Reverse Geocode

Service version: 2

Last edit: 2022.05.05

Purpose

The TomTom Reverse Geocoding API gives users a tool to translate a coordinate (for example: 37.786505, -122.3862) into a human-understandable street address, street element, or geography.

Most often, this is needed in tracking applications where you receive a GPS feed from the device or asset and you want to know the address.

Run this endpoint

You can easily run this and other endpoints. Go to the TomTom API Explorer page and follow the directions.

Request data

A request returns information for a given position. The type of response depends on the available data:

address: Returns the most detailed information.
street element: Less detailed; returned when there is no address data.
geography: Returns the smallest available geographic data.
- This is returned when there is no address or street element data.
- You can specify the level of geography (see the entityType parameter in the request parameters section) to get a geometry.
- The geometry data can be fetched using the Additional Data service.

HTTPS Method: `GET`

For ease of viewing and identification:

Constants and parameters enclosed in curly brackets { } must be replaced with their values.
Please see the following Request parameters section with the required and optional parameters tables for their values. The generic request format is as follows.

URL format

GET

URL request example

https://{baseURL}/search/{versionNumber}/reverseGeocode/{position}.{ext}?key={Your_API_Key}&returnSpeedLimit={returnSpeedLimit}&heading={heading}&radius={radius}&number={number}&returnRoadUse={returnRoadUse}&roadUse={roadUse}&entityType={entityType}&callback={callback}&language={language}&allowFreeformNewline={allowFreeformNewline}&returnMatchType={returnMatchType}&view={view}&mapcodes={mapcodes}&filter={filter}

curl command format

GET

Request curl command example

curl 'https://{baseURL}/search/{versionNumber}/reverseGeocode/{position}.{ext}?key={Your_API_Key}&returnSpeedLimit={returnSpeedLimit}&heading={heading}&radius={radius}&number={number}&returnRoadUse={returnRoadUse}&roadUse={roadUse}&entityType={entityType}&callback={callback}&language={language}&allowFreeformNewline={allowFreeformNewline}&returnMatchType={returnMatchType}&view={view}&mapcodes={mapcodes}&filter={filter}'

Request parameters

The following table describes the parameters that can be used in a request.

Required parameters must be used or the call will fail.
Optional parameters may be used.
If there is a default value that will be assumed when an optional parameter is not used, it is shown in the table.
The order of request parameters is not important.

Required parameters	Description
`baseURL` string	Base URL for calling the API. Values: `api.tomtom.com` `kr-api.tomtom.com` (see the Region-specific content page)
`versionNumber` string	The service version. Value: The current value is `2`.
`position` comma-separated string	This is specified as a comma-separated string composed by lat,lon. Value: `lat,lon` Example: `37.553,-122.453`
`ext` string	A valid response format: Values: `json`, `jsonp`, `js`, or `xml`
`key` string	An API Key valid for the requested service. Value: Your valid TomTom `API Key`.

