Earth

has subdivision
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: has region
range: country subdivision
definition: identifies a country subdivision (state, province, region, etc.)
adapted from: https://www.gleif.org/en/about-lei/common-data-file-format/current-versions/level-1-data-lei-cdf-3-1-format

has subregion
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: hasPart
sub property of: has region
domain: geographic region
range: geographic region
definition: relates a geographic region to another geographic region that is a designated subregion of it

is independent
type: DatatypeProperty
domain: geopolitical entity
range: boolean
definition: indicates whether a geopolitical entity stands alone or is considered part of another geopolitical entity (e.g., a country)

is subregion of
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: isPartOf
domain: geographic region
range: geographic region
inverse of: has subregion
definition: relates a geographic region to another geographic region that it is a part of