bfs_get_base_maps: Get the Swiss base maps

In BFS: Get Data from the Swiss Federal Statistical Office

Get the Swiss base maps

Description

Get the cartographic base maps of the BFS ThemaKart project: the borders of Switzerland, cantons, districts and communes, lakes, rivers, ... The names of the geometries and files are in the BFS documentation (https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/en/home/statistics/regional-statistics/base-maps/cartographic-bases.html). Please read its terms of use and copyright notices.

Usage

bfs_get_base_maps(
  geom = NULL,
  category = "gf",
  type = "Poly",
  date = NULL,
  most_recent = TRUE,
  format = "shp",
  asset_number = "30566934",
  return_sf = TRUE
)

Arguments

geom	Geometry, e.g. "suis" (Switzerland), "kant" (cantons), "bezk" (districts), "polg" (communes), "seen" (lakes) or "flus" (rivers).
category	Category: "gf" or "total_area" (total area, default), "vf" or "vegetation_area" (vegetation area), or another part of the file name, e.g. "11" for the lakes.
type	"Poly" (polygons, default) or "Pnts" (points). Use "" for files without type, e.g. the rivers.
date	Optional date of validity, as "yyyymmdd", e.g. "20230101".
most_recent	If TRUE (default) and date is NULL, get the most recent file. If FALSE, get the first file found.
format	File format, "shp" (shapefile) by default.
asset_number	Asset number of the ThemaKart zip file. The default is the 2024 edition; e.g. "11927607" is the 2020 edition.
return_sf	If TRUE (default), return an sf object (requires the sf package). If FALSE, return the path of the file. With date = "", return the paths of all the matching files: use it, with "" for the other arguments, to list the available files.

Details

The base maps are a zip file of several hundred files, downloaded once and cached in tools::R_user_dir("BFS"). Use bfs_clear_cache() to delete it. Each file name combines the arguments, e.g. K4kant20220101gf_ch2007Poly.shp: geometry kant, date 20220101, category gf, type Poly, format shp.

Value

An sf object, or with return_sf = FALSE the file path(s). Returns NULL if there is no internet connection and the base maps are not cached yet.

See Also

bfs_clear_cache()

Examples

cantons <- bfs_get_base_maps(geom = "kant")
plot(sf::st_geometry(cantons))

lakes <- bfs_get_base_maps(geom = "seen", category = "11")
rivers <- bfs_get_base_maps(geom = "flus", category = "22", type = "")

# list all river files
bfs_get_base_maps(geom = "flus", category = "", type = "", date = "", return_sf = FALSE)

BFS documentation built on Oct. 21, 2026, 1:07 a.m.