Optional parameters	Description
`returnSpeedLimit` boolean	Enables the return of the posted speed limit (where available). Default value: `false`
`heading` float	The directional heading of the vehicle in degrees, for travel along a segment of roadway. `0` is North, `90` is East and so on. The precision can include up to one decimal place. Value: Values range from `-360` to `360`.
`radius` integer	The maximum distance in meters from the specified position for the `reverseGeocode` to consider. Default value: `10000` meters (10 km).
`number` string	If a number is sent in along with the request, the response may include the side of the street (Left/Right), and also an offset position for that number. Note: The number can include a character such as "94c". Value: A number.
`returnRoadUse` boolean	Enables the return of the `roadUse` array for `reverseGeocodes` at street level. Default value: `false`.
`roadUse` array	Restricts `reverseGeocodes` to a certain type of road use. Value: The `roadUse` JSON array for `reverseGeocodes` can be one or more of: GET roadUse JSON array 1[ 2 "LimitedAccess", 3 "Arterial", 4 "Terminal", 5 "Ramp", 6 "Rotary", 7 "LocalStreet" 8] See RFC 8259: "An array structure is represented as square brackets surrounding zero or more values (or elements). Elements are separated by commas. `array = begin-array [ value *( value-separator value ) ] end-array`".
`entityType` comma-separated string	This parameter specifies the level of filtering performed on geographies. Providing this parameter narrows the search for specified geography entity types. The resulting response will contain the geography ID as well as the matched entity type. This ID is a token that can be used to get the geometry of that geography. The following parameters are ignored when entityType is set: `heading` `number` `returnRoadUse` `returnSpeedLimit` `roadUse` `returnMatchType` Values: One or more of: `Country` `CountrySubdivision` `CountrySecondarySubdivision` `CountryTertiarySubdivision` `Municipality` `MunicipalitySubdivision` `Neighbourhood` `PostalCodeArea`
`callback` string	Specifies the callback method. Default value: `cb`
`language` string	The language in which search results should be returned. Should be one of the TomTom IETF Supported Languages tags, case insensitive. When data in a specified language is not available for a specific field, the default language is used. Default value: NGT Deprecation notice: Support for no-NO will be removed in favour of no-NB.
`allowFreeformNewline` boolean	The format of newlines in the formatted address. If `true`, the address will contain newlines. Otherwise, newlines will be converted to spaces. Default value: `false`.
`returnMatchType` boolean	This includes information on the type of match the geocoder achieved in the response. Default value: `false`.
`view` string	Geopolitical View. The context used to resolve the handling of disputed territories. Views include `Unified`, along with `AR` `IL`, `IN`, `MA`, `PK`, `RU`, `TR`, and `CN` which are respectively tailored for Argentina, Israel, India, Morocco, Pakistan, Russia, Turkey, and China. Default values: Argentina, default view: `AR`, available views: `Unified`, `IL`, `IN`,`MA`, `PK`, `RU`, `TR`, `CN` India, default view: `IN`, available views: - Morocco, default view: `MA`, available views: `Unified`, `AR`, `IL`, `IN`, `PK`, `RU`, `TR`, `CN` Pakistan, default view: `PK`, available views: `Unified`, `AR`, `IL`, `IN`, `MA`, `RU`, `TR`, `CN` Russia, default view: `RU`, available views: `Unified`, `AR`, `IL`, `IN`, `MA`, `PK`, `TR`, `CN` Turkey, default view: `TR`, available views: `Unified`, `AR`, `IL`, `IN`, `MA`, `PK`, `RU`, `CN` China, default view: `CN`, available views: `Unified`, `AR`, `IL`, `IN`, `MA`, `PK`, `RU`, `TR` Others, default view: `Unified`, available views: `AR`, `IL`, `IN`, `MA`, `PK`, `RU`, `TR`, `CN`
`mapcodes` comma-separated string	Enables the return of mapcodes. Can also filter the response to only show selected mapcode types. See `mapcode` in the response. Values: One or more of: `Local` `International` `Alternative` A mapcode represents a specific location, to within a few meters. Every location on Earth can be represented by a mapcode. Mapcodes are designed to be short, easy to recognize, remember and communicate. Visit the Mapcode project website for more information.
`filter` comma-separated string	Excludes a certain group of inspected address-carrying elements in order to find the closest match to a requested point. Value: `["BackRoads"]` BackRoads - Roads that do not have an official name and any other kind of address information attached: unaddressable paths, forest paths, tracks, commercial driveways used as service roads, hiking paths, etc. Use of this filter is advised in cases where obtaining accurate address is top priority. It should not be used in a 'vehicle/asset tracking' use case or in road elements 'matching/focus' use case(s).

Request headers

The following table describes HTTP request headers.

Optional headers Description

Accept-Encoding Enables response compression.
Value: gzip

Tracking-ID

Optional headers	Description
Accept-Encoding	Enables response compression. Value: `gzip`
Tracking-ID	Specifies an identifier for the request. It can be used to trace a call. The value must match the regular expression `'^[a-zA-Z0-9-]{1,100}$'.` An example of the format that matches this regular expression is UUID: (e.g., `9ac68072-c7a4-11e8-a8d5-f2801f1b9fd1`). For details check RFC 4122. If specified, it is replicated in the Tracking-ID response header. It is only meant to be used for support and does not involve tracking of you or your users in any form. Value: An `identifier` for the request.

