GeoNames is a very cool repository of open content geographical information. From the site:

The GeoNames geographical database is available for download free of charge under a creative commons attribution license. It contains over eight million geographical names and consists of 6.5 million unique features whereof 2.2 million populated places and 1.8 million alternate names. All features are categorized into one out of nine feature classes and further subcategorized into one out of 645 feature codes.

To help spreading the word and communicating with local mapping agencies, GeoNames has now introduced a group of ambassadors who act as the local contacts of the project. As I’ve been using GeoNames data and web services heavily in Midgard’s GeoCMS features, I’m more than happy to act as the local contact in Finland.

So, if you’re already doing something interesting with Finnish GeoNames data, or have questions about using it, please drop me an email!

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