.geojson

What is a .geojson file?

GeoJSON is a JSON-based format for encoding geographic features — points, lines, and polygons on a map.

Safe format
Type Data
By IETF (RFC 7946)
MIME application/geo+json

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What is it

GeoJSON is how the web maps things. It's standard JSON with a specific structure for geographic features — points (locations), lines (routes), and polygons (areas). Every feature can carry arbitrary properties alongside its geometry. A restaurant's location, a hiking trail, a country's border — all expressible in GeoJSON that any web mapping library can render.

The format is the lingua franca of web mapping. Leaflet, Mapbox, Google Maps API, D3.js, and every major mapping library reads GeoJSON natively. GitHub renders GeoJSON files as interactive maps automatically. The format is human-readable (it's just JSON), easy to generate, and easy to debug — open it in a text editor and you can read the coordinates.

For large datasets, GeoJSON gets inefficient — it's verbose (coordinates in decimal text) and loads entirely into memory. TopoJSON (compressed topology) and vector tiles handle large-scale mapping better. But for small-to-medium datasets, API responses, and data interchange, GeoJSON is the default choice.

Technical details
Full Name
GeoJSON
MIME Type
application/geo+json
Developer
IETF (RFC 7946)
Magic Bytes
N/A
Safety
.geojson is a known, safe format. JSON text file. No executable content.
What opens it
geojson.io
FREE Web
QGIS
FREE Windows / Mac / Linux
Any text editor
FREE Windows / Mac / Linux
FAQ
How do I view a GeoJSON file on a map?
geojson.io (free, browser-based) renders GeoJSON files instantly as interactive maps. GitHub also renders GeoJSON in repositories. For desktop use, QGIS (free) handles GeoJSON natively.
What's the difference between GeoJSON and KML?
GeoJSON uses JSON syntax and is the standard for web mapping APIs. KML uses XML syntax and is the standard for Google Earth. GeoJSON is simpler and more widely supported in web development.
Related formats