Specifies an identifier for the request.

It can be used to trace a call.
The value must match the regular expression '^[a-zA-Z0-9-]{1,100}$'.
An example of the format that matches this regular expression is UUID: (e.g., 9ac68072-c7a4-11e8-a8d5-f2801f1b9fd1). For details check RFC 4122.
If specified, it is replicated in the Tracking-ID response header.
It is only meant to be used for support and does not involve tracking of you or your users in any form.

Value: An identifier for the request.

Response data

Response body

For illustrative purposes the examples below are neatly indented.

Please note that actual responses will vary based on the result type and the data available.
See the following response field section for more information.

When requesting JSON output, the response has the following structure:

Response structure - JSON

1{
2  "summary": {
3    "queryTime": 102,
4    "numResults": 1
5  },
6  "addresses": []
7}

Example response for the result of the Point Address type is in the following format:

Point Address type example response - JSON

1{
2  "summary": {
3    "queryTime": 17,
4    "numResults": 1
5  },
6  "addresses": [
7    {
8      "address": {
9        "buildingNumber": "2501",
10        "streetNumber": "2501",
11        "routeNumbers": [],
12        "street": "Soquel Drive",
13        "streetName": "Soquel Drive",
14        "streetNameAndNumber": "2501 Soquel Drive",
15        "speedLimit": "35.00MPH",
16        "countryCode": "US",
17        "countrySubdivision": "CA",
18        "countrySecondarySubdivision": "Santa Cruz",
19        "municipality": "Santa Cruz",
20        "postalCode": "95065",
21        "municipalitySubdivision": "Santa Cruz, Live Oak",
22        "sideOfStreet": "L",
23        "offsetPosition": "36.988430,-121.974731",
24        "country": "United States",
25        "countryCodeISO3": "USA",
26        "freeformAddress": "2501 Soquel Drive, Santa Cruz, CA 95065",
27        "boundingBox": {
28          "northEast": "36.988197,-121.974752",
29          "southWest": "36.988156,-121.975108",
30          "entity": "position"
31        },
32        "extendedPostalCode": "950651900",
33        "countrySubdivisionName": "California",
34        "localName": "Santa Cruz"
35      },
36      "position": "36.988159,-121.974762",
37      "roadUse": [
38        "Arterial"
39      ],
40      "matchType": "AddressPoint",
41      "mapcodes":[
42        {
43           "type":"Local",
44           "fullMapcode":"US-CA FS.WRH3",
45           "territory":"US-CA",
46           "code":"FS.WRH3"
47        },
48        {
49           "type":"International",
50           "fullMapcode":"S4ZW4.990V"
51        },
52        {
53           "type":"Alternative",
54           "fullMapcode":"US-CA 4349.S8W",
55           "territory":"US-CA",
56           "code":"4349.S8W"
57        },
58        {
59           "type":"Alternative",
60           "fullMapcode":"US-CA JJCH.H9DF",
61           "territory":"US-CA",
62           "code":"JJCH.H9DF"
63        },
64        {
65           "type":"Alternative",
66           "fullMapcode":"USA JJCH.H9DF",
67           "territory":"USA",
68           "code":"JJCH.H9DF"
69        }
70      ]
71    }
72  ]
73}

Example response for the Geography result with entityType=PostalCodeArea filtering:

