Overture Maps Download and Formats: GeoParquet Data, Cloud Access, and GIS Workflows
Overture Maps is an open geospatial data ecosystem organized into six primary themes: addresses, base, buildings, divisions, places, and transportation. The data is published mainly as cloud-native GeoParquet files partitioned by theme and feature type, with releases available through Amazon S3 and Microsoft Azure. Users can also work through the Overture Python CLI, DuckDB, Overture Explorer, ArcGIS, QGIS, and selected partner platforms. Overture is updated on a monthly release schedule, but coverage, source provenance, licensing, schema maturity, and feature completeness vary by theme. The dataset is best treated as a structured, evolving foundation for maps, geocoding, routing, spatial joins, and location-data analysis rather than as one uniformly authoritative global database.
Overture Maps is designed for applications that need a common, open representation of physical features across countries and data providers. Its downloadable data is not one monolithic planet file. Instead, each release is divided into themes and feature types, then distributed as partitioned Parquet files with geospatial geometry encoded as well-known binary. That structure makes Overture particularly suitable for selective cloud queries: an analyst can read only the theme, geographic partition, columns, or records needed for a task instead of downloading the complete global collection. (github.com)
How EDK fits
For: This page is for GIS analysts, geospatial developers, mapping teams, data engineers, researchers, and organizations evaluating open location data for search, routing, map production, building analysis, address work, and geographic computation.
Overture Maps is relevant to the broader problem of making the physical world findable and computable because it turns several major categories of geographic objects into structured, interoperable features: buildings, addresses, places, roads and paths, administrative divisions, land, water, and infrastructure. Its theme-based schema and Global Entity Reference System can help analysts connect records that describe related real-world entities, while GeoParquet and cloud object storage make it practical to filter, join, aggregate, and analyze geographic data at scale. In an E2-oriented workflow, Overture can serve as an important external source for discovering and interpreting physical features, then combining them with other datasets such as public-service records, imagery, environmental observations, or local authoritative layers. That relationship should not be overstated: Overture is an external open-data project with its own source-specific coverage, licensing, release, and quality constraints. (overturemaps.org)
- •Use Overture buildings, addresses, places, roads, and divisions as external geographic layers when locating physical features and relating them to other location-based datasets.
- •Use GeoParquet and DuckDB-style spatial queries to filter features by region, join places to buildings or addresses, summarize transportation or infrastructure within geographic areas, and compute proximity or coverage measures. Overture’s documentation includes examples of joining places, addresses, and building polygons. (docs.overturemaps.org)
- •Use Overture’s persistent GERS identifiers where available to connect observations or records about the same mapped entity across releases and external datasets, while validating the identity and provenance of each join. (docs.overturemaps.org)
Dataset profile
Formats
GeoParquet
Parquet with WKB geometry
STAC catalog and release metadata
Cloud-hosted partitioned files by release, theme, and feature type
Vector tiles and other release artifacts where provided
Filtered exports or converted subsets for desktop GIS workflows
Access methods
Amazon S3
Microsoft Azure Blob Storage
Overture STAC catalog
Overture Python CLI
DuckDB and SQL-based spatial queries
Overture Explorer
ArcGIS
QGIS
Partner platforms including BigQuery, Databricks, Fused, Snowflake, and Wherobots
Quality and limits
The dataset is assembled from heterogeneous upstream sources with different update schedules, licenses, schemas, and quality levels.
Coverage and completeness vary substantially by geography and theme.
Addresses are currently documented as an alpha theme and may experience schema or data changes.
Transportation data is still evolving, and its accuracy is being refined.
Some themes involve conflation across providers, while others are direct or near-direct translations from a single source.
A missing record should not be interpreted as proof that a physical feature does not exist.
Public release files may disappear after approximately 60 days, which creates reproducibility concerns.
Overture should not automatically replace local authoritative cadastral, regulatory, engineering, property, or emergency datasets.
Analysis workflows
Discover a dated release through the official STAC catalog and record the release identifier and schema version.
Select the relevant theme and feature type rather than downloading the entire ecosystem.
Use DuckDB, Python, or a cloud warehouse to filter by bounding box, partition, attribute, or selected columns before exporting.
Load filtered GeoParquet into QGIS or ArcGIS for inspection, cartography, editing, and validation.
