Reverse geocoding

What is reverse geocoding?

Reverse geocoding is the process of converting a point to an address or place. For example, you can convert -79.3871 longitude and 43.6426 latitude to "CN Tower, 301 Front St W, Toronto, Ontario, M5V, CAN".

You can use reverse geocoding to:

• Get the nearest address to your current location.
• Show an address or place name when you tap on a map.
• Find the address for a geographic location.

How reverse geocoding works

You can find an address for a location by making an HTTPS request to the geocoding service reverseGeocode operation or by using client APIs. Specify the location and optionally, additional parameters to enhance the search.

To refine the search, you can specify a feature type to return a specific type of address such as only POIs or addresses. You can also specify whether to return a street address or rooftop location.

The geocoding service uses the location and all parameters to return a single address that is the closest match. This address contains a number of attributes such as the place name, full address, city, region, and location.

If there are no streets near the input location, then large areal features such as parks, universities, zoos, or airports may be returned.

URL request

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https://geocode-api.arcgis.com/arcgis/rest/services/World/GeocodeServer/reverseGeocode?location={point}&f=json&token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>

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https://geocode.arcgis.com/arcgis/rest/services/World/GeocodeServer/reverseGeocode?location={point}&f=json&token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>

Required parameters

Key parameters

Additional parameters: Refine the search and enhance the return values by using parameters such as featureTypes, locationType, and returnIntersection. Use langCode to return results in a specific language.

Code examples

Find an address near a location

This example finds the closest address to a point location when you click on the map.

1. Reference the geocoding service.

2. Set the location to a point.

3. Set the API key.

The response is a street address or a place with an address nearest to the point location. To get the full address use LongLabel and PlaceName to get the name if a POI is returned. Most APIs provide a LocatorTask to access the service.

APIs

ArcGIS Maps SDK for JavaScriptArcGIS Maps SDK for JavaScriptArcGIS Maps SDK for .NETArcGIS Maps SDK for KotlinArcGIS Maps SDK for SwiftArcGIS Maps SDK for JavaArcGIS Maps SDK for QtArcGIS API for PythonArcGIS REST JSEsri LeafletMapLibre GL JSOpenLayersCesiumJS

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        const geocodingServiceUrl = "https://geocode-api.arcgis.com/arcgis/rest/services/World/GeocodeServer" ;

        const params = {
          location: pt
        };

        locator.locationToAddress(geocodingServiceUrl, params).then(
          (response) => {
            if (response) {
              showPopup(response);
            }
          },
          (err) => {
            showPopup("No address found.", pt);
          }
        );

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REST API

RequestResponse

cURLcURLHTTP

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curl https://geocode-api.arcgis.com/arcgis/rest/services/World/GeocodeServer/reverseGeocode \
-d 'f=pjson' \
-d 'location=-79.3871,43.6426' \
-d 'token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>'

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Tutorials

Reverse geocode

Get an address, business, or place from coordinates with the geocoding service.

JavaScript Maps SDKEsri LeafletMapLibre GL JSOpenLayersCesiumJSREST API

Display your location

Find and track your device location on a map.

JavaScript Maps SDKKotlin Maps SDKSwift Maps SDK.NET Maps SDKJava Maps SDKQt Maps SDK