Geography example response - JSON

1{
2  "summary": {
3    "queryTime": 10,
4    "numResults": 1
5  },
6  "addresses": [
7    {
8      "address": {
9        "routeNumbers": [],
10        "countryCode": "US",
11        "countrySubdivision": "CA",
12        "countrySecondarySubdivision": "Santa Cruz",
13        "municipality": "Santa Cruz",
14        "postalName": "Santa Cruz",
15        "postalCode": "95065",
16        "country": "United States",
17        "countryCodeISO3": "USA",
18        "freeformAddress": "Santa Cruz, CA 95065",
19        "boundingBox": {
20          "northEast": "37.085762,-121.949375",
21          "southWest": "36.983408,-122.013236",
22          "entity": "position"
23        },
24        "countrySubdivisionName": "California"
25      },
26      "position": "36.988171,-121.974876",
27      "dataSources": {
28        "geometry": {
29          "id": "00005543-3300-3c00-0000-00004dc8b8e5"
30        }
31      },
32      "entityType": "PostalCodeArea",
33      "mapcodes":[
34        {
35           "type":"Local",
36           "fullMapcode":"US-CA FS.WRG0",
37           "territory":"US-CA",
38           "code":"FS.WRG0"
39        },
40        {
41           "type":"International",
42           "fullMapcode":"S4ZW4.89XV"
43        },
44        {
45           "type":"Alternative",
46           "fullMapcode":"US-CA 4349.S7L",
47           "territory":"US-CA",
48           "code":"4349.S7L"
49        },
50        {
51           "type":"Alternative",
52           "fullMapcode":"US-CA JJCH.H9CF",
53           "territory":"US-CA",
54           "code":"JJCH.H9CF"
55        },
56        {
57           "type":"Alternative",
58           "fullMapcode":"USA JJCH.H9CF",
59           "territory":"USA",
60           "code":"JJCH.H9CF"
61        }
62      ]
63    }
64  ]
65}

Response fields

The following tables describe all of the fields that can appear in a response. Fields are listed by the response section they belong to and in the order that they appear in the response.