Join places, addresses, and building features using documented attributes, spatial relationships, and—where applicable—GERS identifiers.
Aggregate roads, buildings, land, water, or infrastructure within administrative boundaries, service areas, watersheds, or custom study regions.
Compare Overture records against local authoritative data, imagery, permits, public assets, or environmental datasets before high-consequence use.
Preserve the original release, query logic, attribution files, and transformation steps for reproducibility.
Value inside EDK
What Overture Maps contains
Overture Maps organizes its data into six themes. Addresses contains address-point features and address components such as street number, street name, unit, postal code, and country. Base contains land, water, land cover, land use, bathymetry, and infrastructure features. Buildings contains building and building-part geometries. Divisions represents administrative and populated-place boundaries. Places contains points for publicly observable destinations such as businesses, schools, hospitals, landmarks, and religious organizations. Transportation contains roads, paths, and related network features. (docs.overturemaps.org)
The themes are not interchangeable inventories. A place is generally a named or categorized destination, an address is an approximate point associated with an address, and a building is a physical polygonal structure. Overture’s documentation also notes that some real-world entities can appear in more than one theme by design. For example, a mountain may be represented as both a place and a base feature, while an address may be associated with a building or place through spatial or semantic relationships. (docs.overturemaps.org)
- •Addresses: address points and address components.
- •Base: land, water, land cover, land use, bathymetry, and infrastructure.
- •Buildings: building and building-part polygons.
- •Divisions: administrative areas and populated-place representations.
- •Places: publicly observable points of interest and destinations.
- •Transportation: roads, paths, and transportation-related features.
Geography, temporal coverage, and update cadence
Overture describes its major themes as global or broadly worldwide, but actual coverage depends on the theme, feature type, source provider, and jurisdiction. The base theme documentation describes global coverage, while the addresses documentation makes clear that address data is assembled from more than 175 sources and that point placement and availability vary by source. Places also combines multiple providers and requires conflation to determine which records refer to the same real-world destination. (docs.overturemaps.org)
The current release listed in Overture’s release calendar is 2026-08-19.0, published August 19, 2026. Overture states that it has released data monthly since October 2023. The calendar lists September 23, 2026 as a proposed upcoming release date, but proposed dates and schema versions may change. (docs.overturemaps.org)
- •Broad geographic scope does not guarantee equal completeness in every country or feature class.
- •Monthly releases are suitable for many mapping and analysis workflows, but they are not a real-time change feed.
- •Historical reproducibility requires preserving downloaded files or derived outputs because public release files may be removed after approximately 60 days.
Download options, formats, and access methods
The primary distribution format is GeoParquet, a column-oriented spatial format suitable for cloud-native querying. Overture partitions files by release, theme, and feature type. Geometry is encoded as WKB, and the files include a bounding-box structure intended to support more efficient spatial filtering. There is no single Overture file containing the entire world; users select the relevant theme and type, then query or download the partitions needed for their work. (github.com)
Official cloud access is available through Amazon S3 and Microsoft Azure Blob Storage. Overture also documents the Overture Python CLI, DuckDB, Overture Explorer, ArcGIS, and QGIS workflows. Partner-hosted access is available through services such as BigQuery, Databricks, Fused, Snowflake, and Wherobots, but users should confirm whether a partner snapshot matches the official release and licensing terms required for their project. (docs.overturemaps.org)
- •Native data format: GeoParquet with WKB geometry.
- •Official cloud locations: Amazon S3 and Microsoft Azure Blob Storage.
- •Programmatic access: Overture Python CLI, DuckDB, and other spatial data tools.
- •Desktop access: ArcGIS and QGIS workflows are documented by Overture.
- •Discovery: use the official STAC catalog and release documentation.
Licensing, provenance, and suitable GIS workflows
Overture does not have one universal license covering every feature. The foundation states that licensing varies by theme and upstream source. It prefers CDLA Permissive 2.0 where possible, while some themes or source contributions use Apache 2.0, CC0, ODbL, or other terms. The base theme includes substantial OpenStreetMap-derived content and is published under ODbL. The places documentation says that its current data uses CDLA Permissive 2.0 and Apache 2.0 depending on source and does not contain OpenStreetMap data. The addresses theme aggregates many independent sources and therefore carries varied source licenses. (overturemaps.org)
Before redistribution or commercial deployment, inspect Overture’s attribution and licensing information for the exact theme, source, and release being used. Keep the upstream attribution metadata with the extracted data, and do not assume that combining a permissively licensed Overture theme with ODbL-derived data leaves the combined database under the more permissive terms.
