Geocode Viewer - Quadkey, Geohash & Plus Code
GIS & Geography ToolsEnter latitude and longitude to convert to various geocode formats and visualize grids on the map. Supports Plus Codes, Quadkey, Geohash, and Japan Grid Square codes. Useful for GIS development and location verification.
Understanding Geocodes
How Geocodes Work
Geocodes encode latitude and longitude into compact strings by recursively dividing the Earth's surface into smaller grids. Each character in the resulting code narrows down the area, providing progressively finer precision. This approach enables efficient spatial indexing, fast proximity queries, and easy sharing of location information without requiring full coordinate pairs.
Geocode Format Comparison
Several geocode formats exist, each with different characteristics regarding precision, coverage, and intended use cases.
| Format | Precision |
|---|---|
| Open Location Code | ~14m × 14m (10-digit) |
| Quadkey | Tile-level dependent |
| Geohash | ~1.2km to ~2cm |
| Grid Square Code | ~1km to ~125m |
Use Cases
- Sharing precise locations in areas without formal street addresses
- Efficient proximity searches in geospatial databases
- Delivery and logistics location pinpointing
- Map tile management and caching in web mapping services
- Statistical analysis using standardized geographic grid units
Glossary
- Open Location Code (Plus Codes)
- The Open Location Code is a geocode based in a system of regular grids for identifying an area anywhere on the Earth. It was developed at Google's Zürich engineering office, and released late October 2014. Location codes created by the Open Location Code system are referred to as "plus codes".
- Quadkey
- Quadkey (Quadtree Key) is a geolocation hashing algorithm developed by Microsoft that divides regions based on latitude and longitude into grids of approximately the same size. Each quadkey has a single-digit code, zero to three. By zooming into the next level, each of the four original quadkeys splits into four, and we add another digit to the code.
- Geohash
- Geohash is a method of encoding geographic location into a short string of characters. The encoded string represents a grid-based approximation of the location, allowing for fast and efficient indexing and retrieval of geographic data.
- Grid Square Code
- The Japanese grid square code (JIS X 0410) divides the country into nested cells based on latitude and longitude. The 1st level covers about 80km, the 2nd about 10km and the 3rd about 1km, which is the standard grid square used for Grid Square Statistics. Finer levels subdivide the 3rd level into cells of about 500m, 250m and 125m. The World Grid Square code that this tool outputs extends the same scheme to every location on Earth; removing the leading two digits yields exactly the Japanese grid square code.
FAQ
- Q: What is a Plus Code?
- A: Plus Code is Google's consumer-facing name for Open Location Code. It encodes any location into a short alphanumeric string (e.g., "8Q7XMQH2+39"). The "+" separates the area code from the local code. Plus Codes are useful for identifying locations in areas without formal addresses.
- Q: Which format provides the highest precision?
- A: Geohash offers the most flexible precision — adding more characters increases accuracy from ~1.2km down to a few centimeters. Open Location Code provides ~14m precision at 10 digits. The best choice depends on your use case rather than raw precision alone.
- Q: Can Grid Square Code be used outside Japan?
- A: Yes. The World Grid Square system extends JIS X 0410 (Grid Square Code) globally by dividing the world into 8 regions. The encoding method is identical, and the Japanese grid square code can be derived by removing the first two digits of the world grid square code.