Primary fields
Field	Description
`summary` object	Summary information about the search that was performed. `summary` object
`addresses` array	The result list, sorted in descending order by score. `addresses` array
summary object
Field	Description
`queryTime` integer	The time spent on resolving the query (in milliseconds).
`numResults` integer	The number of results in the response.
addresses array
Field	Description
`address` object	The structured address for the result. `address` object
`position` double (LatLon)	Position of the result in a form of "latitude,longitude" coordinates. Example: `37.553,-122.453`
`roadUse` array	List of road usage types at the address. Zero or more of: `LimitedAccess` `Arterial` `LocalStreet` `Terminal` `Rotary` `Ramp`
`matchType` string	Information on the type of match. One of: `AddressPoint` `HouseNumberRange` `Street`
`dataSources` object	Optional section. Reference ids for use with the Additional Data service. `dataSources` object `geometry` object
`mapcodes` array	Optional section. List of `mapcode` objects. `mapcode` object
address object
Field	Description
`buildingNumber` string Deprecated	The building number on the street. Deprecated Use `streetNumber` instead.
`streetNumber` string	The building number on the street.
`routeNumbers` array	The codes used to unambiguously identify the street.
`street` string Deprecated	The street name. Deprecated Use `streetName` instead.
`streetName` string	The street name.
`streetNameAndNumber` string	The street name and number.
`speedLimit` string	The speed limit for the street in the form DD.DDUUU, For example: 30.00KPH D is a digit (for example, 30.00). UUU is either KPH or MPH (whichever is correct for the address).
`countryCode` string	Country (Note: This is a two-letter code, not a country name.)
`countrySubdivision` string	State or Province
`countrySecondarySubdivision` string	County
`countryTertiarySubdivision` string	Named Area
`municipality` string	City / Town
`postalName` string	An address component which represents the name for a postal code that is related to a single administrative area, city, town, or other populated place. Only present when the parameter `entityType == PostalCodeArea`.
`postalCode` string	Postal Code / Zip Code
`municipalitySubdivision` string	Sub / Super City
`sideOfStreet` string	The left or right side of the street location. This is returned only when the `number` parameter was defined.
`offsetPosition` string	The offset position coordinates of the location. Example: `37.553,-122.453`
`country` string	Country name
`countryCodeISO3` string	ISO alpha-3 country code
`freeformAddress` string	An address line formatted according to the formatting rules of a Result's country of origin, or in the case of a country, its full country name.
`boundingBox` object	The bounding box of the location. `boundingBox` object
`countrySubdivisionName` string	The full name of a first level of country administrative hierarchy. This field appears only in case `countrySubdivision` is presented in an abbreviated form. Only supported for USA, Canada, and Great Britain.
`countrySubdivisionCode` string	`countrySubdivisionCode` prefixed by `countryCode` and the hyphen (`countryCode-countrySubdivisionCode`) forms the ISO 3166-2 code. `countrySubdivisionCode` examples: `TX` for Texas, `SCT` for Scotland, `ON` for Ontario, `ZE` for Zeeland and `BB` for Brandenburg. Only present if the returned `entityType == CountrySubdivision`
`localName` string	An address component which represents the name of a geographic area or locality that groups a number of addressable objects for addressing purposes, without being an administrative unit.
`extendedPostalCode` string	Extended postal code (availability is dependent on the region).
boundingBox object
Field	Description
`northEast` comma-separated floats	North-east (top-left) `latitude`,`longitude` coordinate of the bounding box.
`southWest` comma-separated floats	South-west (bottom-right) `latitude`,`longitude` coordinate of the bounding box.
`entity` string	Entity type source of the bounding box. Note: For reverse-geocoding this is always equal to position.
dataSources object
Field	Description
`geometry` object	Information about the geometric shape of the result. Only present if `type == Geography`. `geometry` object
geometry object
Field	Description
`id` string	Pass this as `geometryId` to the Additional Data service to fetch geometry information for this result.
mapcode object
Field	Description
`type` string	Type of mapcode. Possible values: `Local`: The shortest possible (and easiest to remember) mapcode. Local mapcodes are especially useful when the user knows what territory the mapcode is in (for example, when an application is designed to be used inside just one European country or US state). Note that the `code` element of a `Local` mapcode is ambiguous when used without the `territory` element - e.g.: the "4J.P2" mapcode can mean the Eiffel Tower location (48.858380, 2.294440) (with the `territory` set to `FRA`), but also some place in Amsterdam-Noord, Netherlands (52.382184, 4.911021) (with the `territory` set to `NLD`). `International`: this mapcode is unambiguous. It is also the longest. `Alternative`: alternatives to `Local` mapcodes. Each `Alternative` mapcode points to slightly different coordinates due to the way mapcodes are computed (see the mapcode documentation). For example: the position from a response can be encoded as "5DM.WC" (51.759244, 19.448316) and the "VHJ.036" (51.759245, 19.448264), which are close to each other, but not exactly the same place.
`fullMapcode` string	The full form of a mapcode (`territory` + `code`). It is always unambiguous. The `territory` element is always in the Latin alphabet. In an `International` mapcode, the `territory` part is empty.
`territory` string	The `territory` element of the mapcode. The `territory` element is always in the Latin alphabet. Usually, the `territory` is the ISO 3166-1 alpha 3 abbreviation for the country name. However in these eight very large countries: The USA, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, India, Australia, Russia, China an address has little meaning unless the user also knows what state it's in (just as, elsewhere, an address has little meaning if the user doesn’t know what country it’s in). More information about `territory` codes is available here. his field is not returned for an `International` mapcode.
`code` string	The mapcode without the `territory` element. It consists of two groups of letters and digits separated by a dot. The `code` is using the same language and alphabet as the response. The `language` parameter may be used to modify the language and alphabet of both the response and the `code` (for example: Cyrillic for the `language` 'ru-RU'). This field is not returned for the `International` mapcodes - use `fullMapcode` instead.

Default view mapping

Default view is recognized based on the country the request came from.

Country	Default view	Other available views
Argentina	`AR`	`Unified, IL, IN, MA, PK, RU, TR, CN`
India	`IN`	`-`
Morocco	`MA`	`Unified`, `AR`, `IL`, `IN`, `PK`, `RU`, `TR`, `CN`
Pakistan	`PK`	`Unified`, `AR`, `IL`, `IN`, `MA`, `RU`, `TR`, `CN`
Russia	`RU`	`Unified`, `AR`, `IL`, `IN`, `MA`, `PK`, `TR`, `CN`
Turkey	`TR`	`Unified`, `AR`, `IL`, `IN`, `MA`, `PK`, `RU`, `CN`
China	`CN`	`Unified`, `AR`, `IL`, `IN`, `MA`, `PK`, `RU`, `TR`
Others	`Unified`	`AR`, `IL`, `IN`, `MA`, `PK`, `RU`, `TR`, `CN`

Response codes

The following data table contains response codes signifying successful and failed requests to an API server.

