Reverse geocode a location

European Economic Area (EEA) developers

Reverse geocoding translates a map location into a human-readable address. You represent the map location by the latitude and longitude coordinates of the location.

When you reverse geocode a location, the response contains the:

This API returns different types of addresses, from the most specific street address to less specific political entities such as neighborhoods, cities, counties, and states. The most exact address is generally the first result. If you want to match a specific type of address, use the types parameter.

Reverse geocoding request

A reverse geocoding request is an HTTP GET request. You can specify the location as an unstructured string:

https://geocode.googleapis.com/v4/geocode/location/LATITUDE,LONGITUDE

Or as a structured set of latitude and longitude coordinates represented by query parameters:

https://geocode.googleapis.com/v4/geocode/location?location.latitude=LATITUDE&location.longitude=LONGITUDE

You typically use the structured format when processing location components captured in an HTML form.

Pass all other parameters as URL parameters or, for parameters such as the API key or field mask, in headers as part of the GET request. For example:

Pass an unstructured location string

An unstructured location is a location formatted as a comma-separated string of latitude and longitude coordinates:

https://geocode.googleapis.com/v4/geocode/location/37.4225508,-122.0846338?key=API_KEY

Or in a curl command:

curl -X GET -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-H "X-Goog-Api-Key: API_KEY" \
"https://geocode.googleapis.com/v4/geocode/location/37.4225508,-122.0846338"

Pass a structured location

Specify the structured location by using the location query parameter, of type LatLng. The LatLng object lets you specify the latitude and longitude as separate query parameters:

https://geocode.googleapis.com/v4/geocode/location?location.latitude=37.4225508&location.longitude=-122.0846338&key=API_KEY

Use OAuth to make a request

Geocoding API v4 supports OAuth 2.0 for authentication. To use OAuth with the Geocoding API, the OAuth token must be assigned the correct scope. Geocoding API supports the following scopes for use with reverse geocoding:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/maps-platform.geocode — Use with all Geocoding API methods.
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/maps-platform.geocode.location — Use only with GeocodeLocation for reverse geocoding.

Also, you can use the general https://www.googleapis.com/auth/cloud-platform scope for all Geocoding API methods. That scope is useful during development, but not production, because it is a general scope that allows access to all methods.

For more information and examples, see Use OAuth.

Reverse geocoding response

Reverse geocoding returns a GeocodeLocationResponse object that contains:

  • The results array of GeocodeResult objects that represents the place.

    The Geocoding API responses include types arrays in two main places within the GeocodeResult:

    1. GeocodeResult.types: This array indicates the overall type(s) of the result. The possible values are drawn from Table A and Table B on the Place Types (New) page.
    2. GeocodeResult.addressComponents[].types: Each address component has a types array indicating the type of that specific part of the address. These values are drawn from the Address types and address component types table on the Place Types (New) page.

    The reverse geocoder returns more than one result in the results array. The results are not just postal addresses, but any way to geographically name a location. For example, when geocoding a point in the city of Chicago, the geocoded point may be denoted as a street address, as the city (Chicago), as its state (Illinois) or as a country (The United States). All are "addresses" to the geocoder. The reverse geocoder returns any of these types as valid results.

  • The plusCode field, of type PlusCode, contains the Plus Code that best approximates the latitude and longitude in the request. In addition, each element of the results array contains a Plus Code. The distance between the decoded Plus Code and the request point is under 10 meters.

    Note: The API does not always return Plus Codes.

The complete JSON object is in the form:

{
  "results": [
    {
      "place": "//places.googleapis.com/places/ChIJV-FZF7i7j4ARo4ZOUoecZFU",
      "placeId": "ChIJV-FZF7i7j4ARo4ZOUoecZFU",
      "location": {
        "latitude": 37.422588300000008,
        "longitude": -122.0846489
      },
      "granularity": "ROOFTOP",
      "viewport": {
        "low": {
          "latitude": 37.421239319708512,
          "longitude": -122.0859978802915
        },
        "high": {
          "latitude": 37.423937280291511,
          "longitude": -122.08329991970851
        }
      },
      "formattedAddress": "1600 Amphitheatre Pkwy, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA",
      "addressComponents": [
        {
          "longText": "1600",
          "shortText": "1600",
          "types": [
            "street_number"
          ]
        },
        {
          "longText": "Amphitheatre Parkway",
          "shortText": "Amphitheatre Pkwy",
          "types": [
            "route"
          ],
          "languageCode": "en"
        },
        {
          "longText": "Mountain View",
          "shortText": "Mountain View",
          "types": [
            "locality",
            "political"
          ],
          "languageCode": "en"
        },
        {
          "longText": "Santa Clara County",
          "shortText": "Santa Clara County",
          "types": [
            "administrative_area_level_2",
            "political"
          ],
          "languageCode": "en"
        },
        {
          "longText": "California",
          "shortText": "CA",
          "types": [
            "administrative_area_level_1",
            "political"
          ],
          "languageCode": "en"
        },
        {
          "longText": "United States",
          "shortText": "US",
          "types": [
            "country",
            "political"
          ],
          "languageCode": "en"
        },
        {
          "longText": "94043",
          "shortText": "94043",
          "types": [
            "postal_code"
          ]
        }
      ],
      "types": [
        "street_address"
      ],
      "plusCode": {
        "globalCode": "849VCW83+PM",
        "compoundCode": "CW83+PM Mountain View, CA, USA"
      }
    },
    {
      "place": "//places.googleapis.com/places/ChIJj61dQgK6j4AR4GeTYWZsKWw",
      "placeId": "ChIJj61dQgK6j4AR4GeTYWZsKWw",
      "location": {
        "latitude": 37.4220541,
        "longitude": -122.08532419999999
      },
      "granularity": "ROOFTOP",
      "viewport": {
        "low": {
          "latitude": 37.4207051197085,
          "longitude": -122.08667318029148
        },
        "high": {
          "latitude": 37.423403080291493,
          "longitude": -122.08397521970851
        }
      },
      "formattedAddress": "1600 Amphitheatre Pkwy, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA",
      "addressComponents": [
        {
          "longText": "1600",
          "shortText": "1600",
          "types": [
            "street_number"
          ]
        },
        {
          "longText": "Amphitheatre Parkway",
          "shortText": "Amphitheatre Pkwy",
          "types": [
            "route"
          ],
          "languageCode": "en"
        },
        {
          "longText": "Mountain View",
          "shortText": "Mountain View",
          "types": [
            "locality",
            "political"
          ],
          "languageCode": "en"
        },
        {
          "longText": "Santa Clara County",
          "shortText": "Santa Clara County",
          "types": [
            "administrative_area_level_2",
            "political"
          ],
          "languageCode": "en"
        },
        {
          "longText": "California",
          "shortText": "CA",
          "types": [
            "administrative_area_level_1",
            "political"
          ],
          "languageCode": "en"
        },
        {
          "longText": "United States",
          "shortText": "US",
          "types": [
            "country",
            "political"
          ],
          "languageCode": "en"
        },
        {
          "longText": "94043",
          "shortText": "94043",
          "types": [
            "postal_code"
          ]
        }
      ],
      "types": [
        "establishment",
        "point_of_interest"
      ],
      "plusCode": {
        "globalCode": "849VCWC7+RV",
        "compoundCode": "CWC7+RV Mountain View, CA, USA"
      }
    },
   ...
  ],
  "plusCode": {
    "globalCode": "849VCWF8+24H",
    "compoundCode": "CWF8+24H Mountain View, CA, USA"
  }
}

