NGA GEOnet Names Server (GNS) ExternalThe GEOnet Names Server (GNS) is the official repository of standard spellings of all foreign geographic names, sanctioned by the United States Board on Geographic Names (US BGN). The database also contains variant spellings (cross-references), which are useful for finding purposes, as well as non-Roman script spellings of many of these names. All the geographic features in the database contain information about location, administrative division, and quality. The database can be used for a variety of purposes, including establishing official spellings of foreign place names, cartography, GIS, GEOINT, and finding places.
The database supersedes the seven-volume set of printed gazetteers titled "Official standard names for U.S.S.R., approved by the United States Board on Geographic Names," which was issued in the 1970s by the U.S. Defense Mapping Agency. The DMA printed gazetteer can prove fruitful when only the Soviet authority name of a place or geographic features is at hand, especially when they occur in nations no longer a part of the USSR. Otherwise, outdated Soviet-era names can also be searched via the NGA GEOnet Names Server.