reverse_geo_lite_sf: Reverse geocoding API with 'sf' output

In nominatimlite: Interface to the 'Nominatim' API

Reverse geocoding API with sf output

Description

Generates an address from latitude and longitude (latitudes in \left[-90, 90 \right] and longitudes in \left[-180, 180 \right]), and returns the sf object associated with the query using sf. See reverse_geo_lite() for retrieving the data in tibble format.

Usage

reverse_geo_lite_sf(
  lat,
  long,
  address = "address",
  full_results = FALSE,
  return_coords = TRUE,
  verbose = FALSE,
  nominatim_server = "https://nominatim.openstreetmap.org/",
  progressbar = TRUE,
  custom_query = list(),
  points_only = TRUE
)

Arguments

lat	Latitude values in numeric format. Must be in the range \left[-90, 90 \right].
long	Longitude values in numeric format. Must be in the range \left[-180, 180 \right].
address	Address column name in the output data (default "address").
full_results	Return all available data from the Nominatim API. If FALSE (default), only latitude, longitude and address columns are returned. See also return_addresses.
return_coords	Return input coordinates with results if TRUE.
verbose	If TRUE, detailed logs are output to the console.
nominatim_server	URL of the Nominatim server to use. Defaults to "https://nominatim.openstreetmap.org/".
progressbar	Logical. If TRUE displays a progress bar to indicate the progress of the function.
custom_query	Named list with API-specific parameters, for example list(zoom = 3). See Details.
points_only	Logical TRUE/FALSE. Whether to return only point geometries (TRUE, which is the default) or potentially other shapes as returned by the Nominatim API (FALSE). See About geometry types.

Details

See https://nominatim.org/release-docs/latest/api/Reverse/ for additional parameters to be passed to custom_query.

Value

An sf object with the results that match the query.

About zooming

Use the option custom_query = list(zoom = 3) to adjust the output. Some zoom levels correspond to these address details:

zoom	address_detail
3	country
5	state
8	county
10	city
14	suburb
16	major streets
17	major and minor streets
18	building

About geometry types

The parameter points_only specifies whether the function results will be points (all Nominatim results are guaranteed to have at least point geometry) or other geometry types.

Note that when points_only = FALSE, the type of geometry returned depends on the object being geocoded. Administrative areas, major buildings and the like will be returned as polygons, rivers, roads and similar features will be returned as lines, and amenities may still be returned as points.

This function is vectorized, allowing multiple addresses to be geocoded. With points_only = FALSE, multiple geometry types may be returned.

See Also

Reverse geocoding: reverse_geo_lite()

sf outputs: bbox_to_poly(), geo_address_lookup_sf(), geo_amenity_sf(), geo_lite_sf(), geo_lite_struct_sf()

Examples

library(ggplot2)

# Colosseum coordinates
col_lon <- 12.49309
col_lat <- 41.89026

# Colosseum as polygon
col_sf <- reverse_geo_lite_sf(
  lat = col_lat,
  lon = col_lon,
  points_only = FALSE
)

dplyr::glimpse(col_sf)

if (!all(sf::st_is_empty(col_sf))) {
  ggplot(col_sf) +
    geom_sf()
}

# City of Rome: same coordinates with zoom 10

rome_sf <- reverse_geo_lite_sf(
  lat = col_lat,
  lon = col_lon,
  custom_query = list(zoom = 10),
  points_only = FALSE
)

dplyr::glimpse(rome_sf)

if (!all(sf::st_is_empty(rome_sf))) {
  ggplot(rome_sf) +
    geom_sf()
}

nominatimlite documentation built on June 3, 2026, 9:06 a.m.