[OSM-talk] Most complete cities and administrative divisions database

[Brian Quinion]

> I was asking about its administrative boundary. So, after reading
> http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:place, what I understand is that :
> - Cities are marked as nodes
> - Sometimes, there are additional ways (boundary=administrative) to delimit
> the administrative boundary
> - As a bonus, there can be relations that link the city node to its
> boundary.

Yes

> So now, let's go with other administrative divisions :
> Now, let's say I want to add an entry for Orange County. How should I do it
> ? Should it just appear as a boundary=administrative,
> or should there be some kind of node node and a relation ?

Well, stage 1 should be to check if it exists or not - which it does I think:

http://open.mapquestapi.com/nominatim/v1/search.php?q=Orange+County&polygon=1

But, ignoring that if you have the data creating it as a relation is
normally best.  The nodes are mostly a legacy where an area initially
didn't have a boundary=administrative relation and it was added
afterwards.  For some reason people seem reluctant to delete the node
- probably because the node allows more accurate label placement
(tagging for renderer - naughty!)

--
 Brian