Required parameters

  • location

    The latitude and longitude coordinates specifying where you want the closest, human-readable address.

Optional parameters

  • languageCode

    The language in which to return results.

    • See the list of supported languages. Google often updates the supported languages, so this list may not be exhaustive.
    • If languageCode is not supplied, the API defaults to en. If you specify an invalid language code, the API returns an INVALID_ARGUMENT error.
    • The API does its best to provide a street address that is readable for both the user and locals. To achieve that goal, it returns street addresses in the local language, transliterated to a script readable by the user if necessary, observing the preferred language. All other addresses are returned in the preferred language. Address components are all returned in the same language, which is chosen from the first component.
    • If a name is not available in the preferred language, the API uses the closest match.
    • The preferred language has a small influence on the set of results that the API chooses to return, and the order in which they are returned. The geocoder interprets abbreviations differently depending on language, such as the abbreviations for street types, or synonyms that may be valid in one language but not in another.

  • regionCode

    The region code as a two-character CLDR code value. There is no default value. Most CLDR codes are identical to ISO 3166-1 codes.

    When geocoding an address, forward geodcoding, this parameter can influence, but not fully restrict, results from the service to the specified region. When geocoding a location or a place, reverse geocoding or place geocoding, this parameter can be used to format the address. In all cases, this parameter can affect results based on applicable law.

  • granularity

    One or more location granularities, specified as separate query parameters, as defined by Granularity. If you specify multiple granularity parameters, the API returns all addresses that match any of the granularities.

    The granularity parameter does not restrict the search to the specified location granularities. Rather, granularity acts as a post-search filter. The API fetches all results for the specified location, then discards those results that don't match the specified location granularities.

    If you specify both types and granularity then the API returns only those results that match both. For example:

    https://geocode.googleapis.com/v4/geocode/location/37.4225508,-122.0846338?granularity=ROOFTOP&granularity=GEOMETRIC_CENTER&key=API_KEY

  • types

    One or more address types, specified as separate query parameters. The possible values are drawn from the Address types and address component types table on the Place Types (New) page. If you specify multiple types parameters, the API returns all addresses that match any of the types.

    The types parameter does not restrict the search to the specified address type(s). Rather, types acts as a post-search filter. The API fetches all results for the specified location, then discards those results that don't match the specified address type(s).

    If you specify both types and granularity then the API returns only those results that match both. For example:

    https://geocode.googleapis.com/v4/geocode/location/37.4225508,-122.0846338?types=administrative_area_level_2&types=locality&key=API_KEY

  • FieldMask

    Create a response field mask to specify the fields to return in the response. Pass the response field mask to the method by using the URL parameter $fields or fields, or by using the HTTP header X-Goog-FieldMask. For example, the below request will return only the placeID fields of the response.

    curl -X GET -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-H 'X-Goog-FieldMask: results.placeId' \
-H "X-Goog-Api-Key: API_KEY" \
"https://geocode.googleapis.com/v4/geocode/location/37.4225508,-122.0846338"
    The response is: 
    {
  "results": [
    {
      "placeId": "ChIJHRNUiQK6j4ARJ__Hrbt6qsE"
    },
    {
      "placeId": "ChIJj38IfwK6j4ARNcyPDnEGa9g"
    },
    {
      "placeId": "ChIJ1yjFJ1-7j4ARG_RVqFD1h7k"
    },
    {
      "placeId": "ChIJ09H2YwK6j4ARoF7qfCBxhB8"
    },
    ...
  ]
}

    See Choose fields to return for more details.