Code	Meaning & possible causes
`200`	OK The search successfully returned zero or more results.
`400`	Bad request: One or more parameters were incorrectly specified.
`403`	Forbidden: Possible causes include, Service requires SSL Not authorized Over QPS (Queries per second), or over QPD (Queries per day) Unknown referer
`405`	Method Not Allowed: The HTTP method (`GET`, `POST`, etc.) is not supported for this request.
`404/596`	Not Found: The HTTP request method (`GET`, `POST`, etc.) or path is incorrect.
`429`	Too Many requests: The API Key is over QPS (Queries per second).
`5xx`	Server Error: The service was unable to process your request. Contact support to resolve the issue.

Response headers

The following data table contains response headers sent back from an API server.

Header	Description
Access-Control-Allow-Origin	Ensures that clients implementing the CORS security model are able to access the response from this service. Value: An asterisk `*` that signifies access to the TomTom API using the Access-Control-Allow-Origin (ACAO) header in its response indicating which origin sites are allowed.
Content-Type	Indicates the format of the response, as chosen by the client. Format: `type/subtype; charset=utf-8` Value: type/subtype is one of: `application/json` `text/javascript` `text/xml`
Content-Encoding	The Reverse Geocode service applies gzip compression to the responses if requested by the client with the Accept-Encoding header. Value: `gzip`
Tracking-ID	An identifier for the request. If the Tracking-ID header was specified, it is replicated in the response. Otherwise, it is generated automatically by the service. It is only meant to be used for support and does not involve tracking of you or your users in any form. Value: An `identifier` for the request.

Error response

The content type of an error response depends on the requested output format (.json or .xml).

Error response example (JSON)

1{
2    "error": "Invalid request: invalid position: latitude/longitude out of range.",
3    "httpStatusCode": 400,
4    "detailedError": {
5      "code": "BadRequest",
6      "message": "Invalid request: invalid position: latitude/longitude out of range.",
7      "target": "position"
8    }
9}

Error response example (XML)

1<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
2<response>
3  <error>Invalid request: invalid position: latitude/longitude out of range.</error>
4  <httpStatusCode>400</httpStatusCode>
5  <detailedError>
6    <code>BadRequest</code>
7    <message>Invalid request: invalid position: latitude/longitude out of range.</message>
8    <target>position</target>
9  </detailedError>
10</response>

Error response fields

Primary fields	Description
`error` string	A human-readable description of the error code. It is intended as an aid to developers and is not suitable for exposure to end users.
`httpStatusCode` integer	HTTP error code.
`detailedError` object	Detailed information about the error. `detailedError` object
detailedError object
Field	Description
`code` string	One of the defined error codes.
`message` string	A human-readable representation of the error code. It is intended as an aid to developers and is not suitable for exposure to end users.
`target` string	Optional. Target of the particular error. Value: The name of the request parameter.

Error code hierarchy

A list of predefined, hierarchical, human-readable error codes.

The httpStatusCode relates to HTTP error codes. An error code in detailedError can redefine httpStatusCode to one of the codes described in this section.

In the future, the list may be extended with additional codes.

Error code	Description
`BadRequest`	The code for requests which ended with HTTP `400 Bad Request`.
`Forbidden`	The code for requests which ended with HTTP `403 Forbidden`.
`InternalServerError`	The code for requests which ended with HTTP `500 Internal Server Error`. The service cannot handle the request right now, an unexpected condition was encountered.
`ServerTimeout`	The code for requests which ended with HTTP `504 Gateway Timeout`. The service cannot handle the request right now, this is certainly a temporary state.