Division boundary

A division boundary is a border between divisions.

Geometry Type	LineString
Theme	divisions
Type	division_boundary

A division boundary is typically an officially-defined border between two divisions. In light of geopolitical issues, some boundaries represent standalone disputed or treaty lines and therefore do not coincide with the border of a division.

Subtypes

While the schema for the divisions theme contains an comprehensive list of subtypes, only a subset are available in the data today.

Currently, the following subtypes are available in the division_boundary feature type:

• country
• region
• county

country

subtype	country

A country is the largest unit of independent sovereignty. The border of a country, if known, is given by divsion boundary features. Example: United States

region

subtype	region

A region is the largest administrative unit within most countries and a first-level administrative subdivision. Example: Alberta

county

subtype	county

A county is a second-level administrative subdivision. Example: Kings County, NY

Schema

Browsable

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YAML

---
"$schema": https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema
title: boundary
description:
  Boundaries represent borders between divisions of the same subtype.
  Some boundaries may be disputed by the divisions on one or both sides.
type: object
properties:     # JSON Schema: Top-level object properties.
  id: { "$ref": ../defs.yaml#/$defs/propertyDefinitions/id }
  geometry:
    description:
      Boundary's geometry which MUST be a LineString or MultiLineString
      as defined by the GeoJSON schema.
    unevaluatedProperties: false
    oneOf:
      - "$ref": https://geojson.org/schema/LineString.json
      - "$ref": https://geojson.org/schema/MultiLineString.json
  properties:   # GeoJSON: top-level object 'properties' property.
    unevaluatedProperties: false
    required: [subtype, class, division_ids]
    allOf:
      - "$ref": ../defs.yaml#/$defs/propertyContainers/overtureFeaturePropertiesContainer
    properties: # JSON Schema: properties within GeoJSON top-level object 'properties' property
      subtype: { "$ref": "./defs.yaml#/$defs/propertyDefinitions/placetype" }
      class:
        type: string
        enum:
          - land        # None of the boundary geometry extends beyond the
                        # coastline of either associated division.

          - maritime    # All the boundary geometry extends beyond the
                        # coastline of both associated divisions.
      division_ids:
        description:
          Identifies the two divisions to the left and right, respectively, of
          the boundary line. The left- and right-hand sides of the boundary are
          considered from the perspective of a person standing on the line
          facing in the direction in which the geometry is oriented, i.e. facing
          toward the end of the line.
          
          The first array element is the Overture ID of the left division. The
          second element is the Overture ID of the right division.
        type: array
        items: { "$ref": "../defs.yaml#/$defs/propertyDefinitions/id" }
        minItems: 2
        maxItems: 2
        uniqueItems: true
      is_disputed:
        description: >-
          Indicator if there are entities disputing this division boundary.
          Information about entities disputing this boundary should be included in perspectives
          property.

          This property should also be true if boundary between two entities is unclear
          and this is "best guess". So having it true and no perspectives gives map creators
          reason not to fully trust the boundary, but use it if they have no other.
        type: boolean
      perspectives:
        description: >-
          Political perspectives from which this division boundary is considered
          to be an accurate representation.
      
          If this property is absent, then this boundary is not known to
          be disputed from any political perspective. Consequently,
          there is only one boundary feature representing the entire
          real world entity.
      
          If this property is present, it means the boundary represents
          one of several alternative perspectives on the same real-world
          entity.
      
          There are two modes of perspective:
          
            1. `accepted_by` means the representation of the boundary is
               accepted by the listed entities and would be included on
               a map drawn from their perspective.
      
            2. `disputed_by` means the representation of the boundary is
               disputed by the listed entities and would be excluded
               from a map drawn from their perspective.
              
          When drawing a map from the perspective of a given country,
          one would start by gathering all the undisputed boundary
          (with no `perspectives` property), and then adding to that
          first all boundary explicitly accepted by the country, and
          second all boundary not explicitly disputed by the country.
        allOf: 
          - "$ref": "./defs.yaml#/$defs/propertyDefinitions/perspectives"

Examples

boundary

{
  "id": "example:division_boundary:land",
  "type": "Feature",
  "geometry": {
    "type": "LineString",
    "coordinates": [
      [
        0,
        1
      ],
      [
        1,
        2
      ]
    ]
  },
  "properties": {
    "theme": "divisions",
    "type": "division_boundary",
    "version": 1,
    "subtype": "region",
    "class": "land",
    "division_ids": [
      "example:division:region:left",
      "example:division:region:right"
    ]
  }
}

disputed boundary

{
  "id": "example:division_boundary:disputed_both",
  "type": "Feature",
  "geometry": {
    "type": "LineString",
    "coordinates": [
      [
        0,
        1
      ],
      [
        1,
        2
      ]
    ]
  },
  "properties": {
    "theme": "divisions",
    "type": "division_boundary",
    "version": 1,
    "subtype": "country",
    "class": "land",
    "division_ids": [
      "example:division:country:left",
      "example:division:country:right"
    ],
    "is_disputed": true,
    "perspectives": {
      "mode": "disputed_by",
      "countries": [
        "XX",
        "XY"
      ]
    }
  }
}