- •Inspect licensing at theme and source level before redistribution.
- •Preserve attribution, release identifiers, and provenance metadata.
- •Use local authoritative datasets for legal, cadastral, engineering, or regulatory decisions when available.
- •Treat Overture records as structured geographic evidence, not automatically as ground truth.
Limitations and interpretation cautions
Overture is a heterogeneous data ecosystem rather than a uniformly surveyed global database. Its themes draw from different upstream sources and use different construction methods. Some themes are pass-through translations, while others involve conflation across providers. That distinction affects duplicate handling, positional accuracy, field semantics, update timing, and confidence in feature completeness. (docs.overturemaps.org)
Addresses are currently documented as an alpha theme, meaning schema and data behavior may change as the project matures. Transportation is still evolving, and Overture explicitly cautions that its accuracy is being refined. Places may omit private or non-public spaces and exclude personally identifiable information. The absence of a feature should therefore not be interpreted as proof that the physical object does not exist. (docs.overturemaps.org)
- •Coverage and accuracy vary by geography, theme, source, and feature type.
- •Schema maturity is not uniform; addresses are explicitly alpha.
- •Feature absence is not evidence of physical absence.
- •Monthly releases can change records and analytical results.
- •Source-specific licensing and attribution must be carried through downstream workflows.
Questions teams ask
What is the best format for downloading Overture Maps?
For most analytical workflows, GeoParquet is the primary format to use. Overture distributes data in Parquet files with WKB geometry, partitioned by theme and feature type. This supports selective reads in DuckDB, Python, cloud warehouses, and other tools instead of requiring a complete global download. Desktop GIS users can use documented ArcGIS and QGIS workflows or convert a filtered subset into another format when necessary. (github.com)
How often is Overture Maps updated?
Overture’s release calendar states that data is released monthly. The current listed release is 2026-08-19.0, dated August 19, 2026. Proposed future dates may change, and individual themes can have different source-update behavior within a release. (docs.overturemaps.org)
Is all Overture Maps data covered by one license?
No. Licensing varies by theme and upstream source. Overture describes CDLA Permissive 2.0 as a preferred license where possible, but the ecosystem also includes Apache 2.0, ODbL, CC0, and other source-specific terms. The base theme includes OpenStreetMap-derived content under ODbL, while places and addresses have their own source and licensing arrangements. Check the attribution and licensing information for the exact data used. (overturemaps.org)
Can Overture Maps replace local authoritative GIS data?
Not in every application. Overture is useful as an open, broad-coverage data foundation, but feature quality and completeness vary. For cadastral, regulatory, engineering, emergency, property, or other high-consequence work, compare Overture with authoritative local sources and document any discrepancies.
Keep exploring
openstreetmap planet download and formats
OpenStreetMap is a major upstream and complementary open mapping source, especially for analysts comparing raw community mapping data with Overture’s normalized themes and release workflow.
openaddresses download and formats
OpenAddresses is directly relevant to understanding address-source aggregation, address-point formats, provenance, and the limitations of global address coverage.
microsoft building footprints download and formats
Microsoft Building Footprints provides a useful comparison for analysts evaluating global building polygons, imagery-derived detections, formats, and source-specific limitations.
Sources
Overture Maps Documentation: Accessing the Overture Catalog
Authoritative documentation for GeoParquet distribution, cloud paths, release structure, themes, feature types, and access methods.
Open sourceOverture Maps Documentation: Releases
Authoritative source for the current release, monthly cadence, proposed release dates, schema versioning, and public release-retention policy.
Open sourceOverture Maps Foundation FAQ
Authoritative overview of themes, licensing principles, source variation, and Overture’s open-data goals.
Open sourceOverture Maps Documentation: Schema Reference
Authoritative description of the six-theme schema and its machine-actionable structure.
Open sourceOverture Maps Documentation: Places Guide
Provides source, licensing, coverage, conflation, and interpretation details for the places theme.
Open sourceOverture Maps Documentation: Addresses Guide
Provides authoritative details about address-point semantics, source aggregation, alpha status, coverage, and varied licensing.
Open source